Yes, I'm a minister. No, I don't have a church.

I’m “The Man.” Not a dude, no. But this kind of man: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man I didn’t start out this way. I started out wanting to fight The Man. As early as high school, I wrote a mock piece of legislation providing state-sponsored free childcare for low-wage workers. I am pro-worker-justice, anti-colonial, pro-God’s-option-for-the-poor. I have student loans. I was a feminist before I could tell you the definition of the word. I used to walk the streets and distribute clean needles, bleach kits, and condoms. I used to demonstrate in my clergy collar for worker justice. My parents taught me about boycotts (Nestlé and grapes, in my day), marching in gay pride parades with one’s church, standing for peace and against the war with other religious leaders, and solidarity among minority groups. I thought endowments were ridiculous because they enable the dying and dwindling and mismanaged to last far beyond their useful years. But I’m now on the executive staff of ...

I texted my colleague, “If I go to chapel, how much will I regret it?” She responded, “LOL depends on who leads.” She is right. Unlike worshiping in a church, which typically has consistent worship leadership, worshiping at work (I work at the Presbyterian Center) with colleagues means going with the flow. Like the seminary I attended, worship leadership is shared. In the case of the Presbyterian Center, worship leadership is divided up among the four different church agencies in the building, and different ministry areas within the largest agency. I do not know who is leading each week. And the real kicker for someone like me (Uptight? Structured? Type A?) is that worship is set for 30 minutes, but the adherence to the time frame depends 100% on who is leading worship. A typical sermon plus communion usually equals more than 30 minutes. The delightful thing about worship here (and at the seminary I attended) is that worship can be meaningful no matter who leads it. It c...