It's so true that the choices you make will turn around and make you. One of them was moving to the west after high school--college in Montana and seminary in Portland, OR. The other was moving from Montana to the north suburbs of Chicago 15 years ago. The intermountain west shaped me in so many ways, so it was hard to leave. Yet my wife and I sensed that we needed a changed and needed to do the 'missionary thing' and serve in a different culture. Even though I'm a Montanan at heart, I love the community in which we live--landscape, people, opportunities, etc. The people I've met here, as well as the life and ministry experiences I've had here, have been used by God's Spirit, I believe, to shape and form me in ways that would not have happened had I stayed in Montana.
Also, I Ioved Eugene's comment about Harry Emerson Fosdick (p. 89): "I think Fosdick was quite wrong in some of his conclusions, but I also think we were even worse in our vilification." I find that I learn so much from people with whom I disagree. I think it's easy to become too tribal in the Christian community.
It seems what Peterson said about Fosdick reveals the man. There's just something to that anecdote that takes us to the heart of how Peterson thought and lived.
One of the difficult aspects of life decisions like you mention is that even making the “right” choice doesn’t mean you won’t face obstacles, burden, and struggle. This can easily turn into regret, which is where those lifelong friendships and meaningful relationships become so important - people who can speak hope, encouragement, and correction into our lives.
For those who marry, i do believe choosing who to marry is the most important life decision you will ever make. It affects the rest of your life decisions in profound ways.
I have been really struck by the paragraph on page 83 - the difference between 'getting the Bible right' and 'getting it lived.' The more I think about that distinction, the more ways I see the fruit of those two approaches playing out in our culture today.
"...but am about ready to conclude that the Assemblies [of God] is a dead-end street for me." ~ Peterson
I was at one time ordained in the Church of God (COG), another Pentecostal denomination like the Assemblies but more episcopal in its governance. I've been told I wasn't 'Pentecostal' enough in my preaching, and my pursuit of education was seen with skeptical eyes (even though I was studying at Lee University, their school). "You can't get spiritually from a book," said one pastor (he must have forgotten the Bible is a collection of books).
I wish your book "A Church Called TOV" existed then. It would have given me the tools to identify toxic behavior and call it out for what it was. I am not sure it would have done any good, though. But, it would have given me the language I needed to describe why I felt the way I felt. Something was wrong and I just could not put my finger on it.
I got to the same point as Peterson and found the COG was a dead end for me and I surrendered my credentials. This was a major turning point in my life. The decision was hard to make, but I believe the right one. It opened a few doors to do more ministry locally. I helped plant another charismatic church that continues today even as I left to pursue other ministries. Now I am seeking ordination within the ACNA - it is a very different tradition than my Pentecostal upbringing. But it is one in which I found healing.
For me, what seem like the most crucial decisions of my life happened around college. Even the decision about what college to attend was a big decision, since it led to other defining decisions. I grew up in OK and went to school in TX, but I was determined to move to Nashville, TN after I graduated (no, I was not a musician.) Looking back, it doesn't make a ton of sense. I had a couple of friends that lived there, no family, no connections, but there was something about the city that I loved and I wanted to live there. I was a college graduate that knew way more about what she didn't want to do (I didn't want to move to Dallas where a lot of people moved after graduation, I didn't want to go to graduate school, and I didn't want to go back to OK.) So, I began applying for jobs in Nashville, got one, and moved there. I've lived here for 17 years now, and it's home. I have no desire to move anywhere else (not that I wouldn't if I had to), because I've always felt like I'm right where I should be since I moved here.
However, I think about another decision I made around this same time period. Tony Campolo was a chapel speaker at my school my senior year of college and spoke about his ministries in innner-cities and what people were doing there. I had NEVER considered ministry or missions in college, but there was something about the way Dr. Campolo spoke that made me very curious about what he was doing and made me want to be a part of it. Ultimately I wasn't brave enough to sign up, and I think about that decision sometimes, as well.
Thanks for the post, Scot! The parts about Ossa and Fosdick were my favorite in this chapter. I love how Peterson did not just surround himself with one type of person. It's refreshing and it's been a good reminder for me.
