 Mary Elizabeth Prentice
Having been in seminary for more than a year and a half people often wonder how things are going. “How is my faith?” they query. Many professors warned us that the first year of seminary was about breaking one’s faith into pieces. The second year is about picking up the broken pieces and gluing one’s faith back together. The third and final year in seminary is about taking one’s faith out into practice and seeing if it bounces. My experience has been a bit different than what many of my professors predicted. I feel like my seminary education over the last year an half is like taking off a pair of tight shoes and being able to wiggle your toes around for the first time. The theology, biblical language, worship and pastoral care classes have equipped me with vocabulary to articulate what I have known to be true for some time. God’s love is abundant and mysterious. By being giving the freedom to “wiggle my toes” I feel I have begun to build a firm and certain knowledge like Calvin says in his definition on faith.[1]I felt this firm and certain knowledge confirmed once again in my recent seminary January term trip to Egypt and Israel/Palestine. For generations pilgrims have journeyed to this holy land in search of something holy. For me the trip has provided confirmation of my belief and faith in God’s grace and mercy through the life and faith of Jesus of Nazareth. Coupled with my experience as a Young Adult Volunteer for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A) in Belfast, Northern Ireland, this experience has ignited in me a desire to engage my future ministry in peace and reconciliation efforts through PC(USA). I do not know how this hunger for reconciliation with be enacted in my future ministry, but I rest easy knowing and searching for God’s benevolence here on earth and listening to what is revealed and sealed upon my heart and mind.
Mary Elizabeth Prentice is in her second year at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. This congregation has supported her as a young adult volunteer in Northern Ireland and now as a seminarian. She is one of our three seminarians for the 2009-2010 academic year.
The estimated cost of a year of seminary education, along with living expenses, is $27,313 for a single student. To show our PHPC seminarians our affirmation of their call to leadership in the church and to keep their burden of debt upon graduation at a minimum, we challenge the congregation to show our support with a scholarship gift of $6000 per year. Half of that number will come from the existing church budget. Half of that number will be raised through our Theological Education Offering on Sundays, May 24 and May 31. What better way to celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost than to give to the working of the Holy Spirit in the lives of our seminarians. Thanks be to God for your continuing generosity and leadership in stewardship.
[1] John Calvin’s definition of faith: Faith is the firm and certain knowledge of God’s benevolence toward us, founded upon the truth of the freely given promise in Christ, both revealed to our minds and sealed upon our hearts through the Holy Spirit.
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