The Midwest District has the honor of being the home for clergy who are starting their journey of servant leadership. These new folks were introduced at the District Conference on October 12. Each one will also be featured in a special Puzzler’s Corner in the coming weeks. I invite you, who are their sisters and brothers to reach out and welcome them to the Midwest District and the journey toward answering the Lord’s call upon their lives and vocation. Today’s guest blog post is from Rev. LuAnne Stanley Hook.
“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?”
Isaiah 43:19a
I am Reverend LuAnne Stanley Hook, a newly commissioned deacon in the Midwest District. As new clergy, I am not new to West Michigan, nor to ministry. I began following Jesus Christ at a UMC in Terre Haute, Indiana and became excited about serving God at DePauw University, where local work projects and mission trips widened my view and heart for God’s people. I went to seminary and received my M. Div. from Vanderbilt, but decided not to pursue ordination, as elder’s orders didn’t really fit how I felt called to serve God. I ministered through social service, while serving in the church through lay positions, such as teaching.
I became a Michigander in 2000 and joined First UMC of Holland, where I learned of the 1996 creation of the Order of the Deacon. While reconsidering a call to ordained ministry, I was hired as the Youth Director at First, where I served for 12 joyful and challenging years, living into ministry fully connected with the church and inviting youth to participation in those work projects and mission trips that formed me in college. Eventually, I decided to finish what I started in seminary, and in June I was commissioned as a Provisional Deacon.
In my new role as Director of Community Involvement at First Holland, I am happy to be partnering with a God who is always ready to do a new thing, and to find myself doing just that.