Project Memoirs

What were the best and worst parts of Senior Project/Senior Seminar?
The best and worst part of my Senior Project were the same thing: Delivering a sermon.
It was quite nerve-racking to stand in front of the congregation that was there for me in the past
10 years and preach the Word. It was also an amazing experience to be supported by them
throughout the entire process.

List three things you now know after completing your Senior Project.
1. I now know that I do not feel called to go to Seminary and become a pastor in the near
future.
2. I now see preaching and all other elements of Ministry in a completely different light; I
have gained lots and lots of respect and empathy for Pastors.
3. I learned that preaching can present a challenge to you if you do not feel enlightened by
the Word of God when you are called to provide enlightenment.

What problems did you encounter, and how did you handle these problems?
I had a lot of struggle putting together my thoughts as I wrote my most recent sermon;
The way I handled it was through prayer and asking for guidance from my Pastor and my mom.

Which aspect of the Senior Project/Senior Seminar stretched you the most? How did you
feel about and react to this challenge?
Interpreting scriptural text and providing my own interpretation to the congregation. This
stretched me because even through my experience of public speaking in Theater, I still rarely
had to develop my own thoughts on the text and script; instead, I was supposed to simply feel
what the character would have felt. However, through this project I was expected to develop my
own insight on scriptural text. I felt a lot of insecurity when delving into writing my sermons, and I
reacted to this challenge by praying over what I was getting out of the text as I wrote each
sermon.

How has Senior Project/Senior Seminar changed you (skills, attitudes, work habits,
capabilities, confidence, poise, presentation, etc.)?
I have gained a lot of respect for ministry as a whole through this project, as I realized
that sitting in on a worship service is a lot more different than leading the aspects of worship,
and I was humbled to be able to give back to my Faith family throughout this project in ways that
I had not previously seen myself doing.

What would you do differently if you had to do the whole Senior Project/Senior Seminar
process again?
I would likely start delivering sermons quite a bit sooner, as I didn’t quite have the
opportunity to do so through this project. This was because I was sharing the experience with
someone else who was studying to be a minister at my church and needed her own opportunity
to preach the Word as much as (if not more than) I did.
What advice do you have for next year’s seniors?
Don’t put this off. Everything is easier the sooner you start, because even if it is doable in
a semester, you will simply get more out of this project by taking the process one long step at a
time. Senior Seminar and the Senior project are meant to help you; use this opportunity as a gift
to discover something you wouldn’t have experienced had you not been given the opportunity in
the first place.

Has this experience influenced your future plans?

Not particularly, because I hadn’t ever officially conceived the idea to become a minister.
However, I am all the more thankful that I had this opportunity because here on out, it has
eliminated most (if not all) doubts in my mind that this is not my calling.

What grade would you give yourself for your Senior Project and what justification do you
have for that grade?
I would give myself an A- on my Senior Project because I applied myself and dedicated
my time to this project throughout the year and I truly did my best not to shy away from the
challenges that corresponded with it. At times I felt like I could have put in a little more thought
to the project or stretched just a little more out of my comfort zone for my project as a ministry
assistant, but I also wasn’t feeling called to teach the Word of God when I was given the
opportunity, which was a challenge all in itself for me.