I loved how this section traced Peterson’s path to the pastorate. Choosing a seminary was one of my most consequential decisions. I was leaning toward one school, but felt the Lord direct me to another. My time there was frustrating, and at times I wondered if I made the wrong decision. Toward the end of my studies, I met my wife at church and ended up serving on the church staff for the next decade. So while my time at that seminary was disappointing, it shaped my life in beautiful ways. And grace upon grace, years later I went to Northern Seminary and enjoyed an enriching time there.
In both the biography and his memoir "The Pastor", I really appreciate the ambiguity and tension described in this season of discernment and later in life. Just because he made defining decisions like not to stay in the AG, or not going the academic route, didn't mean he didn't always carry a longing for those places. I often feel as if others experienced much greater clarity and confidence than I ever have about the decisions they made that determined the direction of their lives. These decisions seem to have always been a tension for Peterson.
Some of that tension was released/fulfilled through outlets like adjunct teaching and his work on The Message. But never completely as the rest of the book reveals. I appreciate this authentic perspective, and hope that Peterson's humility in sharing his whole story will give me greater peace in my own tensions and misfit position in my context, vocation, etc.
I deeply appreciate this: wondering if one made the right decision doesn't mean we have to stop until we get certainty. It may never come. We press on in faith. Thanks.
The part of this section that gripped me the most was the influence of Eugene's first monastic retreat and how it laid the foundations for the themes of "silence as an essential antidote to overly theologized postures...and suspicion toward our ingrained ideas of success" (90).
As an introvert, I have so often perceived my gravitation towards silence as a negative trait. Because I recognize the value of interaction, I taught myself how to extrovert to the point that some people have refused to believe that I'm an introvert. Interestingly, much of my motivation towards extroversion is related to the popular view of ministry "success".
In fact, one of my life-changing decisions was a summer discipleship program that steered me in that direction (in between my freshman and sophomore years of college). However, as a result of that summer, I transferred colleges to major in ministry. It also helped me get out of my shell.
Twenty years later, I'm observing the crash of ministries and churches that exchanged *tov* for modern metrics of success. I see how they are so often tied to an aversion to introspection that gave way to an overly outward focus.
Being cloistered by Covid is giving me a chance to reembrace silence and more closely inspect my ingrained ideas of success.
Summer of 1992 between my third and fourth year at the University of Virginia. Had plan to spend the summer in New Hampshire on mission project with CRU. I had considered spending the summer in New York City with CRU's Here Life's Inner City ministry but had decided against it, mainly for pragmatic reasons (in NH, I would work during the day and do ministry on evenings and weekends, where NYC was ministry all the time). The day before I had to confirm my participation in NH, I got a call from leader of NYC project asking me to re-consider because they needed more students to make the project viable. Given the timing, I had less than 24 hours to make the decision. I talked with my folks who both discerned the Lord's timing in the call (one day later, and I would have already been committed to NH) and decided to spend the summer doing ministry in NYC. During that summer was when the Lord began the work of calling me to the pastorate and also met my future wife, who was going to school at Western Kentucky University and I can't figure how in the world I would have ever met other than this last minute leading by the Lord.
Almost forgot. I love the description of Eugene's mornings with daughter Karen! "In his library, among vast volumes of trenchant theology, those Crayola squiggles carried just as much weight as Barth and Hildegard."
I loved the passages about Jan. The time she spent on Gertrude's porch, learning and loving hospitality. (Seeing a prayerful Martin Luther King, Jr. in the Dexter church sanctuary!) I'm a schoolteacher and have been joyfully shaped by my students -- so reading about the start of Jan's teaching career amidst post Brown vs. Board of Education upheaval overwhelmed my imagination. I digress. I'm eager to read more about Eugene's transformation through Jan.
