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Rev. Stephenie Henson Interview · What You Have Seen and Heard

0:00
SPEAKER_00: Well hello again and welcome back to another episode of What You Have Seen and Heard.
0:03
SPEAKER_00: It comes from when the delegation from John the Baptist came to Jesus
0:06
SPEAKER_00: and they weren't sure if he was the Messiah or if they should be waiting
0:09
SPEAKER_00: for somebody else and Jesus said go back and tell him what you have seen and heard.
0:13
SPEAKER_00: And so my name is Travis Stevick,
0:14
SPEAKER_00: I am a pastor I'm a pastor in Northwest Iowa,
0:19
SPEAKER_00: and this is just a series of conversations where I get to hear people talk
0:22
SPEAKER_00: about what they have seen and heard,
0:23
SPEAKER_00: the experiences they've had with God,
0:24
SPEAKER_00: the way God's moving in their midst, and that's really all there is to this series.
0:29
SPEAKER_00: Today, our guest is Stephanie Henson,
0:33
SPEAKER_00: and she has just recently begun being under appointment as the associate pastor
0:39
SPEAKER_00: at Prairie Creek Church.
0:41
SPEAKER_00: And so if you've been watching this for a while,
0:43
SPEAKER_00: Ben Wedeking was an earlier interview that we had, and he's the senior pastor there.
0:46
SPEAKER_00: And also, I want to introduce that.
0:49
SPEAKER_00: So welcome, Stephanie, to this conversation.
0:53
SPEAKER_01: Hi, Travis.
0:54
SPEAKER_01: How are you?
0:55
SPEAKER_00: I'm doing well.
0:55
SPEAKER_00: And by the way, I want to make sure I lift up.
0:57
SPEAKER_00: Congratulations.
0:58
SPEAKER_00: Stephanie was also ordained as a deacon at this last annual conference in Sioux City.
1:01
SPEAKER_00: So congratulations to that.
1:03
SPEAKER_01: Thank you very, very much.
1:05
SPEAKER_01: It was a beautiful day.
1:07
SPEAKER_00: It really was.
1:08
SPEAKER_00: So the question that I start off with everybody is tell us a bit of the story
1:12
SPEAKER_00: of how it is you became a Christian in the first place,
1:14
SPEAKER_00: or if you've been a Christian your whole life,
1:16
SPEAKER_00: how you began to take God more seriously.
1:20
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:21
SPEAKER_01: So Bishop Webb actually also asked this question sort of when we met with him before
1:27
SPEAKER_01: the ordination ceremony and everything.
1:30
SPEAKER_01: And I told him I had kind of flirted with Jesus my whole life is how I responded.
1:36
SPEAKER_01: I grew up in church.
1:38
SPEAKER_01: My grandfather was actually a pastor in the Nazarene church.
1:41
SPEAKER_01: I have an aunt who's a pastor in the Nazarene church, great grandparents, all of that.
1:46
SPEAKER_01: So I grew up in the church.
1:49
SPEAKER_01: And I was that kind of kid who like every time there was an altar call,
1:51
SPEAKER_01: I was up there every time.
1:53
SPEAKER_01: Maybe this time it'll stick kind of thing.
1:56
SPEAKER_00: Right.
1:57
SPEAKER_01: But never really like dove deep into it.
2:00
SPEAKER_01: And then when I was 23,
2:05
SPEAKER_01: probably,
2:07
SPEAKER_01: I became pregnant with my firstborn son and my husband and I weren't married yet.
2:12
SPEAKER_01: And I was told by my small group leader at that point in time that
2:16
SPEAKER_01: that was not God's plan for my life.
2:19
SPEAKER_01: And so I walked away from the church entirely for a while because that Even
2:26
SPEAKER_01: while possibly true, that really stung a lot.
2:30
SPEAKER_01: And then when we were 27,
2:33
SPEAKER_01: my husband and I,
2:34
SPEAKER_01: we were driving down the road one day and he did not grow up in the church.
2:38
SPEAKER_01: I did.
2:39
SPEAKER_01: And I missed it deeply.
2:41
SPEAKER_01: And he said to me, you know, we're 27 years old.
2:43
SPEAKER_01: It's time we figure this God thing out.
2:46
SPEAKER_00: Sure.
2:46
SPEAKER_01: Let's find a church.
2:48
SPEAKER_01: And I was like, Oh, okay.
2:52
SPEAKER_01: So we did, we started church shopping.
2:54
SPEAKER_01: We wound up at what was then Grimes United Methodist Church.
2:57
SPEAKER_01: And that was where we found God and started taking this relationship really,
3:02
SPEAKER_01: really seriously and have not once looked back since that point in time.
3:10
SPEAKER_00: So again, so you are somebody who has just ordained as a deacon.
3:13
SPEAKER_00: You are, I believe, pursuing ordination as an elder.
3:16
SPEAKER_00: And so God has called you at some point in this process into Call
3:20
SPEAKER_00: into not just ministry in general, but to pursue ordained ministry.
3:24
SPEAKER_00: So what was that calling like for you?
3:29
SPEAKER_01: So I was actually called into ministry when I was 16.
3:33
SPEAKER_01: I was in church one day.
3:35
SPEAKER_01: My grandpa was preaching and he stopped the service, like just stopped it dead.
3:41
SPEAKER_01: And he goes, somebody in this room just received a call into ministry.
3:46
SPEAKER_01: And I was sitting there and you know how you get that like Holy Spirit conviction
3:49
SPEAKER_01: and your guts start going and you're just like, oh my gosh, no.
3:53
SPEAKER_00: Right.
3:53
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
3:53
SPEAKER_01: No.
3:54
SPEAKER_01: But then you can't fight it.
3:56
SPEAKER_01: Right.
3:57
SPEAKER_01: So I finally stood up.
3:58
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, it's me.
4:01
SPEAKER_01: I have never seen that man so proud in his entire life is that moment when I stood up.
4:05
SPEAKER_01: But at that point in time, like I was 16 and I had.
4:11
SPEAKER_01: No mentor whatsoever.
4:13
SPEAKER_01: I had nobody who walked alongside me in that who said, okay, here's what comes next.
4:18
SPEAKER_01: And so I quickly was like, no, that's really scary.
4:21
SPEAKER_01: I want to be a doctor.
4:22
SPEAKER_01: That's what I want to do.
4:24
SPEAKER_01: So I'm going to run away from that.
4:29
SPEAKER_01: And then I did for a really, really long time.
4:33
SPEAKER_01: Ben, when he came to our church, he immediately saw that gifting in me.
4:39
SPEAKER_01: And he started calling it out and saying, Steph,
4:42
SPEAKER_01: I really think this is something that you're called to do that you should be doing.
4:46
SPEAKER_01: And I was like, nope, that is not something that women do.
4:51
SPEAKER_01: I had that struggle at that point in time.
4:53
SPEAKER_01: And so he was very gentle with me in that over the process of a lot of years walking
5:01
SPEAKER_01: through, what does this look like?
