St Vladimir’s Seminary is wonderful. We are perpetually surrounded by like-minded people preparing to enter vocational ministry, and this has felt like a blessing to me and my family; but there is something about parish life which cannot be captured in the seminary setting. Last spring, as I drew near to the end of my second year of studies, I was beginning to miss parish life after having been at seminary for so long.
Thankfully, however, I was reminded of life in a parish community over the summer while interning at Holy Cross Orthodox Church in Kernersville, NC, under the supervision of Fr Christopher Foley. And now, having completed my time at Holy Cross, I am bringing a renewed vision of ministry into my third year at St Vladimir’s Seminary.
This past summer reminded me of several key aspects of parish life. First and foremost, I was reminded that Christ gives various talents to His people. While I am at St Vladimir’s studying the Scriptures, reading the Fathers, and learning how to lead the services, I know that there are parishioners throughout the diocese who faithfully serve their parishes in ways which do not resemble “ordained” ministry. These responsibilities are not glorious or exciting, but they are needful to the health and growth of any parish: cleaning the temple after services, attending parish council meetings in the evenings, keeping online media up-to-date, feeding the community at coffee hour, taking care of parish grounds, offering hospitality for community events, and more. I experienced all of this throughout my time at Holy Cross, and it impressed upon me the varieties of ministry in the Body of Christ.
And while there are many parishioners who have various ministries in the community, there is also one individual who has a unique calling: the priest. My internship afforded me the opportunity to experience the daily life of Fr Chris, during which I sat in on meetings, visited parishioners at their homes, prepared for services, spent time with other local clergy, and participated many other aspects of ordained ministry. This perhaps was the most illuminating part of the parish internship, as it showed me the daily life of a parish priest in the Diocese of the South.
Finally, the internship gave my family a chance to glimpse life in ordained ministry. My wife Ruth is particularly thankful, as she now has an idea of what to expect when we graduate from St Vladimir’s in the coming spring. The life of a minister’s wife has its own challenges, and Ruth was given an opportunity to navigate some of the obstacles associated with being the spouse of a clergyman in the parish setting. Both she and I found this invaluable, as it gave us a realistic perspective of life in the parish setting.
Ultimately, we are deeply grateful to Fr Chris and all the faithful at Holy Cross for hosting us this past summer. May God bless them for their selfless love and warm hospitality!
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