{"id":17123,"date":"2023-08-07T01:00:19","date_gmt":"2023-08-07T06:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/?p=17123"},"modified":"2023-08-01T12:45:27","modified_gmt":"2023-08-01T17:45:27","slug":"seasons-of-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/seasons-of-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Seasons of Change"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed\u201d (Deut 31:8, NRSVUE<\/em>).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Seasons of change and transition are difficult to navigate. Feelings of all kinds bubble up inside of us: joy, terror, stress, and everything else in between. This is especially true in a season of change and transition for a pastor. Beginning a new appointment, call, or pastorate can be a time of deep anxiety. Entering new, unfamiliar places and spaces tests our limits, allows self-doubt to take root, and drives us from the Divine presence. How, then, can we engage these seasons of change and transition and begin anew with confidence and joy?<\/p>\n

Getting Beyond Self-doubt<\/h2>\n

As pastors and as people we want to be liked. We want to fit in and we want to engage in meaningful ministry. As a result, we may enter these new spaces and places and try to emulate our predecessors. Or we may try to be like our own heroes of the faith. Our self-doubt keeps us from being authentically ourselves and living into the unique call and giftedness God has placed on our lives.<\/p>\n

Paul reminds us in the Letter to the Ephesians that \u201cwe are God\u2019s handiwork created in Christ Jesus to do good works\u201d (Eph 2:10, NIV<\/em>). Thanks be to God that not all these good works, not all ministries, not all pastors were intended to be the same. Each of us with our unique giftedness is called by God. As we experience seasons of change and transition and begin new ministries, we must be our authentic selves. We must be the people that God has created us to be, in all our uniqueness.<\/p>\n

Being our Authentic Selves<\/h2>\n

We may not be like the former pastors. We may not talk like other preachers. Our interests and likes may be different. Whatever your gifts and graces, offer them to the service of God and God\u2019s people. Trust that God is using your ministry, your unique giftedness, to bring the kin-dom to earth as it is in heaven.<\/p>\n

It can be frightening to be our authentic selves. It can feel vulnerable to offer our unique giftedness to others, uncertain of what the response will be. And yet, these ancient words from the Book of Deuteronomy reminds us that in it all, we are not alone:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed\u201d (Deut 31:8, NRSVUE<\/em>).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The God who has gifted you and called you, goes with you and before you in these seasons of change and transition. You are not alone!<\/p>\n

A Psalm for Seasons of Change<\/h2>\n

During seasons of change and transition in our lives, the experience of joy may seem distant or like a faraway memory. Our grief of what we\u2019ve lost or left behind, our longing for normalcy or the frustrations of ministry can be thieves of our joy. Even during our difficult moments, our seasons of change, and our challenging transitions the truth of this psalm can be our song:<\/p>\n

\u201cFor his anger is but for a moment, his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning\u201d (Ps 30:5, NRSVUE<\/em>).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In seasons of change and transition, seek to be your authentic self. Know that as you enter this new ministry God goes with you and before you and behind you. And through it all, joy will come in the morning!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Rev. Emily Cooper ’19 (left) is the pastor of Glenshaw Presbyterian Church in Glenshaw, Pa. The Rev. Mikayla Doepker ’19 (right) is the pastor of Grace United Methodist Church in Vermillion, Ohio. Mikayla and Emily met on their first day of seminary and have been soul sisters ever since. They delight in being able to share in one another’s ministries.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This is the first of a series about “seasons of change.” Stories to come include:<\/h4>\n

