Discernment: a long and winding road

by Lisa Watson-Hill

Like Star Wars, my story begins a long, long time ago (1989) in a place far, far away (Hong Kong).

I always felt the pull to be an actor, and equally the pull to serve God. I graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 1986 and, on the day my grandmother died, learned that I was accepted to be a lay missionary to Hong Kong for a three year term. I will not go into all the ins and outs, but I stayed there for a year and a half, auditioned for the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, was accepted to their summer school, but not the whole match and found myself at a crossroads. No one path seemed terribly clear. Then I literally received a call from The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP) who had retrieved my name from some long lost "interested" list and felt, well, this must be a sign. I applied and was accepted to LTSP in 1989 as a potential pastor.

The next fours years were full of twists and turns that simply read like a soap opera, but I ended my seminary career in 1993 with an M.A. in Theology from Wartburg Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. in emotional trauma. I was not going to be a pastor it seemed. So, what to do? Back to acting!

In 1995, I auditioned for and was accepted into the summer program in Birmingham School of the Arts in the U.K. They then invited me to stay for an M.F.A. in acting — God’s path seemed clear! I followed His path and had a wonderful blessed year, then I fell in love, got married, and got pregnant almost immediately. Yet another twist in the road, Leo was born in 1997 and I again felt God’s call to the church community. I stalled a bit, continuing to pursue acting and feed my family, but in 2002 a move to Dover, Delaware, brought me to a crossroads. The pastor at the picked-out-of-the-yellow-pages Lutheran church was a LTSP classmate and they were looking for a director of Christian Education. Would I be interested? Again, it seemed a clear road to follow and I took the job — although filled with fear and trepidation to be risking a leadership role again.

Enter Gettysburg! Apparently, the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg had a program for something called a "diaconate" and, despite not having heard of it before, it resonated with something deep inside of me. Later, a marvelous diaconate, Marjorie Myers, best described the feeling as having a name for something she had already been doing for years. This was exactly what the 2003 Diaconal Ministry Formation Event meant to me and I was set and ready to go!

Except that I wasn’t. The next FOUR years would hold as many twists and turns as could possibly be imagined, from “unaware of the whole thing” call committees and bishops to personal triumphs (my son’s adoption in 2005) and tragedies (my husband’s leaving in 2006) to just plain dumb (note: there's a difference between a package and a salary, folks!) But I held on. I was absolutely convinced that this call was meant for me, and that somewhere a congregation existed that I could serve and serve well.

In January of this year, yet another promising call failed to materialize. I was at the lowest I ever hope to be. A few other speculative calls were made, but nothing was falling into place. But then, suddenly, a visit to the Delaware-Maryland Synod office for a part-time-let’s-see-if-this-will-work call, led to the discovery of a church in Cumberland, Maryland, that was seeking a Youth Minister. I called. Someone else had been offered the job. I sent a résumé anyway. They called back. The church was not going for a diaconate. (What the heck was that anyway?) I wept. I called the Bishop. He called the church. They really weren’t going for a diaconate. (What the heck is that anyway?) The pastor called again. All things are possible with God, but the council really didn’t see the need for a rostered diaconate. (What the heck was that again?) I wept some more. My uncle in Keyser, West Virginia, — 30 minutes from Cumberland — told me that I and the boys could come live with him as we had nowhere else to go. I emailed the pastor and told him that I would be in the area anyway and would love to be affiliated with St. Paul’s, did he have any use for me?

Then the way opened. The council — who wouldn’t have to pay to move me! — was now agreeable to interviewing a diaconate. And interview they did! I came for the next three weeks to meet with various levels of the congregation. I gave three diaconate presentations (thank you Kathy Massa!) Now everybody knew what the heck a diaconate was! Now the community felt kind'a cool about being cutting edge, kind'a neat about this diaconate (hey, guess what we got!) and kind'a like the Spirit was involved with this whole shootin' match!

A five year term call was offered and I accepted, starting June 1st, 2007, and I was both consecrated and installed on June 24th, 2007.

It has been a long and winding road, as someone once said, but it has led to this door, this path, and this future.