Written by: United Theological Seminary August 3, 2018

REFLECTIONS ON A NEW ZEALAND TREK: A METAPHOR FOR MINISTRY

REFLECTIONS ON A NEW ZEALAND TREK

A METAPHOR FOR MINISTRY

By Kathi Austin Mahle

UNITED THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

UNITED METHODIST WORSHIP

APRIL 21, 2017

As I opened the Banner, the quarterly publication of St. John’s Abbey, the beautiful picture of a sun-drenched scene and the words from Sirach 42:22 leapt out.

“How beautiful are all God’s works,

delightful to gaze upon and a joy to behold”

Immediately I was transported back to the beauty of the landscapes of the south island of New Zealand! From mountains and waterfalls, lakes and towering glaciers to lush rainforests with a multitude of ferns, and pastures filled with sheep, God’s works filled us with awe and joy! Just three weeks ago Thursday we completed the Milford Sound Track– a 33.5-mile backpacking trek over five days. We traversed through rainforests by rushing rivers and carved-out lakes, over a misty, cloud-shrouded, windblown mountain pass and down the steep, rock-filled other side, ending with a ½ marathon distance hike and a magnificent cruise on the Milford Sound the final day.

This trek was by far the hardest physical thing I have ever done in my life! (Of course at 72 I am not as agile as I once was!)

I had lots of time to think during those five days – wondering if I would make it or succumb right there in the wilderness of New Zealand! But, my body worked ok although slow, and my spirit stayed energized. I am reminded of a chant on a disc I have – “make sacred space and be reminded of who you are – spirit and body.” Truly this was a time of making sacred space and claiming who I was – both spirit and body!

I received Dr. Subramanian’s request to preach when I got home. I decided that this experience was really a great metaphor for ministry. So here goes. Basically gentle, lush green at first, the trek was much like living into the call to ministry and then preparing theologically in seminary – becoming grounded biblically, exploring new avenues of theological interpretation and ways to view the world, and developing spiritual practices in the Wesleyan tradition. Then the trek became increasingly challenging: like the ups and downs of ministry – long parts of fairly flat terrain, then encountering surprises both good and bad along the way and finally finding joy and peace gliding serenely on Milford Sound as it stretches out to the Tasman Sea.

The specifics: Day 1 and 2

Starting out with the easier walking through a lush river valley and enjoying the diversity of creation from the grandeur of great waterfalls to the minute marshy lowland plants all seemed new and exciting. Becoming acquainted with fellow journeyers and learning the routine of the trek is much like ministry in the first years: a time of discovery and challenge – being open to the new things that come along; celebrating the diversity of people on the journey in each new congregation and setting. Learning the ropes of ministry and discovering that I didn’t have all the answers to the hard questions of parishioners and especially confirmands! I learned that people seldom did things as I expected or wanted, but that was ok once I realized that the Holy Spirit was working in their lives as well. Learning the craft of ministry including preaching, the rhythms of ministry and of the liturgical year. During this part of the journey I also learned that I was not alone – as I developed close relationships with colleagues and mentors and discovered new ways of doing ministry to fit the context. I also learned that God was an ever-present companion on the journey as I was stretched and tugged and dared to risk! (Like crossing the many suspension bridges along the Trek)

The assurance of Jeremiah 29.11 has been in the background of my ministry journey: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope!” This verse or a paraphrase keeps me going!

After that very long Day 2 10 mile walk, and each day after, respite came in arriving at an inviting lodge every night, with luscious warm food (already prepared), a glass of wine to relax aching muscles along with a wonderfully warm shower and a good night’s rest on great beds. In ministry we need times of respite. We need to care for ourselves and take time out to renew: each day, regular retreat times, vacation times. We need time to exercise and strengthen the body for the journey. Times to be by ourselvs with God, and times to be with family and friends. We can’t keep going without feeding our souls and our bodies.

Day 3

This was absolutely the hardest. Up over a mountain pass shrouded in cloudy mist and then down the other side. We are on a journey.

The journey metaphor is not a casual one. It’s an ancient and biblical one. The life of faith is indeed a journey. All journeys have difficult stretches. Skies become dark, the landscape bleak and barren and rocky. We come across new and challenging circumstances that we can’t avoid or control. We never know what lies around the next bend. We take a break for lunch in a warm shelter and then go on. And we wonder if it is worth it or if we are on the right path. Sometimes we can’t really know.

At times ministry is easy and fun, but sometimes it is really, really hard! We encounter situations with families, unexpected death, conflict within the congregation while maybe at the same time you are dealing with hard times in your own family and you think you just can’t cope. We are tired and worn out. We are depressed.

