By Rev. Laura Folkwein
October is “Pastor Appreciation Month,” according to…I’m not sure who, but I’m willing to go with it! I am writing about the occasion, not to nudge you into giving me anything extra as the pastor here at Pilgrim UCC, Bozeman, (although offers of dark chocolate will never be refused) but to spend a moment thinking about all the pastors who have influenced me.
My dad, Rev. Ed Folkwein, comes to mind first. Though not my earliest pastor, he was both pastor and parent to me for the longest amount of time. Though my dad is gone from this life, I feel his assuring spirit and encouragement with me often in my own ministry. I miss his ridiculous sense of humor, his deep compassion for anyone in trouble or hurting, and his love of the mountain west. He spent decades of his ministry in rural Montana. His ministry showed me that it is not the biggest church or the most prestigious ministry role that matters, but one’s care for all God’s people and creation wherever you land.
Other clergy who have influenced my life are Rev. Bill Kliber, who married my parents long before I arrived, but whose influence in ministry reached me early in life; Rev. Susan Twidwell, a United Methodist clergywoman showed me that someone like me (an awkward and shy teenager) might be a pastor too; my own campus minister at the University of Puget Sound, Rev. Jim Davis, and the chaplain now in his position who I deeply respect, Rev. Dave Wright. More UMC clergywomen, Revs. Janet Horman and Kathryn Johnson, both employers and mentors who gently shoved me out the door to seminary. I am also deeply appreciative of my current clergy colleagues in our Montana-Northern Wyoming UCC Conference. They are wise, persistent, kind, and often very funny people. One must keep a sense of humor in this “odd and wondrous calling” - the words of another UCC pastor and author.
In late September, representatives of 16 or our 23 Montana-Northern Wyoming Conference churches gathered in Billings for our Conference Annual Meeting. The theme was “Many Gifts, One Spirit: Creating a culture of call.” All the pastors mentioned above sensed a call to serve God by serving God’s people through ordained ministry. This October, I wonder who the pastors are who influenced your faith journey? Maybe you will send them a note, or say a prayer, of thanks. I know they would love that. Even more importantly, call is not only for clergy. What is YOUR call to serve this complicated and beautiful world in the way only you can, with your unique gifts? I wouldn’t be doing my part in the “culture of call,” if I didn’t also encourage you to reach out if you are sensing a call to ministry. Our conference just approved 84-year-old Barbara Gulick for ordination to a call of spiritual direction. If you sense God’s tug on your life towards ministry, let’s talk. You might be someone’s appreciated pastor someday too!