“I sometimes had to stand up against the simplistic equation of ‘vocation’ with the parish ministry of the Church. Therefore, I was repeatedly obliged to explain how scholarship, too, could be a sacred vocation, and one that was needed by the Church — even though, as it happened, I had to leave the employ of the Church thirty-one years ago in order to carry out this church vocation.” 

(Pelikan, Jaroslav. “The Vocation of Scholarship in the Church,” Academy: Lutherans in Profession. 45:3-4, pages 10-17.)

I’ve felt like I always had to stand against that simplistic equation. The Missouri Synod I came up in was hurting for parish pastors (even moreso now) and, even though my personal path did not but bump up against parish ministry except on Sunday mornings, I felt I was an outsider and either ignored or looked down upon because I had no full-time parish experience. I certainly did not know ordained peers whose vocation in the Church was not parish-focused.

And, so, around 20 years ago I, too, left the employ of the Church. Not that anyone anywhere would ever suggest that I’m a scholar in any way like Pelikan was.