Rev. Vanessa Titang

Tag: internship

  • But what does covenant mean; What does it mean to me?

    But what does covenant mean; What does it mean to me?

    Dear Ones,

    The last 5 months I have learned so much from my experience amongst the 3 church collaborative of Maine, as your ministerial intern. Currently, I am learning how to integrate pastoral care skills alongside worship to see the care of the individual and the congregation as a whole.

     In my time here and now in my final semester of divinity school I have come to appreciate the place and purpose of covenant in our faith spaces. When I first joined a Unitarian Universalist church in 2018 I found the emphasis on covenant new and a bit of a mystery.  I came to recognize the repetition of these covenants as part of a spiritual practice of joining and engaging in community.  It is in my final semester that I am really exploring and coming to understand what covenant means for and to us each.

    Oxford English dictionary defines covenant as follows,  

    1. an agreement.

    “there was a covenant between them that her name was never to be mentioned”

    • LAW

    a clause in a contract.

    • THEOLOGY

    an agreement which brings about a relationship of commitment between God and his people. The Jewish faith is based on the biblical covenants made with Abraham, Moses, and David.

     

    But the definition provided here  did not inform what I know is at the heart of covenant in UU churches.  Synonyms of “promise”, “pledge”, “vow” included later with this definition expressed the emotional, spiritual component in this kind of agreement.

    From my experience, yes, covenant is an agreement between people, but in their rarest form–with feelings exposed; markers of testament to the purpose and need for such powerful and yet delicate negotiation between human beings.  Covenant is us being authentically human and through agreements upholding expectations and granting grace.  This is a divine human spiritual contract. From this I now  appreciate why covenant remains such an integral piece of this faith, in upholding each of its 7 UU principles.

     

    My hope is that this exploration of covenant has filled you with curiosity and reaffirmed the value of covenant in our shared faith, as it has for me.

    With greatest blessings,

    Vanessa

     

  • Back in the Pulpit

    Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Castine

    Or I was, for a moment.

    After a year of it being zoom church only I finally had the honor of participating in and/or conducting service 3 times in person! (At Ferry Beach, in Belfast and Castine).

    Unfortunately though, the Covid-19 uptick with the Delta variant has us all concerned, And thus has us opting for virtual service again.

    C’est la vie.

    But before this there were some great in person moments…

  • “Who Ministers to the Minister?”

    In the busyness of life in the past few months I have let this blog take a backseat to ministry, and life in general. On May 23rd I led my last service for the 2020-21 academic year, at the
    congregation in Castine. I will return in the fall, to intern at the 3 church collaborative.

    This last service was put together in a mad dash of things happening, and yet I feel it is one of my favorites. It was created for the May theme of “story”. The sermon was entitled “Tell Your Story”, and implored listeners to take an active role in storytelling, for fear the loss of histories over time. I was very satisfied with the service, was complemented and could see the evidence of my growth.

    I am embarking now in taking CPE (clinical Pastoral education) for c the summer. My original program was canceled due to low enrollment, so I’m not doing an online based program that I was fortunate to have one of my fellow seminarians recommend. Alas, I still need to figure out where I’m going to get my pastoral hours. I’m working with the Castine church, but am also looking in to local hospices and nursing homes.

    In regard to Castine, I was recently confronted with a huge moment in the lives of our congregants. One of the young church leaders suddenly took I’ll and was put on life support. Her slow passing is a huge pill to swallow. I was tasked with seeing to the family the evening she took ill, as the minister was out of state. There was little I could do, and due to Covid restrictions I was unable to be the re for them. I cried in the car after I dressed in my clergy attire waiting on what to do. My supervising minister had advised me when we spoke, “steely yourself”. I’m good at shutting off my emotions when confronted by extreme tragedy, but it is still necessary to release. I did that in the car, then did as she had advised.

    I begin CPE class this evening. While I’m not anxious to start another class, I’m in need of processes everything occurring. I’m grateful for the surrounding of my cohort that I have reviewed to help me figure out what my role is and to be held as well.