Starting well as a pastor in a new place (Aug. 11)<\/p>\n

Retiring from pastoral ministry (Aug. 15)<\/p>\n

The mysterious and the manageable (Aug. 29)<\/p>\n

Starting Seminary (Sept. 6)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed\u201d (Deut 31:8, NRSVUE). Seasons of change and transition are difficult to navigate. Feelings of all kinds bubble up inside of us: joy, terror, stress, and everything else in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":17127,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[421,420,419],"series":[],"class_list":["post-17123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ministry","tag-authenticity","tag-change","tag-pastoral-ministry"],"yoast_head":"\r\nSeasons of Change - Pittsburgh Theological Seminary<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Emily Cooper '19 and Mikayla Doepker '19 encourage colleagues undergoing a pastoral transition to remember to be their authentic selves.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/seasons-of-change\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Seasons of Change - Pittsburgh Theological Seminary\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Emily Cooper '19 and Mikayla Doepker '19 encourage colleagues undergoing a pastoral transition to remember to be their authentic selves.\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/seasons-of-change\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pittsburgh Theological Seminary\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-08-07T06:00:19+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/IMG_0567-scaled.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1707\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2560\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"ptsblog\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"ptsblog\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/seasons-of-change\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/seasons-of-change\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"ptsblog\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9e695c34c8e88351c00ef7369001ac5f\"},\"headline\":\"Seasons of Change\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-07T06:00:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/seasons-of-change\/\"},\"wordCount\":703,\"commentCount\":4,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/seasons-of-change\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/IMG_0567-scaled.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"authenticity\",\"change\",\"pastoral ministry\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Ministry\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/seasons-of-change\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/seasons-of-change\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/seasons-of-change\/\",\"name\":\"Seasons of Change - Pittsburgh Theological Seminary\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/seasons-of-change\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/seasons-of-change\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/IMG_0567-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-07T06:00:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9e695c34c8e88351c00ef7369001ac5f\"},\"description\":\"Emily Cooper '19 and Mikayla Doepker '19 encourage colleagues undergoing a pastoral transition to remember to be their authentic selves.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/seasons-of-change\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/seasons-of-change\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/seasons-of-change\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/IMG_0567-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/IMG_0567-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":1707,\"height\":2560},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/seasons-of-change\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Seasons of Change\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Pittsburgh Theological Seminary\",\"description\":\"Grounded in Faith, Formed in Community\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9e695c34c8e88351c00ef7369001ac5f\",\"name\":\"ptsblog\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b6530fb1e9ddce422ee48a03a2e5cf3eddac1d5b99f93e9b527390d4e28ad6fe?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b6530fb1e9ddce422ee48a03a2e5cf3eddac1d5b99f93e9b527390d4e28ad6fe?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"ptsblog\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/author\/ptsblog\/\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Seasons of Change - Pittsburgh Theological Seminary","description":"Emily Cooper '19 and Mikayla Doepker '19 encourage colleagues undergoing a pastoral transition to remember to be their authentic selves.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/seasons-of-change\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Seasons of Change - Pittsburgh Theological Seminary","og_description":"Emily Cooper '19 and Mikayla Doepker '19 encourage colleagues undergoing a pastoral transition to remember to be their authentic selves.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/seasons-of-change\/","og_site_name":"Pittsburgh Theological Seminary","article_published_time":"2023-08-07T06:00:19+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1707,"height":2560,"url":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/IMG_0567-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"ptsblog","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"ptsblog","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/seasons-of-change\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/seasons-of-change\/"},"author":{"name":"ptsblog","@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9e695c34c8e88351c00ef7369001ac5f"},"headline":"Seasons of Change","datePublished":"2023-08-07T06:00:19+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/seasons-of-change\/"},"wordCount":703,"commentCount":4,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/seasons-of-change\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/IMG_0567-scaled.jpg","keywords":["authenticity","change","pastoral ministry"],"articleSection":["Ministry"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/seasons-of-change\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/seasons-of-change\/","url":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/seasons-of-change\/","name":"Seasons of Change - Pittsburgh Theological Seminary","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/seasons-of-change\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/seasons-of-change\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/IMG_0567-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2023-08-07T06:00:19+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9e695c34c8e88351c00ef7369001ac5f"},"description":"Emily Cooper '19 and Mikayla Doepker '19 encourage colleagues undergoing a pastoral transition to remember to be their authentic selves.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/seasons-of-change\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/seasons-of-change\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/seasons-of-change\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/IMG_0567-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/IMG_0567-scaled.jpg","width":1707,"height":2560},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/seasons-of-change\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Seasons of Change"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/","name":"Pittsburgh Theological Seminary","description":"Grounded in Faith, Formed in Community","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9e695c34c8e88351c00ef7369001ac5f","name":"ptsblog","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b6530fb1e9ddce422ee48a03a2e5cf3eddac1d5b99f93e9b527390d4e28ad6fe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b6530fb1e9ddce422ee48a03a2e5cf3eddac1d5b99f93e9b527390d4e28ad6fe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"ptsblog"},"url":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/author\/ptsblog\/"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/IMG_0567-scaled.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4MvlM-4sb","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17123"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17149,"href":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17123\/revisions\/17149"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17123"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=17123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}