91PORN

It all began as an experiment in saying “yes” to God. Becca Baughman had just graduated from college and enrolled as a United Methodist global missions fellow in Tampa. Before she left home, she promised herself that—for the next year—she would place any fears and doubts aside and follow God wherever the Spirit led. Three years later, she’sserving as a licensed solo pastor in rural Indiana, pursuing her MDiv at Garrett Seminary, seeking ordination as an Elder. None of this is what she intended when she left for Florida, but somewhere along the way that “yes” transformed from an experiment into a habit—and God had different plans.

Almost immediately, her carefully laid-out vision began to go awry. The night before she left, she discovered that the fellow who was supposed to serve beside her in Tampa had to leave the program. “She was supposed to serve at the church full-time, and I was going to serve at a community home and shelter. I was like, ‘Okay, but what does that I mean for where I’m supposed to meet you? Where am I living?’” Baughman recalls with a chuckle. “They told me not to worry—they would figure things out while I drove, and I would have a place to stay when I got there.” When she arrived, she learned that her time would be split between the two locations—a program she had planned to be entirely devoted to social services would now include growing the church’s family and community ministries. “I was like, ‘Dang it! I told God I would walk through doors, so I said ‘yes,’” Baughman says. “I learned so much about putting my faith into action across extremely different environments—one a local church, one with unhoused people and families, and all the trauma that goes with that.”

And still, the surprises just kept coming. The Sunday after Christmas, a guest preacher fell through and the pastor came calling. “She said, ‘You never have to do it again, but would you be willing to preach that Sunday?’” Baughman reports, again with a laugh. The sermon went better than she could have imagined and, before long, Baughman was led repeatedly into the pulpit. In one memorable instance, her supervisor at the shelter asked her to lead their weekly worship in her absence. “When my supervisor came back from vacation, her supervisor told her ‘This girl has a gift for preaching, we need to make sure she goes into ministry,’” Baughman smiles. “So, I started my journey to become an ordained Deacon in the United Methodist Church.”

Home in Indiana after her program, however, that firm intention began to shift. While working at a UMC summer camp, she met Garrett alum and district superintendent Marti Lundy, who quickly affirmed the same call to parish ministry that others had sensed in Tampa. “She told me, ‘I have a small church in DeMotte, Indiana that could really use a part-time pastor like you. It’s a really great congregation, and they want a pastor who can bring young people into their church,’” Baughman says. “The more I thought and prayed, the answer started to become ‘yes.’”

Now, she’s already one semester into her program, juggling the demands of seminary and parish life, and—to her surprise but evidently no one else’s—she’s thriving. “I started working, getting into the groove, and I thought, ‘Oh no. I really like this. I think I’m called to be in the local church,” she laughs, last to the joke. “I don’t know how to describe it except my heart is here.”

Fortunately, she’s found Garrett Seminary to be an exceptional place to study while also serving in ministry. “I’m far from alone in being both a student and a pastor. That’s helped so much, because there’s a whole community to whom I can reach out and say, ‘Classes are a lot. Pastoring is a lot. Finals are coming, but I also have to be ready for Advent,’” she reports. “And a lot of professors are either currently in parish ministry or have been in parish ministry. They’re always so intentional about how we can take the knowledge we’re receiving and bring bite-sized pieces of it into the congregation. It’s giving me a toolkit to do ministry and do it well.”

The academic format also facilitates a balance between church and coursework. Asynchronous classes help her fit academia into her ministry schedule, and week-long intensives in Evanston offer doorways into deeper spiritual formation. “Even though I don’t live on campus, I have access to all the resources that I need. And not just physical resources but spiritual resources as well. I’m not left alone on an island to figure out how to pastor and student at the same time,” she grins. “Garrett is also really good at making sure that events are not just on campus but also hosted online. In our Welcome Week, for example, there was a library tour for people who were on campus, but there was also an online tour guiding us to library resources that are available to us while we’re far away.”

Ultimately, Baughman has found a sacred reciprocity: All those “yesses” she offered to God are returning her way in spades. “In Northwest Indiana, if I say that I go to Garrett, it’s highly likely someone will say ‘Oh, I’m an alumni!’” she shares. “It’s really helped me connect with other people in my conference as a young pastor.” Requirements like field education become simpler, too: She’s already serving in the field. “My field education mentor Brittany Stephan (G-ETS ’18) is also an alum,” Baughman notes. “I’m so glad to partner with someone who’s in her 30s, closer to my own age, who can walk beside me.” The biggest affirmation, however, comes from the work itself. “I just love discipleship and helping people grow,” she concludes with clear contentment. “Even if it’s just one person, I love being able to watch them take the next step in their faith.”