5:03
SPEAKER_01: Here's how women can do this.
5:06
SPEAKER_01: Why do you believe this?
5:08
SPEAKER_01: Let's talk about these Bible passages and why.
5:12
SPEAKER_01: And then one day he said, Steph, I want a woman to preach in church.
5:16
SPEAKER_01: I want you to come up with a list of women because I led our women's ministry
5:19
SPEAKER_01: who you think could preach in church.
5:21
SPEAKER_01: And so I took it back to my team and they all looked at me and they're like,
5:24
SPEAKER_01: why are you not the first person on this list?
5:26
SPEAKER_00: Sure, right.
5:28
SPEAKER_01: You know, and I was like, because I told Ben I would never do that.
5:32
SPEAKER_01: And they're like, but why?
5:34
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, right.
5:37
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I went back and said, okay, but I guess I'm the person that is going to do that.
5:43
SPEAKER_01: So I was 38 years old when I preached my first sermon during Advent.
5:50
SPEAKER_01: I fought my call for 22 long years.
5:54
SPEAKER_01: And that day,
5:55
SPEAKER_01: standing on that stage,
5:57
SPEAKER_01: giving my first sermon was when I felt God's good pleasure shine down on me.
6:02
SPEAKER_01: And I was like, oh, yeah.
6:04
SPEAKER_01: This is what I'm meant for.
6:06
SPEAKER_01: And we've been here ever since working on it.
6:10
SPEAKER_00: I kind of want to, I hate, you know, I worry about this a little bit.
6:13
SPEAKER_00: I'm not trying to put you on the spot or answer for a whole group of people,
6:15
SPEAKER_00: but you talked about struggling with the idea of women preaching and being pastors.
6:21
SPEAKER_00: And you had already shared with us that your grandmother was a pastor in the Nazarene Church.
6:26
SPEAKER_00: Can you share a little more about just,
6:27
SPEAKER_00: so I want to make sure I'm really clear before we go into this.
6:30
SPEAKER_00: The Global Methodist Church unashamedly, wholeheartedly endorses women in pastoral ministry.
6:35
SPEAKER_00: And I want to make sure that it's abundantly clear that That as the host
6:38
SPEAKER_00: of this conversation, I also vehemently, enthusiastically support women in ministry.
6:43
SPEAKER_00: But I also have been very sympathetic to the fact that there have been many men
6:47
SPEAKER_00: and women who are hesitant about it.
6:51
SPEAKER_00: And I'm always interested to hear a bit about how that transition happens for you
6:55
SPEAKER_00: for someone like you who went from being skeptical of it to being convinced of it,
6:59
SPEAKER_00: especially when you sometimes...
7:02
SPEAKER_00: Sorry, because sometimes I've heard stories about,
7:03
SPEAKER_00: I just didn't have female preachers in my life.
7:06
SPEAKER_00: So it just never occurred to me, but you, you did have somebody.
7:08
SPEAKER_00: So how did all that work out for you?
7:11
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
7:12
SPEAKER_01: Um, so I didn't have a lot of, it was my aunt.
7:15
SPEAKER_01: It's my grandpa's sister.
7:16
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I'm sorry.
7:16
SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, totally.
7:18
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
7:18
SPEAKER_01: I just, I didn't have a lot of access to her growing up.
7:21
SPEAKER_01: Um, so that was a little different.
7:23
SPEAKER_01: It was something like I knew that she did.
7:25
SPEAKER_01: And even at the time could feel like that's interesting.
7:28
SPEAKER_01: That's different.
7:29
SPEAKER_01: Why?
7:31
SPEAKER_01: But then I had an uncle on the other side of my family who one day used the Bible
7:38
SPEAKER_01: against me and told me that I couldn't tell him anything.
7:41
SPEAKER_01: And the Bible says that I'm supposed to sit and be silent.
7:44
SPEAKER_01: And that negativity stuck with me more than any encouragement ever did.
7:51
SPEAKER_01: Right.
7:54
SPEAKER_01: So when I brought those verses up, like, Ben,
7:58
SPEAKER_01: and also Josh, Dom,
7:59
SPEAKER_01: who is our worship director,
8:01
SPEAKER_01: they were both really,
8:02
SPEAKER_01: really helpful in this,
8:04
SPEAKER_01: just helping me understand,
8:05
SPEAKER_01: because I wasn't in school then,
8:07
SPEAKER_01: I still haven't taken Greek or Hebrew yet,
8:08
SPEAKER_01: so I still can't pull all those words out, but they can.
8:12
SPEAKER_01: And so they were really helpful in helping me understand what the words actually mean.
8:16
SPEAKER_01: They were helpful in Showing me, okay, yes, Paul says this here, but here he said this.
8:23
SPEAKER_01: And we believe the Bible's inerrant.
8:24
SPEAKER_01: We believe it doesn't contradict itself.
8:26
SPEAKER_01: So why?
8:27
SPEAKER_01: Why does it do this?
8:29
SPEAKER_01: And one thing that the congregation will tell you is that Steph always says context is king.
8:34
SPEAKER_00: I believe that firmly.
8:36
SPEAKER_01: So when they brought that context to me,
8:38
SPEAKER_01: like I was able to wrestle through that and say, I think that they're right.
8:42
SPEAKER_01: They're right.
8:43
SPEAKER_01: And I can do this.
8:46
SPEAKER_01: And then...
8:47
SPEAKER_01: Ben went to New Room and he brought me back Bishop Moore's book,
8:52
SPEAKER_00: When Women Lead.
8:53
SPEAKER_00: Oh, sure.
8:54
SPEAKER_00: It was the year it came out.
8:56
SPEAKER_01: And I read that book and I just cried through the whole thing because I was like,
9:00
SPEAKER_01: yep, this is exactly, exactly what we go through.
9:04
SPEAKER_01: And she gets it.
9:05
SPEAKER_01: She understands.
9:06
SPEAKER_01: And it helped him understand more of the struggle that I was facing too
9:09
SPEAKER_01: so he could counsel better through that.
9:11
SPEAKER_01: And then he actually had me reach out to her.
9:14
SPEAKER_01: He's like, Just do it.
9:16
SPEAKER_01: Just reach out to her.
9:17
SPEAKER_01: See if she'll talk to you, if she'll mentor you.
9:19
SPEAKER_01: And that woman is incredibly gracious.
9:21
SPEAKER_01: And she absolutely did.
9:23
SPEAKER_01: She just, she conversed with me via email for a while.
9:25
SPEAKER_01: She told me I could call her if I needed to.
9:28
SPEAKER_01: And really helped me just come around to that fact that,
9:32
SPEAKER_01: no, this is something that God has called me to do.
9:35
SPEAKER_01: And he doesn't make mistakes.
9:37
SPEAKER_01: He does not make mistakes.
9:39
SPEAKER_01: So I can do this too.
9:41
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
9:41
SPEAKER_01: It was a long process, but everybody was incredibly gentle in it.
