Chris Hooton

I have often thought about the bends in my spiritual journey and the grace be hind them. One day I was having breakfast with Clint. He was youth pastor and I was children’s pastor at what was our first church. I had been there a couple years when he came. I was describing to him the frustration I had feeling like I was constantly failing in ministry and life. I felt like I was working hard to meet people’s expectations, but was getting nowhere. Fear and distraction dogged me, and sin beset me in ways I could not shake.
“I feel like I need discipline in my life,” I said to him.
“Let’s read Celebration of Discipline together,” he replied.
There God’s grace was at work. He and I read Celebration of Discipline together a chapter at a time, taking a week or more to digest each one. Each line held life to me. It resonated in my soul in such a way that there was no doubt the Holy Spirit was speaking the Holy Word of God to me. Clint and I would talk about the depths and constantly speak of Foster in hushed and awe filled tones. Foster became such a catch phrase for our experiencing of the depths of God, that I named my son Foster.
Another event that deepened the journey was the day a man from Clint’s old church in Nebraska stopped in to see him. Dan Gruber also happened to be the brother of my friend and children’s ministry hero, Dick Gruber. Over coffee he unfolded to us the greatest thing he had learned in his lifetime, which at that time spanned the sum of Clint’s and mine. It was simply this, that the most important factor in ministry is the quality of your intimacy with Christ. That a tender and submitted heart created the tracks the train of the Spirit could run on. At times I am blown away by the simplicity of that truth and equally that men twice my age haven’t grasped the truth. By God’s grace I came to understand that there is no higher goal in heaven or earth than to love God and enjoy Him forever. And that grace came by Dan Gruber and the only conversation I had with him in my lifetime.
One other great turn on my journey came with the reading of Streams of Living Water. I quickly devoured anything I could find by Richard J. Foster. Streams of Living water lifted my horizons. Grew up the son of an Assembly of God preacher. I was Pentecostal through and through, with little understanding of the other traditions. I was even skeptical of their claims to the truth. In exploring the other faith traditions with Foster, I began to hunger for a wider orthodoxy in my own faith. I long to experience a whole Christianity, fed by all the streams and traditions that my rich faith has to offer. The Social Justice tradition began intrigue me as well as the mystical and contemplative. When I moved to Sebewaing, I became involved in the local ministerial. It has been a great experience. I have changed. My father asked me if my colleagues were making me more liberal, but as I thought about it my concern for social justice as well as my respect for my friends from other denominations comes from the grace I experienced reading Streams of Living Water. Now I have great examples in my circle of friends. Father John has taught me a great deal by his example of simplicity. My Lutheran friend and mentor Ray has taught me the value of expository preaching with the lectionary, and praying the hours. My Presbyterian friend, Rich has taught me gentleness and his example fuels my desire to be a spiritual director. My Moravian friend, and adoptive father, Glenn has taught me about hospitality and extending the boundaries of one’s family. My Methodist brother Chuck acted as my spiritual director for over a year before he retired. These dear brothers and others like them have made a great impact on my life. All of this comes from the grace offered by becoming open to the other streams of our faith.