Don Clymer
Home Church
Lindale Mennonite Church
Denomination
Mennonite
Position
Spiritual formation; pastoral care
Geographic Preference
Virginia
Education
B.A. Goshen College 1975 (Spanish and Communication)
M.A. Wichita State
University 1979 (Spanish Literature with a theater concentration)
M.A.C.L.
Eastern Mennonite Seminary 2007 (Spiritual Formation)
Ministry Work
Mission work with EMM in Honduras 1968-1970;
1974
MCC in Guatemala 1976
Mexico 1986-1989
Elder at Lindale Mennonite Church
Pastoral Care Team Lindale Mennonite Church
Associate Chaplain Rockingham Memorial Hospital
Spiritual Director, individual and group
Teacher
Interests
Cross-cultural integration and spirituality, Jungian psychology
Calling
My years of serving in Central America stripped me of my smug answers to life's problems, making me search deeply within for answers to questions that were bigger than my Sunday school faith could address. My journey took me to reaching inward through reflection, prayer and meditation; reaching outward to form community with family, friends and strangers; reaching upward through transcendence with great literature, sacred writings and music. My call to ministry is to help others through these and other transitions that cause pain and suffering and leave us vulnerable and open to the movement of God.
Ideal Ministry
Helping people to learn how to live gratefully rather than resentfully; helping people to understand the "weightier matters of the law, mercy, justice and faith."
EMS Comments
Taking one class per semester for five years is an enriching if not arduous task; there were points at which I was uncertain that I would complete the requirements for a degree. Yet the growth both spiritually and intellectually has been phenomenal. .
Favorite Course
I've really enjoyed them all. The intellectually challenging theological courses as well as the "soft" disciplines of devotion, contemplation and prayer. The church and the individual need both. We shouldn't leave our brains at the door when we enter the sanctuary, and we shouldn't leave our hearts at the door when we enter the seminary classroom.
Thoughts for Someone in My Position
The call to ministry is not just to those who want to be pastors of congregations. As a teacher at EMU, I view my students as my congregation. In spite of more biblical resources available than anywhere else in the world, our US American culture suffers from spiritual poverty. Because of this, one has ministry opportunities wherever one goes.
