Notes to a student

...But not as hard as staying up until 4:00 a.m...

...Because of the time of day, I was the one asked to be with her...

...But this is not always true and it comes as a surprise...

...I have mixed feelings about the reality of the profession-alization of ministries in our church...

...Theological education is part of the summer training and of the monthly group meetings...

...Or trying to figure out, alone or with university friends, what life is all about...

...Had it changed her view of the church...

...In our community, you assume people are going to pursue Catholicism and its belief...

...For ten years I felt myself to be in the possession of skills that would allow me to go out and make a difference...

...Travel...

...Now I see how valuable it was for me to study Greek and Latin, though I rarely apply this knowledge in any direct way...

...First: it is tremendously satisfactory work, even with the heartbreak and pain it sometimes exposes you to...

...A fetid pool proves to be full of life...

...Honora Nolty, OP., one of the program coordinators, described the program* "I wish my own formation did as intentional a work of formation as Channel does," she said...

...I try to be realistic about what I can and cannot do...

...I have no regrets about the years I spent tuning my engine...

...Facts that are quickly forgotten have a way of sticking around on some level of consciousness, acting as an influence even when we can't perfectly reproduce the quote or theorem...

...Those now working in some parish ministry, or contemplating that possibility, can give at least one reason why just jumping out there does not work...

...But not just school: worldly experience in general...

...Inactivity shows itself to be the necessary precondition for change...

...would normally deal with later...

...On the one hand, I knew as a young college graduate that the faith I had, along with experience gained from summer camps, probably made me capable of doing decent work in youth ministry...

...My dream is to be an adult educator in the church...

...For me it has been a way to get a job without having had professional experience/' Lucking said...

...Years of study have taught me patience and have also shown me that immediate experience is not the whole of reality...

...Disciplines that seem irrelevant (Why must we trace the entire history of this moral debate...

...have a way of broadening a person and sharpening his or her readiness to meet unforeseen challenges...

...The littlest efforts make a positive difference: saying good-morning, sending someone a thank-you card or an article, letting people know about the clean-up project down at the shelter, putting on a good lesson...

...So why not, I asked myself, just go out and do it...

...Not changed, but broadened/' Channel is one place where a young person interested in ministry can try on the work for size...

...Get a job serving ex-presso or volunteer in the national park...

...And second: relax...

...The Channel year begins in the summer with a month-long period of intensive training...

...to finish a theology paper...

...I asked Alicia Bondanella, twenty-two, a recent graduate of the University of San Francisco and now a youth minister, if Channel has been what she expected...

...But give me some time...

...Terese DeGon, twenty-six, studied world religions at the University of Arizona before coming to Channel...

...A university, as the name suggests, should give us a large and varied perspective on reality...

...But we did come to the point where we discussed it...

...So diving into the job market without credentials or some form of certification can leave you with limited opportunities...

...The program provides ongoing support and supervision...

...Basically, you can work in the places where they cannot find anyone else...

...It was not enough...

...And get as much formal education as you can stomach...

...Interesting and challenging, definitely...

...So to impatient young people intent on a career in ministry I bring two observations...

...Some of the things they are dealing with I didn't come to until midlife...

...I hope in some way to help people get excited about their faith...

...For example, how family of origin affects one's ministry/' Tom Lucking, twenty-nine, a Channel participant working as a youth minister in Bothell, Washington, joined Channel after working for Microsoft...

...Keep a journal...

...I know where to look if I can't come up with an answer myself...

...Enjoy the winding road...

...I saw this as a doorway to ministry...

...It's opened me up to different experiences...

...And one of the reasons these places can't find anyone is that they can't afford to pay a decent salary...

...He would like to see the program go into deeper waters concerning spirituality and community...

...But I cannot change the whole church or the world, or the fact that people die when they seemingly shouldn't...

...I called on every bit of education, life experience, and wisdom I had...

...Most Channel members live in small communities of two to eight people I participated in the Channel program for one year, 1987-88.1 have kept in touch with the program leadership and membership and recently I had the opportunity to join the present group for one of its weekend events...

...If s been more intense...

...Nor do I resent the debts that piled up along the way...

...They found her dead at home the next day...

...The work that I now do in many ways seems easy to me...

...it will also make you a better minister, whether you are serving in a parish in Port Townsend, Washington, or in the chancery of the Archdiocese of New York...

...Increasingly, parish ministries are becoming professionalized...

...Consider other careers and try one on...

...All those years preparing myself have contributed to this realism and have contributed to my ability to step back and reflect on what is happening...

...Or explaining to an unhappy customer in the restaurant why he's had to wait thirty minutes to get his Eggs Benedict...

...Channel participants then take job assignments in Western Washington: some are parish ministers, some are Catholic school teachers, some work for social-service agencies...

...On the other hand, now that I am working full-time for a parish as the youth and young-adult minister and director of communications, I can see how much going back to school benefited me...

...But, of course, degrees will not prepare you for everything...

...T.P.S...

...I came wanting to be a teacher, but I'm not sure I want a teacher's schedule" she said...

...Channel - ing Channel is a ministry training program in Seattle, Washington, that gives young adults, most of whom are just out of college, their first exposure to church ministry and theological study, Participants make a one- or two-year commitment and the program hopes to promote personal, professional, and spiritual growth...

...My academic training, which included courses on counseling, did not give me magical words to use when a young woman showed up at the parish one afternoon threatening to kill herself...

...I can see now that every class taken, every volunteer assignment entered into, and every hour spent in self-examination has contributed to my ability to do my job now...

...My own work of discernment and preparation for ministry took me through the priestly formation program of the Archdiocese of Seattle, through a lay ministry training program called Channel (see box), through four years of graduate school theology, and two years of waiting on tables...

...Not only will it give you richer career opportunities...

...We hothouse things in Channel in order to deal with issues [participants...

...I know when something does not sound right, even if I cannot tell you immediately where the problem lies...