I’ve been a bit quiet over the past few months which hasn’t really been ideal for the consistent writing goal that I set for this blog when I originally began. This summer has been jam-packed with moves, new church job, transferring of ministry applications, marriage, a new puppy, and a lot more that you can read about here. The other part of this is due to a lack of direction with this blog. I didn’t have a clear picture of what I wanted to accomplish and I found a real need to go back to square one and really establish some goals. Fortunately, I haven’t had classes in the summer sessions so I have been able to focus a bit more on these goals.
This summer, I have been trying to read more to help with ministry practices. These books have included Love is an Inside Job, Addiction: Pastoral Responses, Lifesaving Church, and God and the Gay Christian. Many of these books have led to conversations with Pastor Kim at my new church job at Summit on 16th United Methodist Church. My first month at Summit has been a great place to help begin and work on existing ministries for the students at OSU, the congregation, and hopefully the surrounding community. One of the exciting educational activities that I’ll be able to lead is a study on homosexuality and the Bible. Working with Pastor Kim and the staff at Summit, I’ll be leading a book study using the book God and the Gay Christian by Matthew Vines. We’re working on finding a way to make this group available online as well as in person. Keep posted for updates on that!
This upcoming semester is the start of my second year at Phillips Theological Seminary. I’m really looking forward to my class load although, at twelve credits, it is the largest amount of classes that I’ve taken so far with two trips down to Tulsa for a course. This semester I’ll be taking Biblical Hebrew, Christian History I, Invitation to Theological Leadership, and Constructive Theology. My love of languages makes me very excited to take Biblical Hebrew. Let’s hope that this excitement keeps up throughout the semester. Dwight and I will be traveling to Tulsa later this month for a hybrid course that I’m enrolled in. Hopefully I’ll be able to keep you all in the loop more as my studies go along this time around.
Peace,
Rev. Mike
Gay by the Grace of God 