And then the clouds lifted and we were confronted with a clear blue sky and wonderful mountain vistas and stunningly white glaciers. So, too, in ministry we are gifted with insight or a clarifying, supportive word from fellow journeyer and the scene changes and we trudge on down the mountain knowing God is with us!

At some point on this journey, I asked God for a sign – a sign to let me know I was not alone on this ordeal! (which it was by this time!) The sign came in the form of wonderfully enchanting birdcalls. Whenever I needed encouragement, I listened for those wonderful birds calling back and forth – throughout the 33-mile trek. Then at some point climbing up the mountain trail, I realized the birdcalls had stopped. Had God abandoned me? I looked around. We were in alpine terrain! No songbirds could survive up here! I looked down and in this mid-fall time, there were alpine plants still blooming with little white flowers. My heart felt full! Here was another symbol of God’s creative persistent presence!

In this faith journeying in ministry, we need to pay attention to where God shows up. Because God/Jesus/Holy Spirit/Sophia or whatever name we use for the Holy One, does show up in amazingly wonderful ways. Sometimes it is meeting a stranger walking down the street or in the presence of a person who interrupts your well-planned work-day.

Or God shows up in the person who walks/hikes/treks with you, encouraging you. On this very difficult third day, it was my husband Steve, who in almost all – no all – of our 50 years of marriage – never stayed with me on hikes. He was always way ahead of me. He would wait until I caught up and then off he would go again. But not on this trip. He was my encourager, my companion, and my picker up, when I slipped or stumbled with my short legs over those really big rocks! We all need one or two or three people we can count on – whether it be a partner or dear friend or spiritual guide or colleagues who accompany us, most especially during the very hard parts of our ministry journey.

Day 4

The longest day in miles – 13.5 – ½ a marathon. As the path was basically down hill and relatively flat, I had a chance to note in more detail the rainforest surroundings – identifying good hiding places for the Hobbits since this was their territory after all. But we also were hiking with a group of people who hiked at our speed. We had opportunities to listen to their stories and continue previous conversations while at the same time supporting each other on the trek. Ministry is first and foremost relational and hearing stories are gifts of grace.

I also noted the roots underfoot that needed negotiating. They reminded me of the boundary water portages and then of Rev. Clem Peterson, a mentor in my first appointment. Coming back from a canoe trip, his meditation at the memorial service for a dearly beloved member of Richfield church used the metaphor of the interconnection of roots – in life and in creation. This memory conjured up the interconnections we have in ministry – especially United Methodist ministry. I reflected on all the connections in my ministry and where they have led and nurtured me. This connectional aspect of church historically has been one of our greatest strengths and one that is currently stifling us as we struggle to redefine ourselves as a denomination in light of the calls for biblical inerrancy and disciplinary orthodoxy countered by calls for biblical obedience.

During that marathon-walking day, Steve encouraged us to rest and I said no – we just need to keep on keeping on. And so it is with ministry – we keep on keeping on. This is where the encouragement given to Timothy by his mentor is important. We are all gifted in our ministry. We are called to cultivate and use our God-given gifts. We are called to put them to use in Christ’s ministry in the church context and beyond the walls in community and in the world. To become “real Christians” as Wesley admonished. We are called to practice social holiness in this era of political challenge. We are called to find ways for both lay and clergy together to learn new ways of doing ministry through theological education and the discovery of practical tools so we can live out a faith-based activism.

Day 5

A morning cruise on the Milford Sound was the culmination of a very arduous trek. That day we had no backpacks. No walking but to the ship. No rocky paths, no obstacles – just smooth sailing. Sometimes in ministry we get those days – sunny skies, calm waters and we rejoice and celebrate! We count our blessings and give thanks for all life. Resurrection life. As Bishop David Bard said in his Easter message to the Michigan Episcopal area: “Resurrection hope and joy are not a denial of difficulty, but rather a trust in the God of Jesus Christ and the power of God’s love to work with and through the difficulty. God’s love is the power of new life. God’s love is stronger than death!” That, my friends, is the good news of Easter! That is the good news of ministry!

Thanks be to God!

Kathi Austin Mahle is Vice Chair on the Board of Trustess at United. Kathi is a retired minister with the United Methodist Church and an alum of Beloit College ’67 in Beloit, WI.