9:44
SPEAKER_01: So it was good.
9:45
SPEAKER_00: I think it's always very interesting to see where people draw the line between Paul,
9:50
SPEAKER_00: for example,
9:51
SPEAKER_00: giving a piece of advice that must be true for everybody always and everywhere and
9:55
SPEAKER_00: where he's context specific.
9:56
SPEAKER_00: Because on the one hand,
9:57
SPEAKER_00: he does say at one point boldly,
9:59
SPEAKER_00: you know, yes, I want women to be quiet in churches.
10:01
SPEAKER_00: But it's the same Paul who then also says when the women are prophesying in
10:05
SPEAKER_00: the church,
10:06
SPEAKER_00: when the women are proclaiming in the church,
10:07
SPEAKER_00: this is how they should go about doing it.
10:08
SPEAKER_00: So it's just an interesting, you know, Bible interpretation is hard.
10:14
SPEAKER_00: And if it was obvious as reading just one verse and taking it as
10:18
SPEAKER_00: a blanket statement, it wouldn't be hard, but it's really hard.
10:22
SPEAKER_00: So you are currently enrolled,
10:24
SPEAKER_00: because you're in this gap between being ordained as a deacon and being ordained as
10:28
SPEAKER_00: an elder, that means you're in the midst of education.
10:30
SPEAKER_00: Can you tell me a bit about what your education looks like
10:33
SPEAKER_00: and what you feel like you've gained because of it?
10:38
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
10:39
SPEAKER_01: So I started this process in course of study at Wesley Biblical Seminary,
10:43
SPEAKER_01: which is a fantastic school.
10:45
SPEAKER_01: Love them.
10:48
SPEAKER_01: And it's all master's level classes.
10:51
SPEAKER_01: It is all master's level classes.
10:53
SPEAKER_01: It's the same for everybody.
10:54
SPEAKER_01: The only difference is that course of study is cheaper and you take it pass fail.
10:59
SPEAKER_01: So that's helpful when you're a full time mom and full time working
11:05
SPEAKER_01: and homeschooling your kids and Preaching at church and doing all the things, right?
11:09
SPEAKER_01: So that's really helpful.
11:13
SPEAKER_01: It's been good.
11:15
SPEAKER_01: I just now became an actual master student instead of course of study student.
11:22
SPEAKER_01: They reached out with an opportunity and it was too good to pass up.
11:25
SPEAKER_01: So now I will actually have an MDiv by the time I get to the end of all of this.
11:30
SPEAKER_01: All right.
11:31
SPEAKER_01: Which course of study is almost enough to get you your master's anyway.
11:35
SPEAKER_01: You're really only a couple of classes short.
11:39
SPEAKER_01: So I have gained a lot.
11:42
SPEAKER_01: The very first class I took was Discipleship and Spiritual Formation
11:46
SPEAKER_01: with Professor Matt Friedemann.
11:48
SPEAKER_01: That class changed my life, literally.
11:53
SPEAKER_01: He has a requirement for every single one of his classes that all
11:56
SPEAKER_01: of his students will spend at least
11:58
SPEAKER_00: one hour every single day in
12:00
SPEAKER_01: the Word and
12:01
SPEAKER_01: in prayer.
12:03
SPEAKER_01: And they will have a work of mercy in their lives that they will do at least once a week.
12:07
SPEAKER_01: And you get graded on it.
12:08
SPEAKER_01: You have to keep track of it.
12:09
SPEAKER_01: And if your grade in the class cannot exceed the percent of time
12:14
SPEAKER_01: that you spent doing those things.
12:17
SPEAKER_01: So you did it 80% of the days,
12:19
SPEAKER_01: your grade can't be higher than an 80% no matter what else you do.
12:22
SPEAKER_01: All right.
12:24
SPEAKER_01: And that literally has shaped how I view my devotional time with God.
12:31
SPEAKER_01: It's not just like something that you just can do in five minutes.
12:34
SPEAKER_01: It's not.
12:35
SPEAKER_01: If you're truly going to enter in and worship and be with him, you need that time.
12:39
SPEAKER_01: And it's beautiful.
12:40
SPEAKER_01: And when I don't have it, I'm a whole different person.
12:44
SPEAKER_01: And then the work of mercy too.
12:46
SPEAKER_01: We are people who believe in holiness.
12:48
SPEAKER_01: We are people who believe in entire sanctification and that we can achieve it.
12:53
SPEAKER_01: But we can't achieve it unless we are doing all of these things that Jesus says to do.
12:57
SPEAKER_01: And part of that is giving of ourselves to the needy,
13:01
SPEAKER_01: the orphan, the widow, the prisoner, the foreigner and all of these things.
13:05
SPEAKER_01: So that first class alone just like drastically shaped who I seek to be as a pastor and
13:16
SPEAKER_01: And the time I spend with God is great.
13:18
SPEAKER_01: And every class since then has just built on that foundation.
13:22
SPEAKER_01: I would say my Old Testament class challenged me really hard.
13:28
SPEAKER_01: It just it really did because it just they sought to challenge all of your preconceived notions.
13:34
SPEAKER_01: Right.
13:35
SPEAKER_01: And so it was one of those that just like stretches you kind of thing.
13:38
SPEAKER_01: That was great.
13:40
SPEAKER_01: New Testament, I was like, no, I'm here for this.
13:44
SPEAKER_01: But everybody is.
13:47
SPEAKER_01: That's just kind of the difference there.
13:48
SPEAKER_01: But it's been really, really good.
13:51
SPEAKER_01: One of the last classes I took was pastoral leadership and
13:53
SPEAKER_01: about just how we lead not only the church,
13:57
SPEAKER_01: our flock, but how we lead our staff and one another.
14:01
SPEAKER_01: And that was incredibly helpful to me, especially as I'm starting this new role now.
14:06
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's been good.
14:07
SPEAKER_01: It's a lot of work.
14:09
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
14:09
SPEAKER_01: It's a lot of work.
14:12
SPEAKER_01: Even course of study is a lot of work.
14:15
SPEAKER_01: It's hard to get there, but I think that it's worth it and it's valuable.
14:21
SPEAKER_00: I think we're an interesting time here because I know when I went to seminary,
14:25
SPEAKER_00: I went to a seminary that is not one that's perfectly aligned with
14:29
SPEAKER_00: the Globe Methodist Church today, but it was an excellent school when I went there.
14:32
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
14:34
SPEAKER_00: And one of the things that set
14:35
SPEAKER_00: that school apart was pretty much every professor had either been a pastor
14:38
SPEAKER_00: or had been a missionary, you know, or some kind of capacity.
14:40
SPEAKER_00: And so they were really teaching you from the from the wellspring of they've been
14:44
SPEAKER_00: in these trenches, they know what a life given the ministry is.
14:48
SPEAKER_00: And it was so unusual Also because you always heard these stories
14:50
SPEAKER_00: about these professional academics who had never really set foot in a pulpit,
14:56
SPEAKER_00: never had to run a meeting, never had to do a tough funeral.
