Our beloved Glenn intern, Chase McKoon, has recently graduated from Candler School of Theology with his MDiv degree. Now, he reflects on his time at Glenn and how the experience shaped him.
“Glenn Memorial UMC gives me a space to take chances, make mistakes, and learn what it means to be in congregational ministry. My work in Family Ministries provides me with a chance to gain hands-on experience with taking big theological concepts from the classroom and turning them into things that our 3rd graders can understand. Doing this work has also provided me with a church that offers a loving community that seeks to learn from me as much I seek to learn from them.”
I wrote this a little over a year ago when asked to provide a small blurb about what my Contextual Education II program experience meant to me. Glenn Memorial certainly cannot be best summarized in three measly sentences. Our church community and family are so much more than this. My time at Glenn originated with a need for an internship to complete the Contextual Education requirements put in place by Candler School of Theology. I also needed a job as we all know that living in Atlanta is not an inexpensive endeavor for any soul. The opportunity to complete my Contextual Education requirements while getting paid is not always guaranteed, and Glenn Memorial provided me with that opportunity. But working at Glenn...or any church...is not just a job or a way to tick boxes on some educational-degree-getting checklist. Glenn Memorial gave me a new family with a new place to call home.
You have checked in on me. You have asked about my life and my plans. You have invited me into your homes. I had the honor of celebrating, mourning, praying, playing, and living life with all of you! The community of Glenn Memorial showed me what it means to show up for people with the grace and love of our God. The radical inclusion and heart for justice held by Glenn is so necessary in the world today, and unfortunately, these values are not held well enough throughout all the world. I have held these values for a long time, and you taught me how to live them out.
From pride parade participation to confronting racism and gun violence, our Wesleyan heritage and values are lived out through our full participation in resisting evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms presented to us. Children and families are able to eat because of Glenn. Our unhoused friends are able to have necessary resources because of Glenn. Anyone who is in need may find a warm smile and a helping hand from the Glenn Memorial community, and the lessons I learned from you about how to offer that helping hand are invaluable to anyone preparing for full-time ministry.
In many ways, you, yes you!, have shown me how to be a minister better than any clergy person. (Although, our clergy are DEFINITELY some of the BEST teachers around!) You are all ministers working in the world by your prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness, and I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to live and work alongside you. My future plans are known only by God, so you are not getting rid of me just yet! While I may not be a “Glenn-tern” soon, I will remain to live and work alongside you as I await my next journey here in Atlanta.
As John Wesley once said, ‘The best of all is, God is with us!’”
– Chase McKoon, MDiv
Family Ministries Intern, Glenn Memorial UMC