| When I began attending seminary in the fall of 1970, I had no intention
of becoming a pastor. I certainly knew I was called by God into ministry.
I had grappled with that calling through my teenage and college years
and concluded that I could do nothing else, so I headed off to seminary.
But, while I was willing to follow God’s call into ministry,
I was not willing to follow that call into the church. Even at that
tender age, I saw the Gospel live in the church but I also saw some
of the heartache that the church can cause. I envisioned myself becoming
a college chaplain or a Christian counselor, wearing turtleneck sweaters
and tweed sports coats with patches on the elbows. My first year in
seminary didn’t change that expectation much except that I expanded
my horizons. I figured I could wear blue jeans and run a Christian
camp or I could occupy a city storefront as I ministered to the people
on the streets.  My
second year in seminary changed all that. To be perfectly honest,
I began doing Supervised Ministry (called a “Concurrent”
at that time) because I needed some money. I worked with the youth
groups and participated in worship each Sunday. There was nothing
exceptional about that. But my bond with the congregation began
to grow and grow until I found, in that experience, a fulfillment
in ministry that I never knew possible. I was hooked. I graduated
from seminary in 1974 and served parishes until June of 1998 when
I joined the faculty here.
The heart of my Supervised Ministry changed my heart and the experience
of Supervised Ministry gave shape and direction to my calling from
God. It did much more than that, of course. In my next setting,
I worked with a very large church and experienced programming and
planning and pastoral care. I sat with a staff of theologians who
helped make divine sense out of ministry. I began to sense the unique
calling in what it means to be a pastor.
In my last years in the parish setting, I sat in the other chair,
supervising students from New Brunswick Theological Seminary and
was delighted to see these students change, at least a little, and
to find that this part of ministry continues to change me. I am
committed to Supervised Ministry because I have seen how such experiences
have prepared me for service in the Church and how such experiences
prepare others as well. I pray that your experience in Supervised
Ministry will give you the same joy I found and that it will lead
you to the fulfillment of your calling from God.
Mark Kraai,
Director of Supervised Ministry
Please click on one of the following links to learn more
about the Supervised Ministry Program:
Supervised Ministry Student Handbook
Supervised Ministry Forms
Supervised Ministry Supervisor Handbook
Supervised Ministry Lay Comittee Handbook
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