I would say God has always had a hand on me, leading me. Yet, that call has been refined many times by the people God placed in my path. I grew up attending the Yellow Creek Church of the Brethren because my parents’ neighbors lovingly encouraged them to become involved. I was baptized there. As a teen we began attending the New Enterprise Church of the Brethren, and Brother Earl Stovall formally asked me to consider ministry. I was heading to Juniata College and brushed aside seriously considering it. However, while at college I fell in with the ‘Koinonia’ fellowship group which also nurtured my gifts for leadership and ministry.
My advisor, Betty Ann Cherry, helped me realize that my motivation for being a pre-med major was the same as it would be if I went into ministry; serving God and serving people (and it did not have to include organic chemistry). I explored various ministry paths: chaplain in a State Park and church camp, I participated in the denominational pilot program Volunteer Summer Service and spent a summer working with the Crouses at the Antioch Church of the Brethren in Virginia, I had internships during my study abroad with the college chaplain in Cheltenham, England, and back at Juniata with Ron Wyrick in Church College Relations. One Spring Break I went on a Witness for Peace trip to Haiti with a group of other students. Part of the requirement was raising funds to cover our own expenses. My home congregation unanimously voted to fund my entire trip! I was overwhelmed by that act of generosity and love.
Later at Bethany Theological Seminary there were many influential and amazing people and experiences. After seminary I pastored a church, had the opportunity to teach at Kulp Bible College in Kwarhi, Nigeria, I wrote for the Gather ‘Round curriculum, and now am blessed to be able to co-pastor with my husband. As I reflect on this journey into ministry, I am awed by the community aspect of that call. I was nurtured, loved, and cared for by a community of faith that spanned generations, states, congregations, denominations, and continents. I would not be who I am today if it had not been for all these folks who acknowledged God’s hand in their own lives and encouraged me to do the same. Ministry takes many shapes and forms and sometimes it is as simple as asking someone to consider what God might have in store for them. As you live into your own calling, keep asking, keep encouraging, keep loving...because you never know the impact it will have on someone’s life.
Brandy Liepelt serves the Annville Church of the Brethren as co-pastor along with her husband, Paul. She currently serves on the Susquehanna Valley Ministry Center Governing Board.
