|
A portion of your offering to ELCA Mission Support is sent to the ELCA churchwide organization to fund expenses for the Young Adults in Global Mission program that are not covered by individual fundraising. |
As the daughter of an ELCA pastor and church musician in Sioux Falls, S.D., Sarah Rohde grew up thinking about ministry as a career. But it wasn’t until she traveled to Mexico through the ELCA Young Adults in Global Mission program that Rohde felt called to be a pastor.
Rohde had just graduated from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn., as a Spanish, music and religion major when she committed to the 11-month journey to Cuernavaca, Mexico, which began in August 2007. “I was craving an experience that took me to the limits of my understanding of who I am, who God is and how the world works,” Rohde said.
Mexico did exactly this. “The experience of living in a foreign country and culture was a big turning point for me,” she said. “During my year of service, I got to touch some of the foundations of Christianity—like rigorous love of one’s neighbor, reliance on community, trust in a strength beyond my own and the power of story.”
Rohde spent much of her time traveling to Cuentepec, an indigenous rural community, to meet with the women who lived there, most of whom spoke little Spanish (second to their native language Nahuat’l) and practiced an indigenous religion. She says her purpose was not to bring God to them but to listen, learn and notice how God’s Spirit was already present and at work in that place and in the people.
“In the midst of forming relationships with these amazing women, I realized that the vocation of pastor would call me to do much the same thing — to listen to people’s stories, to notice where God’s life-giving Spirit is at work, and then to discern together how we’re feeling led to live our lives,” Rohde said.
Upon returning from Mexico, Rohde enrolled in the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, one of eight ELCA seminaries. She completed her studies in May 2013 and in August of that year began her first call as associate pastor of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in St. Charles, Ill.
Rohde is involved in a project at Bethlehem called “Discipleship 24/7,” an effort to help members “explode their faith” beyond weekly worship and into their daily routines— their jobs, marriages, parenting, etc.
“My experience in Mexico has made me all the more passionate about the connections between Christian faith and daily life,” Rohde said. “Ultimately my call at Bethlehem is to continue the practice of accompaniment — to show up, to listen and to help our community discern how God is moving us to live and serve.”
Adapted from Stories of Faith in Action
© 2015 ELCA • ELCA.org • LivingLutheran.com