14:59
SPEAKER_00: And it got to the point where there were people who would share
15:02
SPEAKER_00: about their experience in seminary and would lament that it was the driest,
15:07
SPEAKER_00: most spiritually empty time of their life.
15:11
SPEAKER_00: And one of the things I really appreciate about how our schools
15:14
SPEAKER_00: that are training Global Methodist pastors Are approaching things is they really do
15:18
SPEAKER_00: want to make this education a thing that's going to be, it's going to challenge you.
15:22
SPEAKER_00: It's going to stretch you.
15:22
SPEAKER_00: You're going to have to think about ideas you've never had to think about before.
15:27
SPEAKER_00: But it's all driven by this passion and commitment to excellence and discipleship.
15:33
SPEAKER_00: And I think that we are at a fascinating moment in the life of the church
15:37
SPEAKER_00: with education that allows us to do that.
15:40
SPEAKER_00: And I think that's, I'm really glad that you, you were not the first person.
15:43
SPEAKER_00: Erin Wetzel also shared about how she had, must have the same professor in the same class.
15:47
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
15:47
SPEAKER_00: About how that was also, that was life changing for her too.
15:50
SPEAKER_00: And so if nothing else,
15:52
SPEAKER_00: if you're watching this and you,
15:53
SPEAKER_00: and like I said, well, I'm not being called to ministry.
15:55
SPEAKER_00: Well, first of all, you are called to ministry, whether it's pastoral ministry or not.
15:58
SPEAKER_00: But if you're not called to seminary, well, that's fine.
16:00
SPEAKER_00: But you should still spend the time every day,
16:04
SPEAKER_00: you know, in the word and in prayer because it is life changing.
16:08
SPEAKER_01: I love too that you brought that up because like every teacher
16:11
SPEAKER_01: that I've had has been bivocational.
16:14
SPEAKER_01: They're professors,
16:15
SPEAKER_01: yes, but they're also pastors or associate pastors or something else as well.
16:19
SPEAKER_01: And that has been helpful too because currently I'm bivocational.
16:24
SPEAKER_01: And so they have been really good about saying, no, guys, you can do this.
16:28
SPEAKER_01: You can be a pastor and also be this.
16:32
SPEAKER_01: And it's okay.
16:33
SPEAKER_01: You can do both things.
16:34
SPEAKER_01: You can do both things well.
16:36
SPEAKER_01: You just have to learn how, but you can.
16:39
SPEAKER_01: And pastors were not called to hide in churches.
16:41
SPEAKER_00: Right.
16:42
SPEAKER_01: We were not.
16:43
SPEAKER_01: We were called to be out there in the community and serving and loving them.
16:47
SPEAKER_01: And so I think it's really,
16:48
SPEAKER_01: really important that they know that and that they're able to share that experience
16:54
SPEAKER_01: as well with all of us.
16:56
SPEAKER_00: It's been good.
16:57
SPEAKER_00: So you have now...
17:00
SPEAKER_00: I guess I don't know how long you've officially been an associate pastor
17:02
SPEAKER_00: under appointment, but so you're transitioning from a week.
17:06
SPEAKER_00: OK, OK, a week.
17:06
SPEAKER_00: OK. All right.
17:07
SPEAKER_00: So maybe this is too early to ask this question,
17:08
SPEAKER_00: but maybe you have other experience where you can draw on.
17:11
SPEAKER_00: You know,
17:12
SPEAKER_00: you're in this transitional period from being on one side of the pulpit to being on
17:15
SPEAKER_00: the other side of the pulpit.
17:17
SPEAKER_00: Has what has been what has been good and bad about that so far?
17:22
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I've been official for a week,
17:25
SPEAKER_01: but this has definitely changed since June 21st when that title came.
17:31
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I sat and told Ben last week one of the greatest challenges
17:36
SPEAKER_01: that I have had is people reaching out to me now
17:39
SPEAKER_01: because suddenly they're reaching out to me for church-specific things,
17:42
SPEAKER_01: even before I was officially appointed.
17:44
SPEAKER_01: Like, Steph, I would like to talk about this.
17:47
SPEAKER_01: Okay, are you reaching out to me as a pastor or are you reaching out to me as your friend?
17:52
SPEAKER_00: Right.
17:53
SPEAKER_01: Because we've been friends.
17:54
SPEAKER_01: I've been at that church for 15 years.
17:56
SPEAKER_00: Right.
17:57
SPEAKER_01: You know, so there's that line there of I don't know how to respond to you right now.
18:06
SPEAKER_01: Do you need pastoral care or do you need me to be your friend?
18:09
SPEAKER_00: Right.
18:09
SPEAKER_01: Right.
18:10
SPEAKER_01: So that's been really hard for me.
18:13
SPEAKER_00: I believe it.
18:15
SPEAKER_00: I had some dear friends,
18:17
SPEAKER_00: just because this is such a parallel thing,
18:18
SPEAKER_00: and I think that it's hard for people who have not made that transition
18:21
SPEAKER_00: to understand.
18:23
SPEAKER_00: Very, very dear friends.
18:25
SPEAKER_00: The husband of the, well, they weren't married yet, but it was the husband.
18:28
SPEAKER_00: Travis Stevick, travisstevick.
18:48
SPEAKER_00: To talk to our pastor and you have answered as our friend.
18:51
SPEAKER_00: And I went, Oh my goodness.
18:53
SPEAKER_00: I had not realized how big of a difference that might be.
18:56
SPEAKER_00: So they, they got into the habit cause it was just the two of them.
18:58
SPEAKER_00: I wasn't at the, in that area for 15 years.
19:00
SPEAKER_00: Um, they got to the point where they would,
19:02
SPEAKER_00: whenever they would signal, it's time to talk about church stuff.
19:04
SPEAKER_00: They would say pastor Travis,
19:06
SPEAKER_00: you know,
19:07
SPEAKER_00: or speaking as a pastor,
19:08
SPEAKER_00: but that,
19:09
SPEAKER_00: that is a,
19:10
SPEAKER_00: you know, um, it is,
19:12
SPEAKER_00: I will be surprised if that is the biggest, um, Difficult do you have with that?
19:17
SPEAKER_00: Because Jesus does not say for nothing that no prophet is without honor except in his hometown.
19:22
SPEAKER_00: I imagine there's going to be some really fulfilling moments and also some challenging ones.
19:26
SPEAKER_00: That's my prediction anyway, just of how people work.
19:29
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
19:30
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it was beautiful when I came back and preached for the first time
19:34
SPEAKER_01: and Ben introduced me as Pastor Steph for the first time and everybody just cheered
19:38
SPEAKER_01: and hollered.
19:39
SPEAKER_01: That was great because they've walked this whole journey with me and have known
19:45
SPEAKER_01: the whole time what's going on.
19:46
SPEAKER_00: Right.