It's so true that the choices you make will turn around and make you. One of them was moving to the west after high school--college in Montana and seminary in Portland, OR. The other was moving from Montana to the north suburbs of Chicago 15 years ago. The intermountain west shaped me in so many ways, so it was hard to leave. Yet my wife and I sensed that we needed a changed and needed to do the 'missionary thing' and serve in a different culture. Even though I'm a Montanan at heart, I love the community in which we live--landscape, people, opportunities, etc. The people I've met here, as well as the life and ministry experiences I've had here, have been used by God's Spirit, I believe, to shape and form me in ways that would not have happened had I stayed in Montana.
Also, I Ioved Eugene's comment about Harry Emerson Fosdick (p. 89): "I think Fosdick was quite wrong in some of his conclusions, but I also think we were even worse in our vilification." I find that I learn so much from people with whom I disagree. I think it's easy to become too tribal in the Christian community.
It seems what Peterson said about Fosdick reveals the man. There's just something to that anecdote that takes us to the heart of how Peterson thought and lived.
One of the difficult aspects of life decisions like you mention is that even making the “right” choice doesn’t mean you won’t face obstacles, burden, and struggle. This can easily turn into regret, which is where those lifelong friendships and meaningful relationships become so important - people who can speak hope, encouragement, and correction into our lives.
So true, it was my friends that really helped me through a hard time in my life and ministry.
For those who marry, i do believe choosing who to marry is the most important life decision you will ever make. It affects the rest of your life decisions in profound ways.
I have been really struck by the paragraph on page 83 - the difference between 'getting the Bible right' and 'getting it lived.' The more I think about that distinction, the more ways I see the fruit of those two approaches playing out in our culture today.
"...but am about ready to conclude that the Assemblies [of God] is a dead-end street for me." ~ Peterson
I was at one time ordained in the Church of God (COG), another Pentecostal denomination like the Assemblies but more episcopal in its governance. I've been told I wasn't 'Pentecostal' enough in my preaching, and my pursuit of education was seen with skeptical eyes (even though I was studying at Lee University, their school). "You can't get spiritually from a book," said one pastor (he must have forgotten the Bible is a collection of books).
I wish your book "A Church Called TOV" existed then. It would have given me the tools to identify toxic behavior and call it out for what it was. I am not sure it would have done any good, though. But, it would have given me the language I needed to describe why I felt the way I felt. Something was wrong and I just could not put my finger on it.
I got to the same point as Peterson and found the COG was a dead end for me and I surrendered my credentials. This was a major turning point in my life. The decision was hard to make, but I believe the right one. It opened a few doors to do more ministry locally. I helped plant another charismatic church that continues today even as I left to pursue other ministries. Now I am seeking ordination within the ACNA - it is a very different tradition than my Pentecostal upbringing. But it is one in which I found healing.
I'm sorry for your experience with the COG but glad you have regained your strength.
For me, what seem like the most crucial decisions of my life happened around college. Even the decision about what college to attend was a big decision, since it led to other defining decisions. I grew up in OK and went to school in TX, but I was determined to move to Nashville, TN after I graduated (no, I was not a musician.) Looking back, it doesn't make a ton of sense. I had a couple of friends that lived there, no family, no connections, but there was something about the city that I loved and I wanted to live there. I was a college graduate that knew way more about what she didn't want to do (I didn't want to move to Dallas where a lot of people moved after graduation, I didn't want to go to graduate school, and I didn't want to go back to OK.) So, I began applying for jobs in Nashville, got one, and moved there. I've lived here for 17 years now, and it's home. I have no desire to move anywhere else (not that I wouldn't if I had to), because I've always felt like I'm right where I should be since I moved here.
However, I think about another decision I made around this same time period. Tony Campolo was a chapel speaker at my school my senior year of college and spoke about his ministries in innner-cities and what people were doing there. I had NEVER considered ministry or missions in college, but there was something about the way Dr. Campolo spoke that made me very curious about what he was doing and made me want to be a part of it. Ultimately I wasn't brave enough to sign up, and I think about that decision sometimes, as well.
Thanks for the post, Scot! The parts about Ossa and Fosdick were my favorite in this chapter. I love how Peterson did not just surround himself with one type of person. It's refreshing and it's been a good reminder for me.
The people around him are so interesting and influential on him. One of my highlights, too.
