{"id":45943,"date":"2024-04-02T16:40:26","date_gmt":"2024-04-02T20:40:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.presbyterianfoundation.org\/?p=45943"},"modified":"2024-04-12T17:02:10","modified_gmt":"2024-04-12T21:02:10","slug":"me-alegro-de-que-alguien-haya-hecho-lo-mismo-por-mi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.presbyterianfoundation.org\/es\/resources\/news\/im-glad-someone-did-that-for-me-as-well\/","title":{"rendered":"Me alegro de que alguien haya hecho lo mismo por m\u00ed\"."},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Rev. Dr. Andrew Pomerville<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Describing himself as an \u201calmost empty-nester\u201d with a daughter set to soon attend college in Scotland and a son preparing for higher education two years later, the Rev. Dr. Andrew Pomerville, the president of Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary since July 2023<\/a>, says he\u2019s seeing the world more and more through the eyes of younger people.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been interesting to think about what I was at that time, what I understood about the church and my sense of call,\u201d Pomerville said last week during \u201cLeading Theologically,\u201d a broadcast hosted by the Presbyterian Foundation\u2019s the Rev. Dr. Lee Hinson-Hasty<\/a>, which can be viewed here<\/a> or here<\/a>. \u201cNow it\u2019s becoming so much more personal. Thinking about what they\u2019re thinking about has helped me to adjust my own pondering and discernment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Theological institutions \u201chave always helped us look around the corner,\u201d Hinson-Hasty said, adding he and his wife are trying to think of themselves less as empty nesters and more as bird-launchers. \u201cWe have prepared these birds to fly,\u201d he told Pomerville. \u201cThey may not fly well at the beginning, but they\u2019re going to get there.\u201d<\/p>\n

As students begin their seminary studies, \u201cI have in my head what I think they should be asking or what they might be considering, but it often turns out I\u2019m off-base on some of them,\u201d Pomerville said. \u201cI haven\u2019t thought about what experiences they\u2019ve already had growing up in a different type of environment,\u201d and that also holds true for \u201cour second- and third-career folks. We\u2019re asking questions these days, and I\u2019m not sure we\u2019re looking at the world through the same lenses as our students who are arriving.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pomerville previously served as Assistant Vice President of Community Engagement and the Senior Chaplain at his alma mater, Alma College<\/a> in Alma, Michigan. The administrative part of that role \u201cisn\u2019t what I went to seminary to do, but I certainly learned some things there, and being in a seminary setting, I see what\u2019s analogous,\u201d he said. His doctoral work a decade ago included \u201ca robust conversation about church online. It definitely wasn\u2019t the norm. I asked, \u2018Can you have real congregational vitality online?\u2019 The literature at the time said no, you\u2019ve got to have embodiment at some point,\u201d but \u201cit\u2019s a good supplement.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNow people claim it,\u201d Pomerville said. \u201cLots of people are talking about it, and seminaries should be a place where those conversations are happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to the Louisville Institute<\/a>, which is housed at the seminary, Pomerville and Hinson-Hasty discussed LPTS\u2019 Marriage and Family Therapy Program<\/a> as well as its Black Church Studies Program<\/a>. Of the latter, Pomerville said, \u201cI\u2019m impressed with faculty and scholars here who have been diving into the rural African American church experience, which is a unique niche and one that needs to be explored.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo many folks in small churches are looking for resources and for what comes next for their congregations, and how they answer commercial gentrification that\u2019s pushing them out as cities grow larger,\u201d Pomerville said. \u201cWhat does the imagination look like for a church that was founded by formerly enslaved people that has a firm tradition in that area? What does that mean now and for the generations later?\u201d<\/p>\n

Pomerville said he\u2019s learned by talking to presidents at other seminaries related to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) that \u201cwe should not assume we know what churches need these days. It\u2019s great to go into the world and ask the churches and our neighbors, our non-churched folks, \u2018What is it you think a seminary-trained person should know?\u2019 It makes for fun conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m being spoiled,\u201d he told Hinson-Hasty with a laugh. \u201cIt\u2019s the most fun I\u2019ve had in a position.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pomerville\u2019s daughter plans to study environmental sustainability. \u201cThat was not a major when I was an undergraduate,\u201d he said. \u201cHow do we merge some of that with our theological questions? Do we have that same lens we are able to use to talk about how we steward Creation, how we wonder about the choices we make and how they impact others? I have learned a lot from my kids, that\u2019s for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
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The Rev. Dr. Lee Hinson-Hasty<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a leadership lesson right there: Get to know some people younger than you are and you\u2019ll learn something,\u201d Hinson-Hasty said. \u201cThey\u2019re asking a different set of questions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Returning to a theme of collegiality among seminary presidents, Pomerville called it \u201cunique to be in a field where the folks running institutions that might be considered competition for you are dear, beloved colleagues. We are not in competition with each other,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are trying to support God\u2019s vision for theological education in the world and to find as many ways as we can to do that \u2026 We talk to one another and we pray for one another. I am happy to send a student to Union [Presbyterian Seminary] because that might be the best place for them, and in the same way Jacqueline [Lapsley, Union\u2019s president<\/a>] would be happy to send someone over to Louisville if they think they\u2019re going to match up better here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s something I didn\u2019t expect, but I\u2019m so glad to discover,\u201d Pomerville said, adding this observation from a colleague in the Association of Theological Schools<\/a>: the primary reason people say they go to seminary is that someone tapped them on the shoulder.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not necessarily the good website or the programs we have,\u201d Pomerville said. \u201cIt\u2019s because someone looked at you and said, \u2018Have you considered this?\u2019 Encourage them, because God uses all of us in difficult times, and we certainly have the resources in the seminaries to help support that.\u201d<\/p>\n

In just the past few months, three former undergraduate students at Alma College were ordained into ministry, Pomerville noted. \u201cThere are few moments in ministry more joyful than watching that,\u201d he said. \u201cI was so pleased to see the Spirit working in their lives. I\u2019m glad someone did that for me as well.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Describing himself as an \u201calmost empty-nester\u201d with a daughter set to soon attend college in Scotland and a son preparing for higher education two years later, the Rev. Dr. Andrew […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":45944,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[117],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.presbyterianfoundation.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.presbyterianfoundation.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.presbyterianfoundation.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.presbyterianfoundation.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.presbyterianfoundation.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45943"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.presbyterianfoundation.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45943\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.presbyterianfoundation.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.presbyterianfoundation.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.presbyterianfoundation.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.presbyterianfoundation.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}