19:47
SPEAKER_01: So that was wonderful.
19:48
SPEAKER_01: And I haven't had any opposition from any congregants or anything like that.
19:52
SPEAKER_01: So they have just neatly shifted over to Steph's a pastor now and that's totally fine.
19:58
SPEAKER_01: They're okay with it.
19:58
SPEAKER_01: But yeah, it's been more in me.
20:01
SPEAKER_01: Okay, wait, how do I respond to this right now?
20:03
SPEAKER_00: Sure.
20:04
SPEAKER_01: And just being able to step back and ask that question.
20:06
SPEAKER_01: How do you need me to respond right now?
20:08
SPEAKER_00: Right, right.
20:10
SPEAKER_00: So what I mean, so what is what does ministry look like for you?
20:14
SPEAKER_00: Again, it's new, I suppose, with the official title.
20:16
SPEAKER_00: But yeah, you know, what is how does your thing?
20:21
SPEAKER_00: So my question kind of is, what does ministry look like for you?
20:23
SPEAKER_00: But I appreciate that may that may go beyond the church.
20:26
SPEAKER_00: But, you know,
20:28
SPEAKER_00: how would you answer the question of what does ministry look like for you right now?
20:32
SPEAKER_01: So right now I preach and on the second Sunday of every month, I teach regularly.
20:39
SPEAKER_01: I will be teaching, I think, a class on Sunday mornings starting this fall.
20:44
SPEAKER_01: But I also have a Bible study, a women's Bible study that I have led for the last 11 years.
20:49
SPEAKER_01: We meet every Thursday morning and I teach that and love that.
20:53
SPEAKER_01: I'm doing pastoral care now.
20:55
SPEAKER_01: I've taken that over from Ben so that he has somebody else who can go out
20:59
SPEAKER_01: and see everybody and do that.
21:02
SPEAKER_01: And I am helping Josh with all of our discipleship things.
21:06
SPEAKER_01: We are launching discipleship at Prairie Creek in a new way, and we're really excited about it.
21:15
SPEAKER_01: So that's all starting.
21:17
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, it's all of those things right now.
21:19
SPEAKER_01: And really just being able to,
21:24
SPEAKER_01: my whole goal as far as ministry is to encourage other people
21:32
SPEAKER_01: I want you to know the Bible,
21:35
SPEAKER_01: to know it deeply,
21:36
SPEAKER_01: what it says and why it matters because it does and be able to love Jesus more
21:42
SPEAKER_01: because of that.
21:42
SPEAKER_01: So every time I get up to preach or teach or anything, that's my whole goal.
21:46
SPEAKER_01: I want you to understand it so that you can love it.
21:50
SPEAKER_00: I think there's a vitality.
21:54
SPEAKER_00: That someone who's in the phase of ministry that you're in is so important.
21:58
SPEAKER_00: And I want to highlight that because too often times,
22:01
SPEAKER_00: because I've been a pastor now for 20 years.
22:04
SPEAKER_00: And I started earlier than some people do.
22:06
SPEAKER_00: And it is a huge temptation always, I think.
22:08
SPEAKER_00: The longer you do it, the more it becomes.
22:09
SPEAKER_00: Like, you know,
22:10
SPEAKER_00: people always say,
22:11
SPEAKER_00: you know, you should do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life.
22:15
SPEAKER_00: I find that sometimes,
22:17
SPEAKER_00: at least, it's,
22:18
SPEAKER_00: you know,
22:18
SPEAKER_00: do what you,
22:19
SPEAKER_00: you know,
22:20
SPEAKER_00: do what you love and you have now taken something you have loved
22:23
SPEAKER_00: and made it your job, made it work.
22:24
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
22:26
SPEAKER_00: And I think it's important,
22:27
SPEAKER_00: it's easy for people who have been around the block a few times to feel like, oh,
22:30
SPEAKER_00: we've been there,
22:30
SPEAKER_00: we've done that, and we have all kinds of baggage that we bring to it.
22:35
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes,
22:36
SPEAKER_00: because I remember,
22:37
SPEAKER_00: I think it drove me the most nuts when I was just starting as a pastor.
22:41
SPEAKER_00: I hadn't gone to seminary yet,
22:42
SPEAKER_00: I was just starting that,
22:43
SPEAKER_00: and people would say, well, Travis,
22:44
SPEAKER_00: someday,
22:45
SPEAKER_00: someday you'll finish your school,
22:46
SPEAKER_00: and then you might have something worthwhile to talk about.
22:49
SPEAKER_00: And that idea about how until you've reached a certain level, your voice doesn't count.
22:54
SPEAKER_00: Just drove me absolutely nuts.
22:56
SPEAKER_00: And so part of the reason why I've been deliberately talking to a lot of folks
22:59
SPEAKER_00: who are still in the educational process,
23:00
SPEAKER_00: who are still relatively new, is one,
23:03
SPEAKER_00: so everyone can kind of get a sense of who God's raising up in the midst of this,
23:06
SPEAKER_00: but also to be reminded of that urgency that we really need to never lose.
23:11
SPEAKER_00: And unfortunately, sometimes we can.
23:14
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
23:15
SPEAKER_00: You shared, so you say you're bivocational.
23:17
SPEAKER_00: So you're doing another job at the same time.
23:20
SPEAKER_00: What is the nature of that job?
23:23
SPEAKER_00: I have a follow-up question too, but let's start with that.
23:25
SPEAKER_01: I manage people.
23:26
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
23:28
SPEAKER_01: I manage a centralized scheduling department for home care and hospice here in central Iowa.
23:35
SPEAKER_01: Well, actually it's all across Iowa.
23:37
SPEAKER_01: We have regions everywhere.
23:39
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, that's what I do.
23:41
SPEAKER_00: I manage people.
23:43
SPEAKER_00: So how, if it does at all,
23:45
SPEAKER_00: and maybe the answer is it doesn't,
23:46
SPEAKER_00: but how does this, if at all, interact with your experience as clergy?
23:52
SPEAKER_00: How does that, does that change anything?
23:53
SPEAKER_00: Does that shift your engagement or does it have any unexpected interactions?
24:00
SPEAKER_01: Does it shift my engagement towards congregation or towards my staff?
24:04
SPEAKER_00: However.
24:05
SPEAKER_01: Or which?
24:07
SPEAKER_01: Actually...
24:09
SPEAKER_01: I would say I view my staff more through the shepherd lens than I do the boss lens,
24:14
SPEAKER_01: to be perfectly honest.
24:17
SPEAKER_01: There are times where I have to be the boss and make crummy decisions, and that really stinks.
24:23
SPEAKER_01: But at the same time,
24:24
SPEAKER_01: I find myself more,
24:26
SPEAKER_01: even with them,
24:27
SPEAKER_01: wanting to care for their hearts and make sure that they're okay versus being
24:35
SPEAKER_01: the hard-nosed, hard-lined boss.
24:37
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
24:38
SPEAKER_01: I look at them as people first and they are my people.
