October 7, 2002
VOICES OF INFLUENCE:
Stories of five Texas seminarians
___By Mark Wingfield
___Managing Editor
___Some sensed a clear directive from God at a specific moment in time. Others grew into an understanding of God's direction over a period of time.
___Some resisted the call to vocational ministry. Others considered no other option.
___All, however, found help and encouragement from some other person along the way, whether a pastor, parent, teacher or friend.
___Interviews with five students currently enrolled in Texas Baptist seminaries highlight the unique ways in which men and women hear the call to ministry as well as the important role other people play in amplifying the voice of God.
___Mountain high
___Brian Edwards first sensed the call to ministry while attending a youth camp at Glorieta Conference Center in New Mexico.
___"During the invitation at the worship service, I felt God tugging at my heart," explained the current student at Hardin-Simmons University's Logsdon School of Theology. "I walked the aisle that night and surrendered my life to vocational ministry. I knew God had called me to vocational ministry, although it was some time later before I was able to hone in on exactly what God wanted me to do with my life."
Brian and Laura Edwards
___Help in refining that understanding came from several sources, Edwards said. While attending a youth camp at Hardin-Simmons the next summer, he participated in a breakout session for youth who felt called to ministry. "Through this camp and through reflection in the weeks and months following, I was able to hone in on God's plan for my life."
___At the same time, he received encouragement from staff members at his home church, First Baptist of Hamilton. Pastors and youth ministers there not only counseled him, they gave him opportunities to learn by doing.
___Foxhole conversion
___Matt Jeffreys, on the other hand, had not given a moment's thought to vocational ministry until halfway through his undergraduate education at Hardin-Simmons.
___Jeffreys, who grew up in First Baptist Church of Graham, enlisted in the Marine Corps during his sophomore year and headed off to boot camp the next summer. "It was on a hill at Camp Pendleton in the middle of the night, six weeks into recruit training, that I began to hear God clearly saying, 'This is not what I have created you for; this is not my plan for your life.'"
Matt Jeffreys
___That experience turned the criminal justice major toward a deep pursuit of spiritual discipline. After returning to Abilene in the fall, he changed his major to Bible and found more spiritual help from faculty members and church leaders.
___From that moment, Jeffreys said, "God placed people in my life to help me work out my calling."
___The list begins with theology professor James Shields at Hardin-Simmons, winds through staff members at Pioneer Drive Baptist Church in Abilene, passes through Roscoe, where Jeffreys served in a staff position alongside Pastor Rick Willis, then continues to Baylor University's Truett Seminary, where Jeffreys now is a master of divinity student.
___Truett professors like Winfred Moore, longtime pastor of First Baptist Church in Amarillo, made a huge impact on his understanding of ministry, Jeffreys said. "I had never met a man with so much passion for the local church pastorate. God used him to solidify his call in my life to pastor."
___Priestly family
___Sonia Beaty resisted the call to ministry. As the daughter of a West Texas pastor in the AMEChurch, she had seen too much of the inner workings of church life, and she wanted nothing to do with it.
Sonia Beaty
___"I didn't want it," she said. "I wasn't going to teach or preach."
___Noting that she has five brothers, Beaty explained she told God he should "pick one of them."
___But others around her sensed God's call on her life before she was ready to acknowledge it herself. A woman in her church tried to nurture her, Beaty recalled, "but I refused to be nurtured. She really tried to spend time with me to help me see and recognize the call, and I was just not receiving that."
___The biggest problem, Beaty said, is that God was calling her to preach. "In my mind, that was just something women didn't do," she said. "I knew it would be difficult, and I didn't want to do that."
___Instead, she tried to answer God's call by filling a variety of other roles in the church, such as singing in the choir and teaching Sunday School. "But the gnawing would never go away."
___Finally, she decided to write down how she felt in a long letter to her father. "I was looking to Daddy to tell me I didn't have to do it," she explained.
___A couple of weeks went by, and her father didn't respond. "When he did, all he needed to say was, 'I got a letter from you,' and we both began crying. That's all he needed to say. At that point, I realized I didn't need to have control of my life."
___The Paul Quinn College graduate currently serves as pastor of Bethel AME Church in Abilene, and she's working on the master of divinity degree at Logsdon School of Theology.
___Natural affection
___Nick Martineau grew up in Holmeswood Baptist Church in Kansas City, where he learned to love everything about the church. "I loved hanging around the church. I loved being in the church," he explained. "It was natural to me."
___As a youth, he served on a music minister search committee. In that process, several church members approached him and said, "You ought to be in ministry."
Nick Martineau
___As a high school senior, Martineau confirmed that call to ministry and received mentoring from his youth minister, Kevin Mitchell, who now serves at First Baptist Church in Austin.
___At Baylor, the call to ministry was further clarified as Martineau conversed with faculty and staff and as he went on mission trips.
___All these individuals and experiences built on the relational foundation laid by Mitchell as a youth minister, however.
___"Kevin was an encouragement by giving me time," Martineau explained. "He was always there for me. He would spend time with me. I really looked at him as a good friend. I knew I was someone he cared about, and he took an interest in what was going on in my life."
___Mitchell also gave Martineau opportunities to lead in worship and Bible study and to be seen and encouraged by the church.
___Now a student at Truett Seminary, Martineau serves as pastor of White Mound Baptist Church in Mound, near McGregor.
___Servant leader
___James Hassell grew up at Coulter Road Baptist Church in Amarillo, but there was a time in high school when he drifted away from church.
___Some youth from the church reached out to him and brought him back into the fold, and through their witness, Hassell not only rediscovered his faith, he found his calling.
James Hassell
___They "showed me what it really means to be a servant but still be a leader," he explained. "From that point was God's initial step of calling me."
___Hassell went to his youth minister, Robby Boyd, for counsel on understanding whether he truly was called or not.
___"He said the worst thing I could do is go into ministry and not settle that calling but the best thing I could do was go into ministry with that calling," Hassell recalled. "He said he would pray for me and surround me with others who would pray for me."
___Sitting at a McDonald's eating lunch with the youth minister, God spoke clearly to Hassell. "Just sitting there, I knew this is what I was supposed to do."
___The call to ministry was solidified as Hassell was given leadership opportunities through the church. On a mission trip to Fort Worth, for example, he was asked to preach at a homeless shelter.
___"That was a key moment," Hassell said.
___Now he's refining his call and gaining more education at Logsdon and at First Baptist Church of Merkel, where he's serving as youth minister and interim music minister.
___
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