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October 9, 2026

Alums Homecoming News Releases

Rev. Dr. A. Leon (Lee) Tredwell (’06) Honored As a 2026 Distinguished Alum

United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities is excited to announce that Rev. A. Leon (Lee) Tredwell, PhD—who earned his MA in Theology and Biblical Interpretation from United in 2006—has been selected as a 2026 Distinguished Alum. An accomplished preacher, teacher, and published author, Dr. Tredwell has championed biblical narratives that affirm the divinity of all people, regardless of their race, creed, color, class, gender, or sexuality. Adopted at age four, Lee was raised in the Baptist faith and felt called to ministry as a child. Even so, after earning a degree in Political Science and Sociology at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, he spent the first ten years of his professional life as a grain trader for Cargill. After connecting with Drs. Ralph and Alika Galloway, Lee found United, and his call was reignited. He remembers Rev. Dr. Carolyn Pressler (Professor Emerita of Biblical Interpretation, 1990–2020) and Dean Richard Weis* with great affection. Both teachers, he observes, “taught us to wrestle with the biblical text until it opened up and spoke.” They also introduced Lee to Black and post-colonial hermeneutics, and Rev. Dr. Weis led him to passages in Jeremiah 38 (Hebrew Bible) that sparked his interest in learning more about a Black character named Ebed-Melech. Lee also cites the influence of Rev. Dr. Christine Smith’s (Professor Emerita of Preaching 1992–2013) preaching courses on his life. In Colorado, at the University of Denver and Iliff School of Theology, Lee completed a joint PhD program with a concentration in Religion and Social Change in 2017. Ronald Smith, a former United student who nominated Lee for this award, notes, “Dr. Tredwell has demonstrated that he is an innovator and compassionate leader who has served both inside the academy as a professor of African American Preaching at Iliff School of Theology, University of Colorado, Boulder, and in the larger community; he has served as [a] pastor, civil rights and human rights activist, and [a] chief executive officer in Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Minnesota, and Texas.” Lee’s new book—Black, Queer and Blessed: My Story and the Biblical Story Churches Don’t Teach—was published in June 2025. As the description reads, “For all who believe God-Yahweh is angry, mad, disgusted, and against LGBTQIA+ folx, regrettably, you been had, misled, took, hood-winked and bamboozled! Black, Queer and Blessed, through lived experience and the excavation of the subjugated biblical narrative of Ebed-Melech, demolishes society’s antiquated mores.” The book is part memoir and part theological reflection on the Ebed-Melech revelation. In addition to his roles as teacher, preacher, and author, Lee has specifically worked to promote adoption of Black children from foster care and create affordable housing. These days, he serves as the pastor of Theology and Community Engagement at Allendale United Methodist Church in St. Petersburg, Florida. As Ronald Smith asserts, “Dr. Tredwell is the embodiment and an exemplar of United Theological Seminary’s mission, vision, and values.” * of blessed memory About United Founded by the United Church of Christ (UCC) as a welcoming, ecumenical school that embraces all denominations and faith traditions, United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities has been on the creative edge of progressive theological thought and leadership since it was established in 1962. Today, United continues to educate leaders who, through the eyes of faith, engage in the dismantling of systems of oppression, explore multi-faith spirituality, and push the boundaries of knowledge.

Lena K. Gardner (’15) Honored As a 2026 Distinguished Alum

[caption id="attachment_11955" align="alignnone" width="1920"] photo by Bethany Birnie[/caption] United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities is thrilled to announce that Lena K. Gardner—who graduated with an MA in Justice and Peace Studies in 2015—has been selected as one of our three 2026 Distinguished Alums. A highly respected social justice activist and community leader, Lena is the co-founder and executive director of Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism (BLUU), a nonprofit founded in 2015 that creates life-giving and life-saving opportunities for spiritual community and Black-centered organizing. According to Rev. Dr. Rebecca Voelkel (’13), Lena has “been a force in the Twin Cities’ religiously rooted justice ecosystem for the last 15 years.” Dr. Voelkel, Lena’s nominator, traces Lena’s justice-organizing acumen back to 2011, when she served on the Faith Organizing Roundtable—a body that coordinated religious communities’ opposition to the anti-marriage amendment. Lena went on to champion marriage equality in the 2012–2013 legislative session. After a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, shot and killed Michael Brown, Jr., an unarmed 18-year-old Black teen, in 2014, Lena played a key role in transforming the Faith Organizing Roundtable into the Multifaith Anti-Racism, Change & Healing or MARCH. “In that same period,” Voelkel notes, “Lena was a core team organizer of Black Lives Matter Minneapolis and served on its steering committee.” Lena was deeply involved, quoted in many national and local articles, and interviewed on Minnesota Public Radio after former police officer Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd in 2020. In April 2021, after a Brooklyn Center police officer killed Daunte Wright during a traffic stop, Lena co-wrote an article in the Sahan Journal demanding that Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecute the case, and that the Hennepin County attorney be removed. More recently, Lena embarked on another ambitious project. In May 2024, through the BLUU Cooperative Housing Initiative, she co-hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for an affordable housing complex for single parents in North Minneapolis. In a MinnPost article about the groundbreaking, Lena explained, “It’s really about trying to give back to one of the communities that made me…. We really see providing stable housing in a cooperative framework as one of the many paths to collective liberation and Black liberation. Ultimately, it’s about self-determination.” When Operation Metro Surge arrived in the Twin Cities in late 2025, Lena took action again. As Voelkel observes, she “returned to the MARCH steering committee…. When MARCH organized a clergy call (in five days) to which 700 clergy came, the ability to create and host such an amazing event owes part of its success to Lena’s relationships with communications specialists, graphic designers, and organizers.” Lena was also a driving force behind Neighbors Helping Neighbors (NHN), a mutual aid group she and Anna Stamborski founded in late 2025 to connect vulnerable ICE-targeted families with congregational networks whose members could provide shopping and transportation services. Through all of Lena’s indefatigable contributions to working for justice, Voelkel asserts, she “has focused on Black excellence, Black power, Black spiritual wholeness, Black beauty, and how non-Black folks can act in solidarity and followership of Black folks, particularly Black queer women. She has done so skillfully through building relationships across differences in ways that facilitate and deepen genuine relationships.”