24:42
SPEAKER_01: I've been given responsibility for them and I want to steward them well
24:45
SPEAKER_00: as well.
24:45
SPEAKER_01: Does that make sense?
24:47
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
24:47
SPEAKER_00: Does your background in management, does that play a role?
24:54
SPEAKER_00: Have you seen that equipping you in some ways for this new phase of ministry in life?
25:00
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
25:01
SPEAKER_01: I think that will help me manage a staff eventually of my own as well
25:06
SPEAKER_01: and just really get to like It's the part of pastoring that nobody likes, right?
25:11
SPEAKER_01: So like you're a pastor of a church,
25:12
SPEAKER_01: but then all of a sudden there's all these like logistics and you have
25:16
SPEAKER_01: to keep meetings for minutes and you have to plan things and you have to manage
25:19
SPEAKER_01: the staff.
25:20
SPEAKER_00: Like you just
25:21
SPEAKER_01: want to get up and you want to be the pastor and you want to preach
25:23
SPEAKER_01: and you want to take care of people.
25:24
SPEAKER_01: And those are the things that we all like, right?
25:26
SPEAKER_01: That's why we want to do this job.
25:28
SPEAKER_01: But at the same time, God has like taken because nothing, nothing is ever wasted.
25:35
SPEAKER_01: So he's taken all of these years where I said, no, I'm not going to go into ministry.
25:40
SPEAKER_01: And he's moved me into this capacity where I manage people and I've done it for
25:44
SPEAKER_01: the last, I don't know, 10 years now, more than 10 years now.
25:49
SPEAKER_01: And so that when I get to that point,
25:51
SPEAKER_01: like I have this knowledge of what it is to maintain a budget and a calendar
25:57
SPEAKER_01: and our staff and All of these things,
25:59
SPEAKER_01: hire and fire and do all of these things and do them well.
26:03
SPEAKER_01: And he's given me great mentors, even in the business world the whole time.
26:08
SPEAKER_01: His favor shone on me and he just steadily moved me up in places and got me in front
26:14
SPEAKER_01: of people so that I could learn from them.
26:16
SPEAKER_01: And I do not regret a single second of that.
26:21
SPEAKER_01: So I think when I get there,
26:23
SPEAKER_01: even the less desirable parts,
26:24
SPEAKER_01: the parts that aren't as glamorous, I've been prepared for.
26:29
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I don't know anybody who says,
26:31
SPEAKER_00: I really feel God's calling me to be a pastor because I get to facilitate a bunch
26:34
SPEAKER_00: of meetings.
26:35
SPEAKER_00: I don't know anyone like that.
26:37
SPEAKER_00: And yet we get caught up in it.
26:38
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
26:40
SPEAKER_00: So one of the things I asked this of Ben when I talked to him as well,
26:42
SPEAKER_00: but I've been I've been this is one of those things where I I have.
26:48
SPEAKER_00: I grew up probably in towns not altogether unlike Grimes,
26:50
SPEAKER_00: as far as it is not properly urban,
26:53
SPEAKER_00: like not in the middle of Des Moines,
26:55
SPEAKER_00: but it's kind of sub-urban, but you're close to cities.
27:00
SPEAKER_00: Fairly deliberately, for the last 12 years, I've been serving as a pastor in a rural context.
27:04
SPEAKER_00: And one of the things I've been thinking about a lot as well,
27:07
SPEAKER_00: and just getting at people's thoughts on,
27:08
SPEAKER_00: is that the Upper Midwest Conference tends to have a stronger presence
27:13
SPEAKER_00: in rural areas than we do in urban areas.
27:16
SPEAKER_00: And so I've just been asking people to kind of reflect a bit on,
27:19
SPEAKER_00: you know,
27:19
SPEAKER_00: what is it like doing ministry in your area,
27:23
SPEAKER_00: in this case, more urban than most of us anyway.
27:26
SPEAKER_00: And...
27:28
SPEAKER_00: And just to think about what was that like?
27:29
SPEAKER_00: Are there specific challenges you think that you face that people like me may not have to face?
27:33
SPEAKER_00: And are there certain things you don't have to face that people like me have to face?
27:38
SPEAKER_00: Have you given any thought about what your conduct is like that might be different
27:43
SPEAKER_00: than others in the Globe Methodist Church?
27:49
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
27:51
SPEAKER_01: I haven't thought about it a ton.
27:54
SPEAKER_01: I would say it's definitely different, but we have...
27:58
SPEAKER_01: A slight education on it.
28:02
SPEAKER_01: So we have some farmers that go to our church and it's summertime and they're super, super busy.
28:07
SPEAKER_01: So they are rarely there, right?
28:09
SPEAKER_01: Because they're so busy with everything that they have to do.
28:13
SPEAKER_01: And that is a different thing than all of the kids who are involved
28:19
SPEAKER_01: in every single sport and activity, right?
28:24
SPEAKER_01: So for a long time,
28:25
SPEAKER_01: we have been trying to figure out Or what I've seen the church trying to figure out,
28:30
SPEAKER_01: not necessarily me because I wasn't there yet,
28:32
SPEAKER_01: is how to help those families who have kids who are in all these activities
28:37
SPEAKER_01: that there's no regard for Sundays anymore.
28:39
SPEAKER_01: There's no regard for Wednesday nights anymore.
28:41
SPEAKER_01: They just are always going all the time every day of the week.
28:45
SPEAKER_01: And how do we help those people still be able to engage
28:48
SPEAKER_01: and feel like they have community even though they can't be here on
28:51
SPEAKER_01: a Sunday morning, which is when we traditionally meet.
28:54
SPEAKER_01: That's been one of our biggest struggles and hurdles, I believe.
28:58
SPEAKER_01: But now we have the farmer component, too, where it's like, oh, okay.
29:02
SPEAKER_01: So now we've got these people, too,
29:04
SPEAKER_01: who are struggling to show up on a Sunday morning
29:07
SPEAKER_01: because they have these other things that they cannot get away from.
29:11
SPEAKER_01: This is their whole livelihood, right?
29:14
SPEAKER_01: So how do you help them still have community even in the midst of that situation?
29:20
SPEAKER_01: And I think that's where we're starting to see kind of like maybe the same thing
29:25
SPEAKER_01: that you would see in a rural church because that's what you're surrounded by in
29:29
SPEAKER_01: that area.
29:30
SPEAKER_01: Right.
29:32
SPEAKER_01: Is how do you do that?
29:35
SPEAKER_01: Other than that, it's.
29:36
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
29:37
SPEAKER_00: Sorry, go ahead.
29:37
SPEAKER_00: Well, I graduated from Marshallton High School, and so we were 4A and all the rest.
29:41
SPEAKER_00: And one of the things is that I remember at the time,
29:44
SPEAKER_00: you know,
29:44
SPEAKER_00: it's one of those things where the idea that somebody would be involved
29:47
SPEAKER_00: in every sport is just unlikely because you're not going to be good enough at all
29:50
SPEAKER_00: the sports to make the cut.
