evelyn rainey - As Ordained Minister

For decades, I’ve felt a calling for something beyond the spiritual bread-and-butter that Protestant churches feed me. At their heart, the traditional protestant denominations have been predominantly Romanesque in structure and theology and while the servants are female, the leaders (with exception of the Methodists) are male. And yet, I serve – gladly and lovingly – wherever I find myself. I have been Sunday school teacher, choir member, vacation Bible school teacher, educational director, prayer shawl ministry facilitator, pastor-parish relationship committee member, administrative council member, lay leader, preacher of sermons, liturgist, sermon analysis team member, senior adults ministry facilitator, small groups coordinator, ordained elder (PC-USA), and ordained minister (ULC). And yet, I still feel a yearning for a deeper, more personal, spiritual path; one that aligns more naturally with my values and beliefs and life.

I follow the teachings of Jesus and am prayerfully guided by the Holy Spirit. My spiritual wanderings have taken me from the military chapel of my childhood, into the United Methodist Church as a teen, through Assembly of God, Baptist, Wiccan, Presbyterian, Unity of Silence, and Methodist of my adulthood. I have such a firm and embracing bond with God, but I have yet to find where I belong. The word for this is hiraeth. I believe that God has been leading me to the Interfaith Spiritual path.

When COVID hit, I retired early (from 38 years in education) to take care of my mother along her final journey. I enrolled online in a southern Baptist college in hope of attaining my master’s degree in biblical studies. I have 28 graduate hours, but in addition to needing special compensation to take the class on preaching sermons (because I am a woman), I failed to get my thesis paper approved. Brushing the sand off my sandals, I prayed for other places to serve. Unable to leave my mother alone due to her physical and mental condition, my choices were limited. But I did find someone to watch her on Sundays for 4 hours and so began working with the United Methodist Temple in as many ways as I could. My pastor there recommended that I begin the ministerial path. I did so, but knew within a few months that this was not where God was leading me.  I put the ministry on hold. When my mother passed away and I realized that, for the first time in my life, I wasn’t in charge of anyone’s well-being, I needed to find out who I was in this new non-caregiver role. I knew I was not ready to care for an entire church. But I still love working with my small groups and ministries.  So, I continued to pray and to serve. 

That yearning to become ordained never left; it grew stronger. God led me to the Esoteric Theological Seminary and I enrolled. On Easter 2025, I earned a Master's in Sacred Theology and became ordained through them.