Thesis: One’s identity is intricately woven into one’s vocation as minister. As we are named, both at birth and later in baptism, we are claimed by God. It is out of being named and claimed by God that one is open to God’s call to a deeper adventure. I submit that at least one way to offer a course correction is to reclaim the power of Baptism as a metaphor for identity formation.

As a fifth generation United Methodist in Mississippi, there is a desire to explore my heritage and it's roots from South Carolina and Ireland, and my denominational heritage in John Wesley's England.

The necessity of self understanding is the source of healthy identity and wholeness. One’s truest identity as a person is to be named and claimed by God, nurtured and loved, then sent to serve. This is the greatest gift one can offer the Church.

My plans are to travel to South Carolina and touch the soil where Samuel McAlilly, in 1860, was the only vote in opposition against secession in the South Carolina State Legislature. Then, to travel to County Antrim, Ireland, where our tribe originates and to attempt to discover what might compel my ancestors to “go out not knowing where they were going.” Finally, to travel to England and sit in Aldersgate Chapel where John Wesley’s heart was “strangely warmed.” I long to capture for my Self a sense of the Abrahamic spirit, that I might draw from a deeper well as I prepare to face the next chapter of ministry.

Outcome: Offer three things to those with whom I share ministry:

1. A model for self reflection and identity formation, sharpening my tools for assisting clergy and modeling servant leadership by doing my own hard work.
2. A willingness to share with others the vulnerabilities of this exploration
3. A model for sustaining the Christian journey over time

Finally, I will use this time away to begin the writing project: “Vulnerability in the Service of Ministry: From Wounded Heart to Warmed Heart”.