{"id":7238,"date":"2023-05-25T09:11:25","date_gmt":"2023-05-25T09:11:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/?p=7238"},"modified":"2025-08-13T18:25:20","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T18:25:20","slug":"act-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2023\/05\/25\/act-two\/","title":{"rendered":"Act two"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a vicious and bloody civil war, tomorrow is promised to no one. But a young Carlos Cortez \u201923 M.Div. found a way to imagine a future.<\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up in El Salvador … in the middle of violence. I saw a lot of death, saw how people can hate each other. I lived in fear, because of the war,\u201d Cortez said.<\/p>\n

He survived the killings that claimed many people he loved, and in 1992, at age 15, he made his way to California, not knowing English or what to expect in his new home.<\/p>\n

But Cortez had a dream, and he worked hard for it. \u201cWithin two years of arriving, I had graduated (from high school) and was going to college. No one in my family had ever gone to college,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

To figure out his next step, Cortez had to do some digging.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went to the public library to look at an encyclopedia that had careers in it. I saw a picture of two guys with ties under \u2018business careers.\u2019 … That\u2019s what I wanted: to graduate from college, make good money, wear a tie and a suit. That was my view of success,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Cortez finished a business degree and moved into administrative roles in hospital and school systems. He loved the work, especially coaching and encouraging his employees to seek out greater opportunities.<\/p>\n

But something wasn\u2019t quite right.<\/p>\n

\u201cI came to learn I really hated wearing a tie,\u201d he said, a smile stretching to his eyes.<\/p>\n

Around the same time, Cortez and his wife were spending more time at a local church, seeking solace after suffering a miscarriage. The couple also wanted to find more ways to serve their community.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe come from marginalized neighborhoods. We\u2019re the only ones in our families with college degrees,\u201d Cortez said. \u201cWe ended up working with the youth in Inglewood, California, in our high schools and junior high schools.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cortez soon gave up his tie-wearing days when he took over the food services division of a large homeless shelter. The work was as much about feeding spirits as it was bodies, and after his wife finished her master\u2019s degree in social work, it was Cortez\u2019s turn to continue his education.<\/p>\n

The logical choice, he said, was a Master of Business Administration.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut here was a little voice inside my head that said, \u2018An M.B.A. isn\u2019t the right thing for you,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The desire for more education hadn\u2019t abated, however.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe CEO of the shelter encouraged me to get my master\u2019s in social work. I looked into it, and I thought, \u2018We already have a social worker at home,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cThen one day, my pastor said, \u2018You can be a pastor,\u2019 and I thought he must be joking. I can\u2019t be a pastor; I sin too much.<\/p>\n

“I said to one of my coworkers, \u2018My pastor is crazy, he thinks I can be a pastor.\u2019 And my coworker said, \u2018You already are one\u2014 look at all the pastoral work you already do here at the shelter.”<\/p>\n

Today, Cortez is among the majority of pastors who had another career before starting work in the church. A study on vocation released in 2019 by the Barna Group and Abilene Christian University found that 55% of pastors enter ministry as a second act.<\/p>\n

\u201cBe careful what you ask for,\u201d Cortez said, laughing. \u201cWhat I\u2019m finding out is it\u2019s not always your way, it\u2019s God\u2019s way.\u201d<\/p>\n

God will generously provide<\/h2>\n
\"Carlos
Carlos Cortez \u201923 M.Div.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cortez didn\u2019t grow up in the church, per se. His grandfather taught him Catholic traditions and practices\u2014but they didn\u2019t stick.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter everything that I had seen, I didn\u2019t really buy this God thing,\u201d Cortez said. \u201cWe were just told, \u2018You have to believe, or else you\u2019ll go to hell,\u2019 but I didn\u2019t buy that. It was not for me. I still believed in God, but not from a religion sense.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t have anything against God; I didn\u2019t blame him for anything, but I didn\u2019t see the necessity of going to church,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Even today, Cortez said he doesn\u2019t immediately alight on a particular Bible verse that he turns to for guidance or support.<\/p>\n

