Haskell LIGHT
Lawrence, Kansas
Native American Pastor
by Rev. Will Main (Sioux)
It is now official; I have by the grace of God, completed all the necessary academics to graduate from Concordia Seminary, St Louis, particularly the Ethnic Immigrant Institute of Theology! I still smile when I say that name because I am not an immigrant. My people, the Dakota Sioux, roamed the Americas long before my arrival in the U.S. from Canada some five years ago. This shows me that the wonderful God I serve has a brilliant sense of humor! I will be ordained in October of 2011 and installed at a ceremony at the Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence Kansas. What a great honor it is for me to be able to share the Good News of the Gospel at such an historic place for Native Americans!
My journey to ordination has been at times both challenging and particularly humbling as I ponder why God chose me to serve at the Harvard of Native America! I must share that my wife Patricia and our two wonderful children, Brittany and Matthew, have been my greatest supporters on this journey. Many times I have wanted to quit because it was just too hard, but they would not let me. They provided me with constant encouragement and a peaceful place to contemplate and study the Word of God, so I am extremely grateful to them. As we celebrate this accomplishment we do it as a family because without them I could have achieved nothing. To me family is everything, we rise and fall together, we weep and rejoice together, we “do life” together, so I am extremely blessed to have such a wonderful support system. It is always with much love that I speak of my family!
In Lutheran country, Native American Pastors are few and far between, so it is with joy that I set out to build bridges of communications and healthy relationships with my non-native brothers and sisters. Think about the circle of a Native American dream catcher. It has neither a beginning nor an ending. Within the circle of a dream catcher, all are connected. Native American pastors who serve non-Native congregations have used the symbol of the dream catcher to help explain the limitlessness of God. We Native American pastors have the opportunity to create new shapes, stories, and models for ministry, leading our non-native brethren on creative and challenging paths.
Christ came to transform all people and all cultures—even American culture. Just as Native Americans and people from different cultures are expected to be transformed by God’s Spirit, so [European] Americans need to be transformed. Being conformed to God’s standards is not easy though, it is especially difficult to try to change systems long in place. It’s not convenient to try to change the systems. Part of being a pastor is to challenge, awaken and encourage.
Laughter is very important to Native Americans; often we are laughing through the tears. We see humor as a gift that Native Americans bring in ministry to and with non-Native peoples. Also, one of the greatest challenges that not only I faced, but my whole family faced, was the loneliness! As I trained to become a Native American Lutheran Pastor we had to travel away from our families and communities to minister to and with non-Native churches. We have felt the sting of alienation. As a Native American pastor it is my desire to introduce the stories, values and traditions of our Native American communities into Western-style worship. In so doing, we may open hearts, minds, and churches into new ways of being Christian.
One of my heroes, Sitting Bull, once said to a group of young warriors who were carefully crafting and training with their weapons, “These weapons you have crafted are nothing more than shiny trinkets till you test them on the battlefield.” With my sound and balanced Lutheran theological training I, like those young warriors, am ready to test what I have learned on the battlefield.
Peace and Blessings.
