On the New Job

So I thought I'd write down some details on the new job now that things have settled down a bit. I was going to write about this a couple weeks ago, but my immediate supervisor was transferred to another location, and one of my coworkers was promoted to another campus, so there's lots of changing dynamic. In any event, there's an Admissions Officer position open in Atlanta for anyone interested ;)

I am now an Admissions Officer, and it feels nice to get back into the academic realm. Of course, I'm not exactly in a prototypical college campus with dorms and manicured quads -- it's a school that specializes working with adults heading back to finish their education. So location-wise, we're on the first floor of an office building right near the interstate. We offer classes in the evenings and online (with some classes meeting on Saturdays), and we have 6 campuses scattered around the metro Atlanta area.

In all, it's a good place for me to be right now. You'd be surprised how hard it is to convince (supposedly-) interested people that finishing their education is a good idea. I spend most of my day on the phone following up with people who have expressed interest in going back to school. I hear all sorts of responses: "I don't really like my job right now, but I don't have time to go to school." "I'm not working right now, so going back to school isn't a good idea for me." "I'm interested, but can you call back next year?" And on it goes.

For those that are interested, however, it's a rewarding experience -- especially in this economy, it's great to connect with those who want to be strategic and pursue education that will take them to the next level. It's also helping me to develop a thicker skin on the phone, and not be worried that I said something wrong if someone hangs up on me. That's the other funny thing -- people don't like to be honest on the telephone. They'd rather hang up abruptly, make an excuse, or tell me to call back later instead of saying "I don't want to go to school." Those are the magic words to me, because then I can stop hassling you with phone calls if you're really, truly not interested.

I work with 3 other Admissions folks who all do about the same thing. And I say it's a good fit for me "right now" because while it got me in the education field and to Atlanta, it's not particularly challenging in the long-term. It's great to help individuals realize their goal of education, but making 10 phone calls (or more) to find one interested person isn't really the type of numbers I'm looking for when I say I want to work in Communications. But it got me here and enables me to network and learn my way around the city, so I can't complain too much.

On Finding A Church

My apologies for the prolonged silence, but without further ado, let's jump right back into the thick of things. I've been thinking about the merits of various churches for some time now, and I've had a couple good conversations with a few folks over the past week or so that have jogged my thinking. The Philosophress also gave me Blue Like Jazz for Christmas, so this is sort of the culminations of my ruminations (thus far).

I guess most importantly, I'm trying to break down the essentials of church -- or why church is to be an imperative priority in my life. Given my non-denominational background, my instinct would be to say the instruction and teaching of Scripture. But as I deconstruct this idea, I wonder if perhaps that's a bit misguided. Firstly, I have a bad habit of circumventing this point, using technology to my advantage. My original "rebellion" was when I first arrived at Notre Dame and didn't know of local churches or have a ride. I did what ordinary resourceful young folks would do in my place: I downloaded sermons over the internet. Thus, I was able to continue to simulate this first essential point of church, and do so on my own terms. More recently, I've prepped for my weekend drives across state lines by downloading solid sermons to my iPod via podcasts. All that to say I've managed to find a way to get solid Scripture teaching without the "hassle" of waking up early on Sunday morning.

But there must be more to church...isn't there? A recent conversation with a former classmate who's Catholic reminded me that Mass is crucial due to the presence of the Eucharist. While Protestant services do take Communion, I think many churches de-emphasize this as a ritual -- from saying Jesus is always present everywhere to not offering Communion regularly (my church growing up only did Communion once monthly). Suffice to say, if I don't subscribe to transubstantiation, I could (at the very least) make do with going to church service monthly. In a related note, Protestant liturgy isn't all that rigid, so there's a wide variety of musical/worship styles, sermon styles, and Communion procedures. Even a vast majority of modern Christian worship music talks more about us than about God -- it's one advantage of the old timey hymns.

I think the best answer I can come to regarding the Christian life is that it's about people and community. There have been times when I've sat in a room with a couple thousand people and there's no space to greet, have conversation, or make small talk with others. I've found small life groups promote more discussion and accountability than attending a big tent church service. In a recent discussion, it came to my attention that the unplanned pregnancy rate amongst unmarried Puritan couples virtually paralleled today's statistics -- the only difference is they got married and (usually) stayed married. How does this speak to a Christian culture, the role of church, and the pervasiveness of human nature?

I don't have any hard and fast answers, I just know that I'm trying to make my way in a new place -- doing my best to find good spiritual food for myself and be a good leader in my marriage. I guess right now the best I can figure is that small community is incredibly important -- and all the while I realize my own imperfections and shortcomings while trying to extend grace and connect with those in a variety of Christian structural settings.