In 2011, I graduated from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia and accepted a call to St. Stephen Lutheran. I moved into the parsonage with a cat, a pile of books, and $80,000 worth of Seminary Debt.
While I
was making more money than I’d ever made in my life, I was still in for an
economic shock. The first shock came at tax time when I found out I am
considered an independent employee for tax purposes, and owed both sides
of my Social Security. The second shock was more gradual, a growing realization
that, despite living like a monk, money was tight. After paying on student
loans, taxes, and tithing to my congregation, only 31% of my paycheck remained.
The bank that held my student loans was getting 6% more of my money each month
than I was!
This
was a common phenomenon for new clergy at the time, and the Lilly Foundation
stepped in to help! They provided a grant to a bunch of “middle judicatories”
(in Lutheran lingo Synods) to tackle this crisis. The New Jersey Synod, in
partnership with the South West Minnesota Synod, created the Excellence in Ministry Unleashed (EMU) Program
to see to the financial wellbeing of clergy on our territory.
Not only did the program pay down a
bunch of my debt, but it also offered financial literacy retreats, grants during
Covid, and most recently a retirement seminar. I even got to make videos about
generosity along with our Emu Lilly (voiced by our own Jim Krombholz) as
well as sermon helps for the Gospel of Luke, a gospel that doesn’t shy away
from talking about debt and money, poverty and wealth, and what it means to
have enough.
It’s
now 2025, I’m in my second call, am married, have two cats, shelves for my
books, and am debt free.
The time I spent reflecting on Luke’s
Gospel turned
into a book. While budget time isn’t without its anxieties, I am now an
active participant in our Finance and Stewardship teams, have a keen sense of
how congregational choices will impact our family budget, and can talk about generosity
and sufficiency in a faithful manner. Thank you EMU!