Cori Berg (’98) Honored As a 2026 Distinguished Alum

United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities is elated to announce that Cori Berg (’98)—advocate, artist, and educator—is a 2026 Distinguished Alum. Cori earned her Master of Arts (MA) in Theology and the Arts in 1998, and for more than 27 years, she has integrated creativity, art, and spirituality into her field. Cori arrived at United in the 1990s, having majored in theater and minored in studio art during her undergraduate studies. “I knew I had an artistic voice,” she recalls, “but it didn’t make sense in any of the traditional contexts.” After seeing an advertisement for United’s Theology and the Arts program, Cori drove from Dallas to the Twin Cities to visit as a prospective student. A campus art exhibit by Merle Janis was all she needed to see—“this school had something I needed: strength, boldness, vulnerability.” For Cori, “life is liturgy.” She credits United with introducing her to “the freedom in a progressive faith.” At United, Cori learned to expand her creativity, which became a launching pad for a vibrant career. “United gave me a safe, nurturing space to explore, dream, and execute big things,” she writes. “I’ve continued that through the rest of my career as an artist, an educator, an administrator, and a speaker.” Art is central to Cori’s work and features prominently in her curriculum development for children. Her art was featured in the 2012 opening parade for the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge in Dallas, TX, a project that involved “seniors, children, and adults in all aspects” from a local Methodist community program. Ministry with Children and Spirituality, courses taught by Rev. Dr. Barbara Anne Keely (Professor Emerita, 1991–2015), were particularly formative for Cori’s future in education. “I remember she taught us to get on the floor and view the church nursery from a baby’s point of view,” Cori reflects. “I use this today over and over as I teach early childhood educators…. She introduced the idea of seeing oneself not as a separate body, mind, or spirit, but when one part of my being is suffering, to use the other parts to help lift that part.” More recently, Cori has been an active community member at Dallas Meditation Center, where she is known for her moving dharma talks that weave Buddhist themes into contemporary storytelling. In public schools and congregational settings, Cori has applied what she learned as a United student to the field of early childhood education, for which—nominator Rev. Jim Peck (’99) points out—she has become “one of the nation’s leading advocates.” When facing challenges in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic, Cori leveraged her ingenuity and creative vision to support educators with online training resources. As a teacher and an administrator in spaces where lack of institutional funding and support are commonplace, Jim observes, “she uses her [United] education to work for justice and equity,” to “nurture relationships in the early childhood settings where she has served, with an expertise in working in settings in crisis to encourage recovery, healing, and new paths for serving the future.” In May 2026, Cori completed her MEd in Curriculum and Instruction at American College of Education, where she immediately enrolled to begin her EdD in Early Childhood Education. She serves as an executive director at the University of Kansas (KU) and anticipates returning to Dallas to live near her family at the end of the year while awaiting her next opportunity. We are delighted to celebrate Cori and her decades of faithful, innovative leadership in the field of early childhood education and art. About United Founded by the United Church of Christ (UCC) as a welcoming, ecumenical school that embraces all denominations and faith traditions, United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities has been on the creative edge of progressive theological thought and leadership since it was established in 1962. Today, United continues to educate leaders who, through the eyes of faith, engage in the dismantling of systems of oppression, explore multi-faith spirituality, and push the boundaries of knowledge.