Are you a minister?

Strange things happen when you wear your collar to Subway.

The other day I'm on my way home and I'm hungry and don't want my hosts to think they have to feed me, although I was very grateful to partake of pizza they'd ordered earlier in the week (and one with my favorite toppings too). So I stopped at the Subway near their house.

There was a man in front of me taking an awfully long time to order 3 sandwiches. In the meantime I busied myself with smiling at two young boys sitting at a nearby table while their mother paid for their food, and picking out a bag of chips. Gotta be careful who you smile at I guess because the older child (maybe around 5 or 6, not much older), walks over to the rack and picks out the exact same chips. Mom had not bought chips and did not want to buy chips but had a hard time convincing her child that he was not going to have the chips, he was pretty set on them. Oops. Sorry Mom. I did fess up saying something like, "sorry, he saw me when I got my chips." Mom seemed to take it in stride like mom's often do.

And still I'm waiting to even begin placing an order for my sandwich. Now the man with the 3 sandwiches who's tying up the line looks at me more directly then asks something like, "so ummm are you a minister?"

It's amazing the switches that sends off all at once. First there's the kind of dry or sarcastic humor side of my brain that's thinking something like: hmmm let's see... black shirt - check, collar - check, cross - check. If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck then... what do you think? But I suppose I *could* be on my way to a costume party.

But the sarcastic voice is a small one and in the background more like an observer. In the forefront is how to answer this man's question. The short answer is yes, but what does he mean when he uses the word "minister"? Because if he means a priest or something equivalent, then at this point the answer is more "no" or "not quite."

All this happens in a flash in my brain and I end up saying "yes" and then I think he asked "yes?" and I think I then said something like, "yes, well I'm a deacon and should be a priest in several months." He asked where so I said in the Episcopal Church and then mentioned where I was going to be and mentioned the parish where my friend is since it is likely to be closer to where the man lives.

The man then tells me that over the years he has had to engage in equal opportunity employment training sorts of of things for his job. He said that he's not real happy with the Roman Catholic church because he has an 8 year old daughter and he doesn't want to have to tell her that she can't be a priest. He says that he's been thinking about the Episcopal Church.

Normally I'm not a big fan of sheep stealing, it seems kind of strange to me, like just shifting pieces already in play around on a gameboard, but what has changed? However, I think sometimes for individuals, changing a parish or changing a denomination can help them engage and embrace their faith more fully. If this man is staying away from church on principle, a change to something more in line with his values or theology could mean that he attends on a more regular basis, that he has more of a prayer life, and that he brings his children and they begin to have more of a walk with God than they currently have.

I have no idea what will happen to the man in the Subway or if he will choose to visit my parish or my friend's parish. I do hope that his encounter with me was positive and will lead him to pursue more of a walk with God whether it be in the Roman Catholic church or in mine, or in some other denomination.

To "M" in the Subway: May God bless and guide your spiritual journey and that of your child/children.

Yep, you never know what might happen or how God might use you when you wear your clerical shirt and collar to the Subway.