{"id":1915,"date":"2021-12-14T18:58:26","date_gmt":"2021-12-14T18:58:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.presbyterianmission.org\/weekly-offerings\/?p=1915"},"modified":"2021-12-14T18:58:26","modified_gmt":"2021-12-14T18:58:26","slug":"finding-the-right-road","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/2021\/12\/14\/finding-the-right-road\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding the Right Road"},"content":{"rendered":"

Like many people, the Rev. Meg Shoeman needed time to find the right road, the right path for her life.<\/p>\n

\"\"Meg, who earned her M.Div. from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in 2007, candidly confessed that hers has been a \u201cvery long journey.\u201d She left the ordination process after graduation and chose another career path because of the constitutional prohibition of gay and lesbian ordination.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter graduation, I started working at an animal shelter,\u201d she said. \u201cI remember walking down the steps of the shelter one day and having this fleeting thought that church is a thing of my past. It was crushing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not long after, Meg reentered the ordination process under care of Market Square Presbyterian Church<\/a> in her hometown of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and interned at Penn State Health\u2019s Hershey Medical Center. She later accepted a full-time call at Children\u2019s Hospital of Alabama in Birmingham, to which she was ordained in 2018.<\/p>\n

Although the position was a great fit, the culture wasn\u2019t. A little more than a year later, Meg decided to return to Harrisburg.<\/p>\n

\u201cI came back with the idea of seeking a call,\u201d she said, \u201cbut it didn\u2019t happen. COVID happened. Just to make some money, I was working part-time at a coffee shop, and also in a temporary pastoral position at the Market Square Church. When COVID shut the coffee shop down and I didn\u2019t have my normal source of income, that\u2019s when I knew I really needed some financial help.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

The Rev. Megan Shoeman (top) with the Rev. Cheryl Galan (bottom).<\/p><\/div>\n

The Rev. Cheryl Galan, interim executive presbyter for the Presbytery of Carlisle, was standing by. \u201cWhen I learned that Meg was struggling financially, I could not imagine the stress she was under. I thought immediately of the Assistance Program<\/a> of the Board of Pensions<\/a>. Her circumstances made her an ideal candidate for an Emergency Assistance Grant.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now that the pressure on Meg to meet her basic living expenses has been alleviated, she intends to focus on discerning her next call.<\/p>\n

Throughout her journey, Meg said that in addition to her presbytery\u2019s active support and encouragement, the \u201cMerton Prayer\u201d by Thomas Merton has also helped to keep her centered. In the prayer, Merton confessed to having no idea where he was going but knowing that God would lead him by the right road.<\/p>\n

Thanks, in large part, to the Christmas Joy Offering, Meg believes she is now on that road \u2014 the right road.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am grateful for the generosity of Presbyterians, whose Christmas Joy offerings make it possible to provide support and sustenance to those like Meg, whom God has called,\u201d said presbytery\u2019s interim executive.\u00a0\u201cSuch gifts bring essential peace of mind and demonstrate our gratitude for God\u2019s gift, in the Christ child.\u201d<\/p>\n

Please give generously to the Christmas Joy Offering, for when we all do a little \u2014 it adds up to a lot.<\/p>\n

Let us pray<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n

Make the way plain that leads to your help, O God. Open the doors of hope in our lives. Amen<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Join us<\/h4>\n

For more information and resources related to the Christmas Joy Offering, please visit pcusa.org\/christmasjoy<\/a>.
\nThis post is based on a Minute for Mission which can be found here as a script<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Please give generously to the Offering:<\/p>\n