Leona reflects on her journey of finding community and support through the PastoraLab, navigating her identity, and embracing empowerment and leadership in ministry. She expresses gratitude for the connections made and the safe space provided for personal and spiritual growth, while also acknowledging the challenges of letting go of old identities and the excitement for new opportunities ahead.
JOIN OUR COMMUNITY
After serving at a few key churches for years, I had closed myself off from a smaller sense of community and was looking for a church home that I couldn’t find in the big local church. Pastoral lab provided a safe space apart from work, ministry, and business to share my needs and have other women to relate with that have the same passion and dedication to ministry as I do. I admire all of the women I met here - and they wear many hats - mothers, wives, entrepreneurs, counselors, professors, pastors, speakers, difference makers. I have always been looking for a place to find where I fit - esp after seasons of burnout. I was surprised but also relieved that other women here had been feeling similarly. Pastoralab provided a “spiritual resting space” in this season where I’m between churches, and finding myself again. After seminary, I felt like this split person, between the cross-cultural/visionary/intuitive and the logical, rational, person I had learned to become in seminary (as Young would call after learning “Dichotomized Christian Theology”) when the seasons that I enjoyed ministry the most were grassroots, organic, holistic, Charismatic (pre-seminary) days.
In our conversations in Pastoralab, I continue to believe in a “dream ministry” that everyone is adept in their callings and roles, can navigate challenges and deal with conflict, equal in pulpit and gender, and the Spirit-filled diversity of the church pervades, there’s no limitation to funding and generating wealth to further God’s kingdom, and people are living out the dreams and visions that God’s given them. I was reminded here that I can be an apostle, teacher, evangelist, pastor, and prophet in my own contexts (both inside and outside of the church). We all have our own spheres of influence, we are all leaders, we distribute power, and we empower others.
I am excited for this next season - I am believing in new work opportunities, new position, new place, new relationships, and I’m putting myself in position for these things. I am thankful for Pastoralab to equip me and propel me into this next season.
My hope for all of us is that we seize opportunities, take risks, give our gift of self development to others more, find our own tables, create our own systems, continue to practice leadership as a spiritual practice, and find more deep lasting partners to do ministry with...I’d like to continue to collaborate with all of you - supporting one another, keep up our friendships, lead churches and people together.
Find out more about our PastoraLab program: https://www.isaacweb.org/pastoralab
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