29:51
SPEAKER_00: In a rural environment where I'm in now,
29:53
SPEAKER_00: we've got,
29:54
SPEAKER_00: we've got,
29:54
SPEAKER_00: so we had,
29:55
SPEAKER_00: we had for 1A or for,
29:57
SPEAKER_00: yeah, for 1A or class A football, our school won the state championship.
30:03
SPEAKER_00: And then a couple months later,
30:05
SPEAKER_00: you know,
30:05
SPEAKER_00: the basketball team made to the semifinals, you know, the state championship.
30:09
SPEAKER_00: And for a lot of schools who are performing well in both of those sports, well,
30:13
SPEAKER_00: that happens every once in a while,
30:14
SPEAKER_00: but they're not the same kids,
30:15
SPEAKER_00: you know,
30:16
SPEAKER_00: because the kids who are really great at football aren't necessarily the ones
30:18
SPEAKER_00: who are great at basketball.
30:19
SPEAKER_00: Well, in a town,
30:20
SPEAKER_00: you know,
30:20
SPEAKER_00: in a community the size of ours, you know, there's a lot of overlap between the two.
30:25
SPEAKER_00: And so it's interesting to see just that there's different things.
30:30
SPEAKER_00: Struggles are both the same and also different,
30:32
SPEAKER_00: and I think that's just really interesting to kind of reflect on a bit.
30:36
SPEAKER_00: So this may be,
30:37
SPEAKER_00: I've asked this question to everybody,
30:40
SPEAKER_00: but it occurs to me,
30:41
SPEAKER_00: it may feel more like a trap for you, and I'm not trying to have it be that way.
30:45
SPEAKER_00: And that is,
30:45
SPEAKER_00: I've been asking everybody to share if there's a sickness that they've seen
30:50
SPEAKER_00: in churches.
30:51
SPEAKER_00: And the reason why I feel a little more like a trap for you,
30:53
SPEAKER_00: while I'm giving you a chance to also think about it some more, is that...
30:57
SPEAKER_00: Everybody else I've talked to has had like,
30:58
SPEAKER_00: you know,
30:58
SPEAKER_00: four or five churches that either growing up or moving around and all the rest.
31:02
SPEAKER_00: Whereas with you,
31:03
SPEAKER_00: you tended to be in a church when you were a kid and then there was a gap
31:06
SPEAKER_00: and now you've been at Prairie Creek.
31:08
SPEAKER_00: So I'm not trying to back you into a corner or anything,
31:10
SPEAKER_00: but also I want to reiterate what I also read most times anyway, which is.
31:16
SPEAKER_00: The purpose of having a conversation about this is not judgment.
31:18
SPEAKER_00: The purpose is diagnosis.
31:21
SPEAKER_00: Because sometimes we find ourselves in destructive patterns and we can't even see it.
31:25
SPEAKER_00: And so part of my goal of asking people about sicknesses is what are things
31:28
SPEAKER_00: that are literally infecting people in a way that needs to be treated
31:34
SPEAKER_00: and brought healing and wholeness to.
31:35
SPEAKER_00: So that's kind of the context.
31:36
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
31:38
SPEAKER_00: Is there any kind of sickness you've seen affecting people in churches?
31:42
SPEAKER_00: And I'm not going to assume that it's the church you're serving.
31:44
SPEAKER_00: It may have been just in other churches and other people you've met in other churches too.
31:46
SPEAKER_00: So to make sure no one's taking this personally.
31:49
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
31:51
SPEAKER_01: The first word that comes to mind for me is apathy is the first word that comes to mind.
31:57
SPEAKER_01: There is a whole world out there that is really, really hurting.
32:02
SPEAKER_01: And I think Ben talked about this too, but he was before we went through the series.
32:06
SPEAKER_01: And we just finished our series on Jonah and 120,000 people at risk.
32:11
SPEAKER_01: And do we care?
32:13
SPEAKER_01: Right.
32:13
SPEAKER_01: Right.
32:14
SPEAKER_01: And there is a great big world out there that is hurting very, very much and very, very lost.
32:20
SPEAKER_00: And and that's what I see.
32:21
SPEAKER_00: Like, do we care?
32:23
SPEAKER_01: Do we even care to get out of our buildings and go to them to let them know
32:28
SPEAKER_01: that there is a God who loves them?
32:32
SPEAKER_01: And I don't see that enough, I would say.
32:36
SPEAKER_01: And that's that's hard.
32:38
SPEAKER_01: And but then you take it back to yourself, too.
32:40
SPEAKER_01: Like, am I out there enough?
32:42
SPEAKER_01: Am I out there enough telling people about the love of Christ that he loves them so deeply?
32:48
SPEAKER_01: Because it's going to start with us.
32:50
SPEAKER_01: Right.
32:50
SPEAKER_01: We have to model it in order for our congregations to know
32:54
SPEAKER_01: that this is what they need to be doing.
32:55
SPEAKER_01: So, yes, I see it.
32:57
SPEAKER_01: But also at the same time, it causes like deep reflection in in me.
33:02
SPEAKER_01: Like what am I doing and what am I inviting my congregation to join me in?
33:08
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you have had experience with this
33:10
SPEAKER_00: or anybody who's watching this does,
33:12
SPEAKER_00: but at least our conference,
33:13
SPEAKER_00: I think that the Global Methodist Service as a whole has access to
33:16
SPEAKER_00: a service called Mission Insight,
33:19
SPEAKER_00: where you can go in and you can define like a geographical region
33:22
SPEAKER_00: and it'll give you all the same kinds of information they use that advertisers use
33:27
SPEAKER_00: to target their markets and all the rest.
33:29
SPEAKER_00: And it's the same data just aggregated differently.
33:31
SPEAKER_00: And one of the things that I...
33:33
SPEAKER_00: And what I discovered by doing that is, like I said, I live in a rural area in Northwest Iowa.
33:38
SPEAKER_00: It's actually a fairly well-churched community.
33:40
SPEAKER_00: I think that most people come here and say, wow, I feel like a lot of people go to church.
33:42
SPEAKER_00: And even still,
33:45
SPEAKER_00: the percentage of people who are not involved in any church in any way,
33:49
SPEAKER_00: and that's not even like Christmas and Easter, is 40% of the people.
33:53
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
33:55
SPEAKER_00: Right?
33:55
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, exactly.
33:56
SPEAKER_00: And we're a well-churched community.
33:58
SPEAKER_00: I think in many places in America, the average is more than that who's not involved.
34:02
SPEAKER_00: So what I try to remind everybody within my context,
34:05
SPEAKER_00: that's the apathy,
34:06
SPEAKER_00: where it's like,
34:07
SPEAKER_00: I think it's easy for those who have been part of the church for a long time to go,
34:10
SPEAKER_00: well, everybody who wants to be in church is already in church.
34:13
SPEAKER_00: There's no reason to reach out.
