Maybe not so much blues as simple anxiety. As it stands, we are planning to move out of our comfort zone to begin seminary in summer of 2018.
After 2.5 years of Lay Ministry coursework and finally graduating as a certified lay minister in Spring of this year, Eric still does not have a job. We moved into what was suppose to be short term-lease free housing for a few months before he received his first call. That was now almost 7 months ago. No leads, big or small. Just silence. And an increasing feeling that Eric is not yet done with school. Things in our denomination are a little unsettled and confusing as well. The lay deacons were doing more in their churches then were permitted to do (like preaching with out having gone to seminary) and somehow, lay ministers got lumped in with them. Although lay ministers have more theological training. They are still not permitted to preach or do communion. A great many churches are not even aware that lay ministry exists or that its a called position. Disheartening to say the least.
Seminary is going to be hard. Eric is our sole source of income for our family. We would be starting seminary with a 4 year old and a 1 year old. Student loans will cover on campus housing (known as The Woods). Because Eric already has the lay ministry under his belt, he should qualify for what is known as alternate route. Normally seminary is 2 years on campus, 1 year vicarage (playing pastor, supervised, for a year), and one more year on campus. Alt route would eliminate the final on campus year. He could also be able to do a transferable vicarage, meaning he would become a full pastor at the church where he was a vicar.
Lucky for us, two of our newest pastors at church are
fresh from the seminary. One lived on campus, one lived off. Both had children going in and both had more children born during. I get caught up in the money.
How are we going to live without an income? Our most recent sermon and small group series at church focused a lot on 1) finding out what it is God is calling you to do 2) stop making excuses why you won't do it 3) trusting that God is going to provide for you, going with you on the journey. Needless to say, it spoke to both Eric and I
a lot!
Next week we travel down south to see some of Eric's family (who have not yet met Ellie) for Thanksgiving. We will travel through St. Louis and will have a tour of the campus including food pantry, resale shop, and student housing. We will also be talking with a financial advisor. We plan to have some dinner dates with the two pastors who are fresh from sem about their experiences and how the finances worked out for them. Though its going into a busy season for our pastors so the later may have to wait till after the holidays. I think I will have a little better of an idea how its all going to work once I see the housing, grocery options, etc. The plan would be to sell Eric's truck and use the money for sem expenses but also hopefully be more than halfway done with paying off the car by the start of sem. We would also both be looking for part time work. There will be a lot of compromises, that's for sure.
STL isn't that far from home either. 4 ish hours? We also have 2 sets of friends that recently moved to STL so that is also a bonus. Its just a lot to think about. Right now, my focus has to be getting this baby to term and him being healthy. We have a whole year between his birth and a move to STL and so much can happen during that time. Eric could still even receive a lay ministry call for all we know. Baring that possibility, this is our path. Another new journey as a family of 4. Where this one will take us after STL, Lord only knows.