And yet, he easily paraphrases Scripture when it comes to explaining how he ended up as a second-career pastor, preparing to finish his education at Luther Seminary and begin the next phase of his call.<\/p>\n

At first, he didn\u2019t know anything about seminary and the calling process\u2014but he did know he couldn\u2019t pursue an education that would negatively affect his and his wife\u2019s financial future.<\/p>\n

\u201cI worked so hard to get out of student loan debt\u2014I swore, never again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Cortez had thought that stipulation would be the end of his church leader exploration. Then, he found Luther Seminary.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere, I find a fully funded program,\u201d he said. \u201cGod was like, \u2018OK, son, what other excuses do you want to give me?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to care<\/strong> for you, help<\/strong> you, walk<\/strong> with you. I\u2019m going to notice<\/strong> when you\u2019re not you, make a connection<\/strong> with you. You\u2019ll get that energy<\/strong> from me to get things going\u2014that\u2019s what I\u2019m bringing to the church. It\u2019s my connection with the people.\u201d<\/p>\n

-Carlos Cortez \u201923 M.Div.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Cortez was part of the third and final cohort of students in the MDivX pilot, an accelerated M.Div. program that was funded by a generous gift to the seminary. All other students in the seminary\u2019s Master of Divinity and Master of Arts programs are able to access fully funded education through the Jubilee Scholarship.<\/p>\n

Though he\u2019s not sure what comes next, Cortez isn\u2019t worried.<\/p>\n

He hopes he\u2019ll be able to fill an opening that is coming up at the little church where he first dared to consider the radical notion of being a faith leader.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a strange feeling that something will work out, and that\u2019s not like me. I plan, I work for things, there has to be a Plan A, B, and C,\u201d he said. \u201cI just feel like something is going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

His journey and destination have been different from others\u2019, but that doesn\u2019t worry him either.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething about me, I don\u2019t really act like a pastor. Even today, you won\u2019t hear God\u2019s name coming from my mouth all the time, but you\u2019ll see me care for my neighbor,\u201d Cortez said. \u201cI\u2019m going to care for you, help you, walk with you. I\u2019m going to notice when you\u2019re not you, make a connection with you. You\u2019ll get that energy from me to get things going\u2014 that\u2019s what I\u2019m bringing to the church. It\u2019s my connection with the people.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of concentrating so much on what\u2019s said, I\u2019m doing\u2014 God help me\u2014seize the day and do for others.\u201d<\/p>\n

The church lady<\/h2>\n

While Cortez was initially leaning away from a call, Tina Bigelow \u201923 M.Div.<\/strong> was, unknowingly, leaning in.<\/p>\n

\"Tina
Tina Bigelow \u201923 M.Div.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bigelow spent most of her adult life accepting orders and executing plans during 25 years of military duty, retiring as a commander in 2005 from the U.S. Navy. She said those decades spent identifying a task, completing it, and then moving on to a new task paved the way for her second career.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the military, it\u2019s the mission\u2014that thing we can\u2019t do by ourselves. It\u2019s the same in the church. The mission is what we can\u2019t do by ourselves, or without Jesus in our life,\u201d she said. \u201cThe military has given me
\ninsight into many cultures, many agendas. It\u2019s amazing to me to see the certain dynamics that everyone shares: No one wants to be alone, everyone wants a mission.\u201d<\/p>\n

After she and her husband retired from active military duty, the couple moved their family from Hawaii to Washington state, and Bigelow settled into being a stay-at-home mom and a full-time volunteer.<\/p>\n

\u201cVolunteering in the church and the school, that was the plan. I was part of the Women of the ELCA, did some of the altar care\u2014just typical church lady stuff,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The more she did in the church, the more she wanted to learn. And the more she learned after becoming a student at Luther Seminary, the more she felt there was something greater happening.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always had a sense of agency in the work of God\u2014the priesthood of all believers. Vocation is not about a job, it\u2019s how we function in our community, show our reverence to God, and how we give back to our community,\u201d Bigelow said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was asking myself, \u2018How do I open myself to God\u2019s agenda instead of my agenda?\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m one of those people who processes out loud, who processes in the moment. Stewardship and discipleship aren\u2019t something
\nto use just once a year, but something I could see in myself every day. How can I be a good steward to God every day?\u201d<\/p>\n