I loved how this section traced Peterson’s path to the pastorate. Choosing a seminary was one of my most consequential decisions. I was leaning toward one school, but felt the Lord direct me to another. My time there was frustrating, and at times I wondered if I made the wrong decision. Toward the end of my studies, I met my wife at church and ended up serving on the church staff for the next decade. So while my time at that seminary was disappointing, it shaped my life in beautiful ways. And grace upon grace, years later I went to Northern Seminary and enjoyed an enriching time there.
Seminaries can be a massive emphasis in a person's life, and I'm one for whom that is true, too, Doug.
In both the biography and his memoir "The Pastor", I really appreciate the ambiguity and tension described in this season of discernment and later in life. Just because he made defining decisions like not to stay in the AG, or not going the academic route, didn't mean he didn't always carry a longing for those places. I often feel as if others experienced much greater clarity and confidence than I ever have about the decisions they made that determined the direction of their lives. These decisions seem to have always been a tension for Peterson.
Some of that tension was released/fulfilled through outlets like adjunct teaching and his work on The Message. But never completely as the rest of the book reveals. I appreciate this authentic perspective, and hope that Peterson's humility in sharing his whole story will give me greater peace in my own tensions and misfit position in my context, vocation, etc.
I deeply appreciate this: wondering if one made the right decision doesn't mean we have to stop until we get certainty. It may never come. We press on in faith. Thanks.
The part of this section that gripped me the most was the influence of Eugene's first monastic retreat and how it laid the foundations for the themes of "silence as an essential antidote to overly theologized postures...and suspicion toward our ingrained ideas of success" (90).
As an introvert, I have so often perceived my gravitation towards silence as a negative trait. Because I recognize the value of interaction, I taught myself how to extrovert to the point that some people have refused to believe that I'm an introvert. Interestingly, much of my motivation towards extroversion is related to the popular view of ministry "success".
In fact, one of my life-changing decisions was a summer discipleship program that steered me in that direction (in between my freshman and sophomore years of college). However, as a result of that summer, I transferred colleges to major in ministry. It also helped me get out of my shell.
Twenty years later, I'm observing the crash of ministries and churches that exchanged *tov* for modern metrics of success. I see how they are so often tied to an aversion to introspection that gave way to an overly outward focus.
Being cloistered by Covid is giving me a chance to reembrace silence and more closely inspect my ingrained ideas of success.
Summer of 1992 between my third and fourth year at the University of Virginia. Had plan to spend the summer in New Hampshire on mission project with CRU. I had considered spending the summer in New York City with CRU's Here Life's Inner City ministry but had decided against it, mainly for pragmatic reasons (in NH, I would work during the day and do ministry on evenings and weekends, where NYC was ministry all the time). The day before I had to confirm my participation in NH, I got a call from leader of NYC project asking me to re-consider because they needed more students to make the project viable. Given the timing, I had less than 24 hours to make the decision. I talked with my folks who both discerned the Lord's timing in the call (one day later, and I would have already been committed to NH) and decided to spend the summer doing ministry in NYC. During that summer was when the Lord began the work of calling me to the pastorate and also met my future wife, who was going to school at Western Kentucky University and I can't figure how in the world I would have ever met other than this last minute leading by the Lord.
Almost forgot. I love the description of Eugene's mornings with daughter Karen! "In his library, among vast volumes of trenchant theology, those Crayola squiggles carried just as much weight as Barth and Hildegard."
Someone in this house had squiggles in his books from said daughter.
That’s funny.
I loved the passages about Jan. The time she spent on Gertrude's porch, learning and loving hospitality. (Seeing a prayerful Martin Luther King, Jr. in the Dexter church sanctuary!) I'm a schoolteacher and have been joyfully shaped by my students -- so reading about the start of Jan's teaching career amidst post Brown vs. Board of Education upheaval overwhelmed my imagination. I digress. I'm eager to read more about Eugene's transformation through Jan.
I found this interview with Jan to be refreshing, especially her thoughts on the difference between serving and being a servant.
https://rabbitroom.com/2020/05/that-would-be-it-a-conversation-with-jan-peterson/