evan vernon, pastoral intern

Greetings! My name is Evan Vernon: an ELCA seminarian and rising Middler/second-year student at Virginia Theological Seminary. I hail from Indianapolis, IN, and am currently pursuing ordination as a Minister of Word and Sacrament. I feel a deep call to serve the Church and look forward to serving Holy Trinity as we continue our shared walk with Christ.

When I picture the ways in which young men and women are called to ministry, I often think of a “mountaintop experience”: a defined, isolated moment in time where God reveals the call with such clarity, volume, and power that the individual in question cannot doubt it. The Holy Bible contains countless examples of these stories. God appeared to Moses in the burning bush, the Angel Gabriel prophesied Christ’s birth to Mary, and Christ blinded Saint Paul on the road to Damascus.

I, unlike these Biblical giants, have not been to the mountaintop, but I fully believe that God has called me to the same path—not in one, resounding shout, but in gentle, persistent whispers. The call came to me as a “tug” I felt within myself as a child and have continued to feel for years. As a Lutheran, I believe that all Christians are part of a universal priesthood, and each of us has been endowed with a unique set of spiritual gifts. Some of us are called to use those gifts as ordained clergy, and others are called to use those gifts within the laity. No path is less valuable in God’s eyes, but both are bound by a common variable: Service.

For a vocation to be godly, it must be lived in a way that serves, comforts, and uplifts our fellow human beings. Every pastor I know has fallen short of God’s glory, but all of them have sought to serve the world with the same selflessness and perfect, sacrificial love that Christ alone embodied. As Paul writes in Romans 12: “For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them…”

I believe that Mercy is my greatest spiritual gift. Just as God is boundless in His grace, so too must we be boundless in our own. This means showing compassion for the hurt, forgiving those who have wronged us, and listening to those who confide in us without prejudice or judgement. I am not a perfect disciple, but I continually seek to create a warm and welcoming presence with everyone I meet. A pastor who fosters a community of mercy and love creates a ripple effect in their church. Just as they share that mercy and love with their congregation, so too do the congregants share it with the world, acknowledging the image of Christ in all people and helping to build God’s kingdom on Earth—one kind act at a time.

One of my greatest hopes in life is to raise a family. While this might take the form of becoming a husband or father, I see my future congregation—and, on a broader scale, the world—as part of that family. By becoming a pastor, I believe that any preaching I do will be secondary to my deeper call. While I hope that my future ministry will educate and inform the people I serve, my greatest hope is that I may help them feel the full depth, breadth, and power of God’s love. In a world rife with suffering and conflict, there is nothing more healing than this.

When I’m not busy studying, I enjoy reading, distance running, and spending time with my two younger brothers—Emerson and Embry. I’m also in a committed relationship with my girlfriend and fellow seminarian, Abby, who is studying to be an Episcopal priest.

I’m excited to serve Holy Trinity!