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Rev. Steven M. Price
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My call into ordained ministry is a story that unfolded over a period of more than a decade. I first sensed a call in the summer of 1985. At the time, I had one year left to completing an undergraduate degree in accounting and was working as a staff intern with Coopers and Lybrand, CPAs. Church had always been a significant part of my life, but before that time, I had never given any consideration to ministry as a vocation. What I heard that night came as a total surprise. At the heart of that call was a passage from the Psalms, one which I read at about 3am when I woke up restless and felt compelled to read my Bible.
“I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Do not be like a horse or a mule without understanding, whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle, else it will not stay near you.” - Psalm 32:8-9
The next day, I spoke with Catherine, whom I had asked to marry me just a few weeks earlier. We began the intriguing journey of both trying to accept, understand, and interpret the calls into ministry that we had received. I wrestled a lot more with accepting mine. In 1987, we moved shortly after our first anniversary to Atlanta, so we could both attend Candler School of Theology. In the fall of 1988, I decided I had a great compromise in mind for God and this calling into ministry—I would teach and coach in a high school setting. That would be a great ministry, wouldn’t it, God? So I left seminary. In 1991, we moved to Tallahassee for Catherine to take her first appointment and for me to begin graduate studies in English Education—still working my compromise. Through an interesting set of circumstances, I ended up on staff in youth ministry at the church where Catherine was appointed. Three years later, I had a number of students who I sensed might be feeling a call into some type of ministry. I thought they would benefit greatly from a new UM event where they could “explore” such a call. So off we went to Richmond, Virginia for Exploration ’94—the 30-year-old who already knew what he planned to do taking the 16 to 21 year olds who needed a chance to hear what God wanted them to do. During worship…
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