GHS grad called to ministry

Gallup High School class of 1996 graduate Leann Brower is completing her education and training to become a Presbyterian minister. She currently lives in Ohio and is down to visit her parents and the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Gallup. [Photo by Matt Hinshaw/Independent]

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff Writer

GALLUP — When Leanne Brower graduated from Gallup High School in 1996, she thought her career plans were all mapped out.

Her parents were teachers, and she would become a teacher. She would study mathematics and education in college in preparation for becoming a high school math teacher. She even selected Carroll College in Wisconsin because of its excellent math and education programs.

That was the plan.

Nearly 10 years later, Brower now believes God had other plans. Brower, who earned her Masters in Divinity in 2005, is looking forward to her ordination as a Presbyterian minister.

On Sunday, Brower talked about her career change in the sanctuary of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Gallup. She was visiting her family for the weekend during a break from her internship in campus ministry at Muskingum College in Ohio.

Brower said her interest in the ministry grew during the year following her graduation from college. Brower moved to Alaska to work as a volunteer in youth ministry with a church in Sitka.

"Everything kind of pulled together: my faith, my talents, my skills," she said of that time. "It became clear to me that ministry was my calling," she added.

Once Brower made the decision to pursue a career in ministry, she chose to attend McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago. Although it is a Presbyterian school, about half the students come from other Protestant denominations, said Brower. She chose McCormick, she said, because of its commitment to urban ministry, its diverse student body, and its policy of letting students take some of their course work at other institutions.

McCormick's diversity helped students to "think outside" their own background, she explained, and it not only taught students about theology, it also taught students about the practical application of theological concepts.

"If you opened yourself up ... " she said of the experience, "you couldn't stay unchanged."

With the completion of her internship, Brower will begin looking for a position in ministry. According to Presbyterian tradition, she explained, once she is called to a specific ministry position, the church will ordain her.

"I plan to come back here for my ordination," she said, explaining that she was baptized and raised in Gallup's Westminster Presbyterian Church. Members of the church were not only "great examples of Christian life," Brower said, but they were "the people that helped raise me in the faith."

Brower is hoping to find a position in the Midwest where she can work in campus ministry, either as a college chaplain or as a pastor of a church that has a college outreach program.

Campus ministries are important because they help keep students grounded and help students figure out "what God would have us do in the world," said Brower. She believes in the idea that where the world's greatest need meets a person's greatest gifts is the place that person should be.

Everyone has a role in the world, she believes, a part to play. "This is the part God has for me," she added.

If Brower is ordained in 2006, she will be ordained in an historically significant year for the Presbyterian Church. According to Brower, the years 2005 and 2006 mark the 100th anniversary of the ordination of women as Presbyterian deacons, the 75th anniversary of the ordination of women as elders, and the 50th anniversary of the ordination of women as ministers.

As Brower prepares to begin her career in ministry, the Presbyterian Church, like many other mainstream Christian denominations, is facing challenges like declining church membership and debates over the role of homosexuals in the clergy.

Change is inevitable, she said, but she hopes the church continues to hold on to its tradition of valuing freedom of thought, freedom of interpretation, and freedom of conscience. She also hopes the church will "continue to grow in acceptance of people's gifts and calling" and to "be open to listening for God's voice" through change.

Admitting that she can't foresee how the controversy about gays in ministry will ultimately work itself out, Brower said she hopes all sides of the issue take the time to listen to what each other is saying. "I hope that in the middle of all the debates and controversy, we can remember that we're all God's children," she said.

— Reporter Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola can be contacted at (505) 863-6811 ext. 218 or ehardinburrola@yahoo.com.