Traveling in Ministry: One Alum’s Experience
by Victoria Burke, M.Div. 2000

When I was at ESR I was told that it often took a couple of years to find your niche. Now, about three years after graduation, here I am happily in two niches.

The first one I settled into right away. Since July 2000 I have served as co-pastor of Englewood Friends Meeting, in Western Ohio. ESR grad Rick Miller is my co-pastor. The meeting is small and loving. I have not heard anyone say, “We’ve never done it that way before.” And so far we haven’t argued about the color of the new carpet. Of course it was replaced just before I came. Seriously though, we are proud of our Quaker heritage and that our youngest adult member, Alex Wall, has just completed his first year at Earlham College.

At the same time I came to Englewood Friends Meeting, I also began a year’s Clinical Pastoral Education residency at Upper Valley Medical Center in Troy, Ohio. CPE can be tough but I do remember being tickled that I could make a living doing something I enjoyed. That ended in September 2001 and for a time I worked in social services while I prayed for and sought after a way to minister full time. Years ago it had been given to me that I would travel in ministry. At that point, I came first to Indiana, and then to Ohio. As a senior at ESR, I drove around and did supply preaching at Friends churches. And I thought, okay, this is traveling in ministry. I wondered what would come next.

Truly, the Holy Spirit is wondrous and finds ways to lead me even when I make it difficult. That is my explanation for the fact that it took a friend’s email about a year ago to alert me that Hospice of Dayton had a spot open for a chaplain. I applied for the position and guess what? They hired me. 

Now I am a home care chaplain for Hospice of Dayton. I travel over a large area visiting hospice patients and their families, mostly in their homes. My territory ranges from Miamisburg to Vandalia and west to Eaton. For me this is what it means to travel in ministry now. I’m glad God made me an extrovert because I get to be with a lot of different people. The best part of it is that they don’t mind if I steer the conversation toward their relationship with God. And, when I offer to pray with them or for them they almost always say yes. Just the other day, someone who is very ill prayed for me! I’m still amazed that I can actually get paid to do work I love to do.

6/20/03