After years of avoiding pastoral ministry, Jen Schenck felt a call to say yes. Her position as campus pastor officially began on August 1, 2023, after which she served as interim pastor in April and May 2023.
This post is part of Mennonite Church USA. follow jesus This series highlights how individuals, congregations, conferences, and organizations are living discipleship today.
Sadie Brenneman He is a junior at Goshen (Ind.) College, studying journalism and marketing. She is a native of Goshen and a member of Belmont Mennonite Church in Elkhart, Indiana.___________________________________
When Goshen College campus pastor Jen Schenck was young, she never wanted to be behind the pulpit. Despite encouragement from her friends and family to attend seminary, her goal was to become a teacher. Twenty years later, Schenk is exactly where she was called. In her small office on the first floor of Wise Hall, she thinks about ways to open the door wide and help people access the sacred and come into view of themselves and God. .
Schenck’s reluctance toward the role of “pastor” stemmed from the strong connotations associated with women in leadership positions within the church.
“At the time, I didn’t see myself as fitting the typical profile of a woman in pastoral leadership…I identified as someone in middle age, serious, and very spiritual. . . . I could hardly relate to it and it was on a completely different level,” Schenk said. He said.
In contrast, Schenck, without his wire-frame glasses, exudes a lively aura that radiates genuine brilliance through his bubbly, comical personality, blonde curls, and bright blue eyes. And of course, she has a strong sense of style.
Wearing a sharp blazer Wednesday morning in the chapel of College Mennonite Church, Schenck gracefully moves from speaking with students in the front pews to the pulpit to the floor and, occasionally, to playing the grand piano. Sometimes I sit. Then lead the group in singing.
Her path to becoming a GC campus pastor began at the same time as many new callings began for Schenck.
“Moving in the Spirit is often not a warm, fuzzy feeling for me. It’s more like a feeling of discomfort and restlessness, almost a frustration, like something doesn’t feel right.”
Schenk first felt this while raising her three young sons. She loved raising and supporting her children, and even on her worst days, her love for being a stay-at-home mom overflowed from the depths of her heart. At the same time, she felt an uneasy inner pull, which she later recognized as a call to something new.
In an interview with the Mennonite Spiritual Directors Network for the 2021 Meno Snapshot, Schenk said: depth. “
Schenck pursued photography as a means of creative expression and loved the social aspect of photographing people and families. At the same time, her involvement with her church, particularly serving as chair of the worship committee at Belmont Mennonite Church in Elkhart, Indiana, was no less fulfilling for her. Even though she felt satisfied, her reward was not there.
“During that time, I was getting paid to do photography work. It was fun, but it wasn’t something I was really happy with,” Schenk said.
She had hoped to get a job in worship at a church. And one day, in a conversation with her spiritual director, they asked: “So why couldn’t you?”
Schenck assembled a clarification committee to give direction and additional insight to her career journey. The group included some of her closest friends and family, who were there to stay silent and ask the occasional question, allowing Schenk to uncover the layers of this big problem with new perspective and clarity. I was there.
“Sometimes the questions don’t seem to make sense, but they can lead you to something you never could have figured out on your own,” Schenk says. Schenck left the Transparency Commission with a new perspective and a clearer sense of what to do. In order for her to discern her next step, she needed to “just say yes to what came before her.”
“I kept saying that. I wasn’t thinking about the consequences. They didn’t say, ‘Jen, you’re going to be a pastor.’ It was just, “Keep saying yes.” ”
Jen Schenk
The first “yes” that followed came from a list of seminary classes at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary. This “yes” worked in her favor, her first step onto campus was the right step, and she knew it too.
“I remember sitting around a table with other students, and they were from different countries. And everyone was there because they had a deep sense of mission.” Schenck said. “It felt like we were sitting around a table at the United Nations or something. I remember thinking, ‘This is God’s kingdom.'”
After several years in seminary, Schenck accepted a pastoral position at Kern Road Mennonite Church in South Bend, Indiana. This was her next right step for her. This job included everything she loved, from leading worship to working with youth. Ms. Schenck was still resistant to her pastoral role, and she had hoped that she might pursue the title of “minister of worship.” They didn’t.
“I thought, ‘Wow, that’s exactly what we call a ‘pastor team,'” Schenk said. “Wow, that looks really heavy.”
Despite the somewhat daunting title of pastor, Schenck found fulfillment during his time at Kern Road. This role of hers was everything she was good at and gave her purpose in life. Many of Ms. Schenck’s yeses worked in her favor, and she seriously considered whether her yeses had ever been the wrong step.
“[Saying yes is] Further purification and clarification process. So I think you can never take a wrong step. Really not,” Schenk said. Even if a “yes” leads to a “no,” Schenk believes the process will lead you to a deeper “yes” – the truth of who you are.
“I liken finding your calling to the dating process. You can say yes to someone and be with them for a while. It might work for a while, it might not work out,” she says. [but] It still leads you to a deeper “yes” to who you are. ”
Four years after taking the job at Kern Road, Schenck felt that familiar restlessness again. Meanwhile, she also set her sights on a chaplaincy position that had opened on the GC campus.
Schenk didn’t get the job the first time he applied in 2021. Although she was late to her application process, she was motivated to be ready for the next time her position became available. Once again, Ms. Schenck saw her pursuit as a clarification of her true intentions, and she thought it was time to start something new.
In the meantime, Schenck took classes full time at the seminary and waited for the next right thing to happen. Two years later, Goshen College’s Vice President for Student Life and Hispanic Outreach and Dean of Students Gilberto Perez approached Schenk about applying for the interim pastor position. Soon after, Schenck became GC’s permanent campus pastor.
“It was a beautiful amalgamation of all my life experiences,” Schenk said. From chapel leadership to administrative responsibilities to the spiritual motherhood that comes from working with young people, there are many jobs for which Schenck is well-suited.
Schenck’s career journey took several twists and turns, several “yes” led to “no” and those “no” brought clarity to Schenck. But even through her twists and turns, she kept walking steadily, as if walking through a maze.
In an interview with The Record, Goshen College’s independent student newspaper, Schenk further explained the labyrinth analogy: [person] To walk through a labyrinth is to just keep walking, knowing that eventually you will reach the center. You can’t take a wrong turn in a labyrinth. There are no dead ends. You will never get lost. ”
Similarly, speaking about her career journey, she said, She said, “Sometimes Jesus takes me far, sometimes he brings me closer, but no matter where your path leads, you are always supported. Hold your center.” Masu.”
“Even if there are potholes, bumps, and twists in your path, you are never beyond God’s reach.”
The views and opinions expressed in this blog belong to the authors and do not represent the views of the MC USA Board of Directors or staff.
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