Ministry Serving

A Life of Ministry Serving

Hello, my name is Lisa J. Stockdale of the USA and I have a call to ministry serving. All of my life, I have worked and served in the church. My parents made sure that I was rooted and grounded by ministry serving in the church. Soon, I began to enjoy my church clubs and organizations more than my social ones. As I grew into a teen, I was the person the pastor selected to do the Youth Sermon every 5th Sunday. I taught Sunday school to the fourth-grade class. I was an usher, in the choir, and a Junior trustee. My ‘preaching’ was so good that I was entered in statewide oratorical contests and denominational wide contests as well. During college recruit day, a representative from Union Theological Seminary came and delivered a wonderful presentation. It was then and there I knew where I was going to college.

When it was time to declare college selections, I was so excited that I went to tell my pastor first. Because surely this man of God would be more excited than anyone about my choice. I walked into his office with my chest poked out like a beautiful peacock so confident and proud of my adult decision to serve the Lord and join the ministry serving field. Needless to say that I left out of that meeting in tears. My pastor killed my ministry serving dreams by advising me that the pulpit was no place for women and that I needed to make a traditional choice of college. As a young woman who was taught to honor and respect the word of the Pastor, I did just that. I enrolled in a historically black university. Now, I don’t regret my decision and loved my college years, but I always felt something was missing.

My ministry serving dreams are coming back to life. My husband is a minister and we serve with my cousin as our pastor. I am being groomed for ministry serving and have begun to preach again. My spiritual gifts are being nurtured and I feel alive. I have always felt like even though I know the Bible I have missed out on the didactic and exegetical scriptural development from theology school until I found Christian Leaders Institute. This free ministry training and education will give me the foundation I need to thrust my ministerial career into a new level of teaching and worshiping God.

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