July 26, 2010

WOO HOO!!!

I heard back from LSTC today and this is an excerpt from the email:

Hi Jen,

Congratulations! On behalf of the admissions committee at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago I am pleased to let you know that you have been accepted to the Master of Divinity program beginning fall 2011. An acceptance letter will be sent shortly.

July 6, 2010

Heard back that my final paperwork is in the mail. Now I just have to wait to hear from Pr. Gafkjen about when my Entrance Panel will be. Should be before the Candidacy Committee meeting in August. When I have this panel, I will meet with at least three members of the Candidacy Committee. They will ask me questions and discuss some of the entry paperwork I have already completed. They will make a recommendation to the entire Committee who will then decide if I receive a Positive Entrance Decision. This would mean that I have been accepted into the candidacy process and can begin seminary studies.

June 30, 2010

I emailed the Synod office today, making sure that my file is complete and ready for Entrance Panel once they receive that psych report (which should be in the mail). Was told that when they receive the report, everything is in except one form. So I need to do some investigating and make sure it gets sent in.

June 28, 2010

Received an email from LSTC that my application is now complete and the admissions committee will be reviewing it soon. Hopefully will hear back from them in the next 2 weeks or so.

I met with Dr. VanTatenhove today. It was a good meeting, once I finally got there. Mapquest sent me on some tiny country highway and when I got to my destination, I didn't realize that there was an Asbury University as well as Asbury Seminary. So when I saw signs for Asbury, I just assumed it was the seminary. So I drove around for longer than I needed to and had to call him a few times before we finally found each other.

He took me on a short tour and history of the campus before we went to an office in the library. He handed me my report and the first thing I did was start laughing. My middle name is Marie. They had it as Mane. (I know I have bad hand writing, but not that bad!) Also, on the cover page, it indicated that I worked for Empire Taxi. He asked if I drove a cab. I laughed and said "That's supposed to be Empire TAX!" So, by this time, with these two errors on the first page, I was getting a little concerned about the rest of the report. But there were no other errors like that. It basically said that I need to work on self-confidence and assertiveness (REALLY??) but that I could handle seminary and the ministry. So, that's good. However, in one place it says that I lack the ability to quickly bounce back from hurts. The very next page it says I rebound quickly from hurts. I guess that means I can be inconsistent?? I'll read it closer when I get my copy.

June 25, 2010

He sent me an email, saying the reference was in the mail.

June 24, 2010

Dr. VanTatenhove called and said he was in town until Wednesday. We decided to meet on Monday to discuss my psych report. I'm kind of excited, but also nervous. What is it going to say?

I also decided I should check on my LSTC application. I sent it in Mid-May and got a response that they received it and were waiting on my Sullivan transcript and three references. I emailed the admissions department today and was told that the only thing missing was one of my references. So I emailed him and he promised to get it out by tomorrow.

June 6, 2010

June 4-6 was the Annual Assembly for the INKY Synod. It was held in Covington, KY. I went as a volunteer. It was a good learning experience. Friday night I counted votes for the first ballot for Bishop. Saturday I was a plenary session Page. Got to hand out papers and answer questions. In the afternoon, I sat at the voter registration desk and registered voters for the General Election. Saturday evening we elected a new Bishop - Pr. Gafkjen! Saturday night was a reception and banquet for Bishop Stuck, who retired after 12 years as Bishop. Sunday morning I met with Pr. Santoro. He's my contact person on the Candidacy Committee. We had breakfast and chatted for about an hour. Also chatted briefly with Pr. Wood. He is the chair of the Candidacy Committee, and he's also the pastor at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Seymour, IN. I grew up in Seymour. However, I grew up Missouri Synod, so that is NOT the church I grew up in.

I enjoyed being a volunteer. 1) It allowed me to be there for free. 2) I didn't feel like I HAD to be there. When I wasn't actually doing volunteer things, I just hung out in the background, listening and observing. 3) I got to see a lot of people I knew and meet many new people. 4) I learned a lot about what NOT to do as a pastor by observing other pastors and what they were doing. Don't be rude. Don't be arrogant. Don't stand directly in front of someone who is clearly trying to listen to the speaker and talk loudly. Unfortunately, I observed all of these characteristics in FEMALE pastors. I think many of them feel that they have to prove something because they aren't men, but come on!

Synod Assembly also gave me a chance to hang out and talk with a few members of St. John outside of the church setting.