Kendall Jongejan Harder's story

I am the son, grandson, brother, nephew and cousin of pastors. Much of my family has been to AMBS and I was born while my father was a seminary student. As a result, it was obvious to me from an early age that pastoral ministry wasn’t for me.

I have spent most of my life assuming that I would do something else. First I tried history and completed a master’s degree in Medieval studies. Then I moved to Cairo, Egypt, and taught English as a Second Language there for three years with MCC. On returning to Canada, I worked for a number of years teaching English to refugees and landed immigrants in Toronto. Never in this time did I consider pastoral ministry or attending seminary.

However, I was constantly involved in church life, whether teaching Sunday School, leading music, participating on the worship committee or preaching. And there were people nudging me in the direction of seminary. Perhaps because of my own insecurities and fears or maybe because I had spent my life moving in other directions, I didn’t take them seriously until my congregation went through a period of major conflict. Somehow, in the middle of that pain, I heard a call to ministry. When a mentor of mine again encouraged me to go to seminary, for the first time I took her seriously. Soon I made the decision to attend AMBS and further explore this call to pastoral ministry.

My time here has been a blessing. I have been enriched by the classes, worship and community life of the seminary. I have been challenged to grow as a Christian and in my calling to pastoral ministry. Particularly my internship in a local congregation has helped me to explore my pastoral gifts and face my insecurities. It has been a good place to be.

During our time here my wife has also heard a call to pastoral ministry. We will both graduate in May and look forward to the possibility of co-pastoring a congregation. It is exciting to think about God’s work in the church. It is exciting to anticipate how God will use our gifts to further that work.