Vessel

Next week I’ll be at GA, meeting people and referring them to this site. I also have people following me here who perhaps aren’t sure what I am doing. To address all these different audiences, let me introduce myself.

I’m Shawna Foster, a Seminarian located in Omaha, Nebraska. I’m in aspirant status, which should take a year, then I’ll be a candidate for ministry, and then if everything goes well, a minister. I am taking the low-residency course for a Master’s of Divinity at Meadville Lombard Theological School in Chicago. (I had a person ask me what you do you with a Master’s of Divinity. I did not immediately reply ‘Be Divine’ though that would be nice.)

The course I’ll be taking over the next four years will have me doing community studies, local courses here on basic religion, long distance courses through the seminary, and a group class that convenes every week. I’ll also be mentored throughout this process.

This site will be dedicated to my reflections during my studies as well as interesting quotes, photos, and anything else I think worth sharing. The platform I’m using is tumblr.com, which has a nifty following component blogger is way behind on, and is getting better at looking like a useable website. It is my hope to chronicle things here to make a portfolio. I will probably build my portfolio at another site and link it here; my undergrad portfolio is at google sites.

Personally, I am white, middle class, married, heterosexual female with two young children, Rose and Reagan. I have been a Unitarian Universalist (uua.org) for seven years, dedicating most of that time in Social Justice and Religious Education. My experience with social justice includes many multi-faith efforts, feminist protests, and grassroots work. My religious education experience includes OWL and anti-oppression anti-racism training. Before being a UU I was atheist, and before that I was Episcopal. I love both those traditions very much.

I hope you’ll find this format engaging for discussions, but please let me know if you’re finding it difficult to comment on something or find links or wish to connect with me on other social networks. I appreciate you taking the time to get to know me, and hope to get to know you.

If you’d care to introduce yourself I’ve enabled replies, or email me at fostershawna {at} gmail.