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.

{{cta(‘fb0f0455-f19e-4cdc-a919-6967f3716419’)}}

Explore More Articles

June 25, 2026

Activism Alums immigration justice Liberation Theology

Alum Rev. Todd Lippert (’03): Living a Public Ministry

As Rev. Todd Lippert was growing up, his life was dominated by two constants: music and church. Both of his parents were music teachers. His dad was the high school choir director, and his mom was the elementary school music teacher. Though his family had been Baptist for generations, they ended up attending a United Church of Christ (UCC) church where his mom was hired to play the organ. It was also much closer to home than the nearest Baptist church. “I always took Christian faith very seriously,” Todd asserts. “The church was a sacred and holy place to me.” In seventh grade, Todd remembers talking to his father. “I was at the bottom of the stairs talking to my dad at the top of the stairs. And that was when I said for the first time, ‘I wonder if I might want to be a pastor someday.’” But, Todd adds, “the idea was really terrifying to me,” so he put it out of his mind. At the University of Iowa, he pursued a music degree. During a philosophy class toward the end of college, a professed atheist professor began asking some of the same questions about faith that Todd was confronting. “I was wrestling with whether I was a Christian or not.” Deciding on Seminary The turning point came one Sunday morning after graduation when Todd and his wife were at church. At the time, he was selling Yellow Pages ads and contemplating an MBA. “I hated it,” Todd confesses. “I was miserable.” Watching the preacher at First United Methodist Church in Iowa City, he thought, “Maybe I could do that, and maybe I need to pay attention to this call to ministry that keeps bubbling up.” United was the first UCC seminary that came up on the computer, and when Todd visited, “it felt like home for me as soon as I arrived.” Since his wife was doing graduate work at the University of Minnesota, they moved to the Twin Cities. “At United,” Todd recalls, “I had the space to figure out how Christianity was meaningful and how this faith fit together for me.” Professors who welcomed and encouraged his questions were key to his faith formation, and the “liberation theology that moved through the curriculum, with its focus on justice, was extremely appealing to me.” Todd was also inspired by his classmates. “I saw the student body deeply engaged in the political and social questions of the day.” At United from 2000 to 2003, Todd experienced the Bush v. Gore lawsuit, 9/11 terror attacks, Minnesota senator Paul Wellstone’s tragic death, and the Iraq war launch as he was earning his MDiv. Public Theology Justice-seeking activism, Todd asserts, “really cemented my understanding that the body of Christ is about bringing the realm of God into being wherever it is. And that was something that would have to make my life better and make my community better.” Since graduating, Todd has worked as a UCC pastor, a Minnesota state legislator (2018–2022), a community organizer with ISAIAH, and a community minister with Creekside Church. The clergy organizing work during Operation Metro Surge was especially impactful and reconnected him with United. Todd went through “nonviolent direct action training with Dr. Rita Nakashima Brock, one of the authors I read.” He also worked with Rev. Dr. Carolyn Pressler, his former Hebrew scripture professor. United, notes Todd, equipped him “to be able to understand what is going on in our world, and in our communities, and I had the tools to get better and better at that, reading the present through a biblical and theological lens.” He is extraordinarily proud of the way the church showed up in Minnesota and grateful for United. “I really want,” Todd concludes, “the love-your-neighbor values of the church to be a force in our public life, not an afterthought. I want it to be a force in our political life.”

Rev. Dr. Andrew Packman Promoted to Associate Professor of Christian Ethics, supported by the McVay Endowment

Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, June 24, 2026 —United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities is delighted to announce that, effective July 1, 2026, Rev. Dr. Andrew Packman will become the Associate Professor of Christian Ethics, supported by the McVay Endowment, and Director for Formation. This promotion to an endowed chair follows Rev. Dr. Justin Sabis-Tanis’ appointment as the inaugural Wilson Yates Chair in Theology and the Arts. Announced during Commencement in April, the McVay chairship reflects the esteem with which United’s board and faculty members regard Professor Packman. In February, Dean Kyle Roberts proudly reported that Dr. Packman was being promoted from assistant to associate professor and transitioning from a three-year contract into a tenure-track position. Dr. Packman joined United in July 2021 as a Louisville Institute Postdoctoral Fellow and Visiting Assistant Professor of Theological Ethics and Practical Theology. At the Spring 2022 Convocation to welcome and bless our new faculty member, Dr. Packman—who holds an MDiv and PhD from the University of Chicago—presented on “The Atmospherics of Theological Education.” By December 2022, Dr. Packman’s “teaching, mentoring, and other stellar capabilities” prompted United to offer him a contract to continue teaching past the terms of his Louisville Fellowship. Since then, he has co-authored an article in The Oxford Handbook of Friedrich Schleiermacher, had a paper (“The Consolation of Studying Theology”) published in the Christian Century, and presented at the September 2025 Schleiermacher Kongress in Kiel, Germany. Spiritual and personal formation is a vital component of Packman’s work with students, and he will continue in his role as the director for Formation. In May of 2025, he began a new initiative, the Formation Pilot Program, to gauge the foundational axis points of students’ formation at United. “This is a remarkable moment in theological education,” Dr. Packman explained this spring, “where what it means to be a theological learning community is being reimagined in real time. This pilot program is designed to interrogate this question from across the life of the seminary, and to build up our community in the process.” “Dr. Packman’s doctoral studies,” observed Dean Roberts in his April announcement, “focused on Christian theology and ethics, and his current research explores questions about racism, intransigent evil, and Friedrich Schleiermacher’s philosophical and theological ethics. Combined with his MDiv studies in pastoral formation, these make Dr. Packman well-suited to occupy this chair while he continues…serving as the Director for Formation.” President Molly T. Marshall reflects, “Dr. Packman brings academic excellence and pastoral sensitivity to his teaching, collegial relationships, and community involvement. His theological depth suffuses his courses in ethics and formation, seeking to form good human beings as transformative agents for a world in travail. I am delighted by this appointment.” As Dr. Packman shared when he was offered a chance to continue teaching at United past his Louisville Fellowship, “It’s such an immense gift to get to do this work, and it’s an honor to get to do it with folks like you. I’m so eager to see what we build together!” Now, as a new chapter begins with his elevation to the McVay Chair, we are overjoyed that such a prodigiously talented scholar and teacher can continue to journey with our dedicated and curious students. 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, exploring multi-faith spirituality, and pushing the boundaries of knowledge. Contact Nathanial Green (he/him) Director of Marketing and Communications press@unitedseminary.edu • 651.255.6138 Admissions and Enrollment admissions@unitedseminary.edu