34:14
SPEAKER_00: Everybody's already a Christian.
34:16
SPEAKER_00: And the thing I try to remind people of is that 40% of
34:20
SPEAKER_00: the people you meet out there,
34:21
SPEAKER_00: four out of every 10 people They don't go anywhere, ever, for anything.
34:27
SPEAKER_00: They're not there for Christmas and Easter.
34:29
SPEAKER_00: They have no church background,
34:31
SPEAKER_00: which means the odds of you asking somebody, hey,
34:33
SPEAKER_00: would you like to come to church with me,
34:36
SPEAKER_00: of a random person you meet,
34:38
SPEAKER_00: has a good chance they don't have anywhere that they're going.
34:40
SPEAKER_00: And I think that we can sometimes psych ourselves out,
34:43
SPEAKER_00: not least because, again,
34:45
SPEAKER_00: kind of like Jonah,
34:46
SPEAKER_00: we kind of want to sit under the shade of the gourd,
34:47
SPEAKER_00: and we don't really want to do the work,
34:49
SPEAKER_00: and we're not sure that we want everybody in our neighborhood's You know,
34:52
SPEAKER_00: to be in church with us.
34:53
SPEAKER_00: And yet that's, and that's the commission, you know?
34:58
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
35:00
SPEAKER_00: So I think.
35:00
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's what Jesus said.
35:01
SPEAKER_00: Go.
35:02
SPEAKER_00: Right.
35:02
SPEAKER_00: Go and make.
35:03
SPEAKER_01: Right.
35:05
SPEAKER_00: And that's tough.
35:06
SPEAKER_00: But one of the things,
35:07
SPEAKER_00: let me tell you,
35:08
SPEAKER_00: having this conversation with people,
35:10
SPEAKER_00: it gives me an opportunity to be convicted on a routine basis.
35:14
SPEAKER_00: I was helping a friend out with a breakout session at a conference.
35:18
SPEAKER_00: And I knew what he was going to say.
35:19
SPEAKER_00: I was the one who advocated for him to be on the roster.
35:23
SPEAKER_00: He had sent me a script ahead of time.
35:24
SPEAKER_00: I knew everything he was going to talk about and all the rest.
35:26
SPEAKER_00: And darn it all if God didn't still convict me while we were in the middle of that thing.
35:32
SPEAKER_00: But anyway,
35:33
SPEAKER_00: are there any other thoughts or reflections that you have to share
35:36
SPEAKER_00: about just anything you'd want to share with the world?
35:42
SPEAKER_01: You know, I was reading Lamentations this morning, as one does.
35:47
SPEAKER_01: And it's so horribly, horribly sad to read Lamentations.
35:55
SPEAKER_01: But in the middle of it,
35:56
SPEAKER_01: Right smack in the middle of it in chapter three is this beautiful call out to
36:01
SPEAKER_01: the hope that we have.
36:03
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
36:04
SPEAKER_01: And how great God is and how faithful he is and that his mercies are new every morning.
36:09
SPEAKER_01: And I would say that even while there is sickness,
36:14
SPEAKER_01: even within the church and even while the world is going crazy,
36:18
SPEAKER_01: God's mercies are still new every day.
36:21
SPEAKER_01: He's still faithful and he is coming back.
36:24
SPEAKER_01: And we have a reason to hope it's going to be beautiful.
36:30
SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you so much for all of your time and all of your stories and everything, Stephanie.
36:34
SPEAKER_00: Would you be willing to close us out in prayer?
36:37
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
36:40
SPEAKER_01: Oh, Father.
36:45
SPEAKER_01: You are so good.
36:48
SPEAKER_01: Every day your mercies are new and every day you are faithful.
36:53
SPEAKER_01: You are faithful to us.
36:55
SPEAKER_01: You are faithful to what you have said in your word.
36:59
SPEAKER_01: You are so true and so trustworthy and we are just grateful for you.
37:05
SPEAKER_01: And God,
37:05
SPEAKER_01: I pray for everybody that is hearing this today that they would be renewed
37:10
SPEAKER_01: in their hope.
37:11
SPEAKER_01: That they would be renewed in their race.
37:14
SPEAKER_01: That they would be ready to run steadily straining towards you and grabbing
37:20
SPEAKER_01: a whole bunch of people with them to come along the way.
37:23
SPEAKER_01: Because God, we just want to see your kingdom packed full.
37:27
SPEAKER_01: Father, we love you.
37:28
SPEAKER_01: And we pray for that reality so much in the name of Jesus Christ.
37:33
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
37:34
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
37:35
SPEAKER_00: So I want to make sure as we kind of wrap things up here,
37:37
SPEAKER_00: I want to make sure I say a couple things out loud for whoever maybe have gotten
37:41
SPEAKER_00: to this point in the conversation.
37:43
SPEAKER_00: I want to encourage anybody who has resisted a call to ministry because of their gender.
37:50
SPEAKER_00: I want you to really think about it.
37:52
SPEAKER_00: If that's really what God has in mind for you,
37:55
SPEAKER_00: or if God might be really calling you to something new.
37:58
SPEAKER_00: And also,
37:59
SPEAKER_00: in light of our conversation,
38:00
SPEAKER_00: I want to encourage anybody who has been running from a call to learn and
38:07
SPEAKER_00: to consider taking a break from the run and seeing what God has in store.
38:12
SPEAKER_00: Because that are some things that really stuck with me from your story
38:15
SPEAKER_00: about how God remained faithful to pursue you,
38:18
SPEAKER_00: even when you decided you were going to go somewhere else.
38:20
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
38:23
SPEAKER_00: Look back into your past if you're watching this and see if God might be calling you
38:27
SPEAKER_00: to ministry.
38:27
SPEAKER_00: It may not be the pastoral ministry.
38:28
SPEAKER_00: It may not be the ordained ministry.
38:31
SPEAKER_00: But if you've been fighting a call, the fact of the matter is God won't let go until you follow.
38:38
SPEAKER_00: So do yourself a favor is what I'm saying.
38:42
SPEAKER_00: This has been what you have seen and heard.
38:45
SPEAKER_00: Our guest this week has been Stephanie Henson.
38:48
SPEAKER_00: Again, I take all of these conversations that I have,
38:51
SPEAKER_00: all the people I reach out to have to do with who lets me know about what's going
38:55
SPEAKER_00: on.
38:55
SPEAKER_00: And so most of the time, most people who know me so far have been Iowa folks.
38:59
SPEAKER_00: So I've talked to a lot of Iowa folks,
39:01
SPEAKER_00: but I'd be glad to talk to anybody who's around our annual conference.
39:03
SPEAKER_00: So if you know anybody who's got a great story or who has guys doing a lot of stuff
39:07
SPEAKER_00: in their midst, please comment.
39:09
SPEAKER_00: Reach out to me at pastortravisatmarcusgrace.com.
39:11
SPEAKER_00: I'll reach out to them.
39:12
SPEAKER_00: Thanks again, and thanks for listening.