Bigelow said she\u2019s guided by \u201cthe theory of being called and named.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I have been called into this and feel like I will be named as a minister,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cCalled\u2014you are given the responsibility. And named\u2014you are it, you\u2019re doing it. In ministry, in faith, it\u2019s how we are fitting into God\u2019s family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Randall Nichols, D.Min., who studied second-career pastorships at George Fox University, found that 21st-century congregations are often more interested in the life experiences and background that pastors bring to a faith community,rather than in seminary experience. That\u2019s especially true, Nichols found, in rural areas that are often already lacking faith leaders. \u201cMany such second-career pastors, having
\nretired from other employment, have other means of financial support such a pension or other retirement income. These individuals are physically able to serve full time in a church and provide spiritual leadership and guidance for several years before fully retiring,\u201d Nichols said.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, second-career pastors can dip into their past experiences to bring a new approach to solving problems or unique ideas to revive a lagging congregation.<\/p>\n

Bigelow is a great example of that concept.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m an old, short, disabled, female, biracial veteran\u2014and many times I\u2019m overlooked by the power structures of the day,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat is it that I bring to the table that will further where this organization wants to be? I bring an agency and a voice to things that people don\u2019t want to name. Change is hard. If you don\u2019t do anything differently, you can\u2019t get a different outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is it the right time?<\/h2>\n
\"Elliot
Elliot Radeke \u201923 M.Div. and Julie Radeke \u201923 M.A.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Back in 2015, when Julie Radeke \u201923 M.A.<\/strong> and Elliot Radeke \u201923 M.Div.<\/strong> were newly married, Julie felt that God was calling her to pastoral ministry. But she wanted to take some time to pray and discern the next steps.<\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up in the church, but working vocationally in ministry was never my plan,\u201d she said. Her professional background was in hospitality and operations.<\/p>\n

Still, Julie listened to her call, and by 2018, she was working full time in children\u2019s ministry. She and Elliot were active volunteers in their church and community as well.<\/p>\n

Yet, the idea of seminary still didn\u2019t seem realistic. In addition to working and volunteering, the couple was busy raising their two young children. The timing just seemed off. \u201cI was wrestling with God in the busyness of being a mom and working in ministry,\u201d Julie explained. \u201cI said \u2018no, God,\u2019 with so many reasons why it wasn\u2019t a good time I would wrestle, saying, \u2018I am not the girl.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2021, Julie again felt a nudge toward seminary. At about the same time, Elliot, who was teaching fifth grade, also began to discern a call.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was loving (my work),\u201d he said. \u201cBut then I started to feel like there could be more I got this reoccurring call to pursue seminary, but without really knowing what\u2019s next.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elliot confesses he was a little confused at first. \u201cFor me it was like, \u2018What the heck, God? Why did you have me do this (education degree) just so I could leave that work?\u2019 But then I was like, \u2018No. God had me do these things to prepare me.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Eventually, both Julie and Elliot took a leap of faith and enrolled at Luther Seminary. While this decision came amid some confusion and uncertainty, it has brought them peace to know they are each following their call.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was also an opportunity for us as a couple to live out our faith,\u201d Elliot said, \u201cto show our children that we stepped into this really challenging thing and we didn\u2019t know the end of it, but we have this peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Julie admitted, \u201cIn some ways, it was terrifying. \u2026 There were definitely questions of why now? Why together? But this burden, this responsibility that I feel, I believe it is the Holy Spirit. When you experience that call, it\u2019s not something you can just ignore. You might try, but it will continue to pursue you\u2014God will continue to pursue you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elliot added, \u201cFor me, it goes back to that peace. Deciding to stop teaching and to trust this process and that God will continue to show up. Holding onto that peace and reminding myself of how God has shown up before. We often forget what he\u2019s done in our lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are reminding ourselves that God has been with us on this whole journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Read more from Summer 2023<\/h2>\n