Rev. Dr. Tim McGregor (’26) Finds Hope for Healing in Exploratory Theology

Rev. Dr. Tim McGregor (’26) has been a chaplain, pastor, and church planter for years. How did he find this well-trodden path? Tim says his mother introduced him to Christ. “She was very devout,” he explains. Unfortunately, she was also very sick, so Tim spent more time in hospitals than in church as a child. Still, he recalls one incident during communion when he was 11. Tim shares that he “had a very out-of-body experience with the divine while I was in church, and it touched my soul.” Tim grew up and pursued a BA at Tuskegee University. While there, he experienced another out-of-body experience when he was robbed at gunpoint and stabbed. “At that point,” he reflects, “I decided to rethink some of my living and some of my decisions. It reignited my spiritual walk.” As he changed the way he lived, Tim felt a spiritual nudge. Others observed that they “saw the calling” on his life. And dreams about preaching began to recur. “Before I ever preached a sermon, I dreamed I was preaching…in the same church where I ended up preaching later on.” Christian Theological Seminary Though Tim identified as National Baptist, he decided to attend Christian Theological Seminary (CTS) in Indiana—a progressive school aligned with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). It helped that Dr. Edward Wheeler, an ordained Baptist minister whom Tim knew when Wheeler worked at Tuskegee, was CTS’s president. During a United chapel service this March, Tim described his experience at CTS as “quite grueling,” but also that he “learned a lot.” As he clarified more recently, he had to “let go of a very fundamentalist perspective,” and that sort of deconstruction was difficult. “It was a crucible situation,” Tim asserts. Chaplaining and Church Planting After earning his MDiv in 2003, Tim spent years in Mississippi and Texas planting churches and working as a hospital chaplain. Since returning to Minnesota, he’s been a chaplain at Regions Hospital, Abbott Northwestern, and the Minneapolis VA Medical Center, and pastored at Family Bible Church. He suspects that the time he spent with his mother in hospitals likely inclined him toward hospital chaplaincy. When he decided to pursue a DMin, Tim reviewed his options. Only United, he found, had the interreligious chaplaincy program and liberal ethos that made his MDiv work transformational. Plus, he could attend onsite or online as his schedule allowed. “It was a great benefit,” Tim attests, “to do both.” United and Nat Turner Tim credits Dr. Jessica Chapman Lape, former director of the Interreligious Chaplaincy program, with positively shaping his education. Her theological knowledge and emphasis on her African American heritage impressed him. Dr. Munjed Murad’s Comparative Theology course elevated Tim’s intercultural acuity. Munjed is an assistant professor of World Religions and Intercultural Studies, supported by the Johnson-Fry Endowment. Tim describes his dissertation, “The Exploratory Theology of Nat Turner and Its Effects on African and African American PTSD,” as “a labor of love.” Why Nat Turner? “I appreciate his passion and his desire to live and fight for the rights of his people,” Tim explains, “and his willingness to do so in the name of his religious beliefs.” In addition, “I’m always interested in people that…have been misunderstood or written off as villains.” Shepherded with vital support from Rev. Dr. Andrew Packman (assistant professor of Theological Ethics and Formation), Tim’s dissertation studies Nat Turner, his traumatic experiences as a slave, and his burgeoning theology. It also traces links to the moral injury, trauma, and PTSD endemic to military service, especially for African American veterans. Tim wants to “understand more about…how to be an asset to my community.” He feels that “United was a really good place for that” and is a rich resource for “clergy…and spiritual caregivers” who are going to help us “keep pressing toward better understandings.” Tim is grateful for United’s role in honing his academic and spiritual voice.