{"product_id":"hopeful-compositions-sermons-from-partway-up-the-mountain-9781949888928","title":"Hopeful Compositions: Sermons from Partway Up the Mountain","description":"\u003cp\u003eJust about every single day since being ordained as a pastor, I have felt like Admiral James Stockdale at the 1992 Vice-Presidential debate, when he said: \"Who am I? What am I doing here?\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBeing a pastor was never on my radar. I grew up, or at least was born and raised, in Findlay, Ohio, and my family attended a wonderful congregation there: First Presbyterian Church. It was in this congregation, and literally in their beautiful sanctuary, that I was baptized, confirmed, and, eventually, ordained. It is the only congregation that I have ever officially been a member of, and I will always consider it \"home.\" The two pastors during my entire childhood and teen years were Terry Bard and Dean Carzoo. Theirs were the only sermons I heard for the first 18 years of my life, and they set the bar high for me.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI graduated from Denison University with degrees in Philosophy and Cinema, and then wandered for a few years through Yale University (trying my hand at Philosophy) and Hollywood, California (trying my hand at Cinema) before returning to Ohio, to Bowling Green State University, where I obtained a M.A. in American History. I fully intended to go on and earn a Ph.D., but God had other plans. While in Bowling Green, I reconnected with First Presbyterian Church of Findlay and with Terry Bard, who one day suggested I consider going to seminary. It was, and remains, one of the most outlandish suggestions I've ever heard. Yet I was unable to shake it, and when I finally realized, with some help from Saint Augustine, that this might be more than a mere suggestion and the true source might be from higher up than my childhood pastor, I returned to Terry Bard's office to ask: \"Now what?\" Another question I have been asking ever since.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI graduated from the Candler School of Theology at Emory University, and was ordained by the Presbyterian Church (USA) in 1997.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Parson's Porch\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/21\/2019\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781949888928\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 138\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.37lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.50h x 5.51w x 0.30d","brand":"Steve Elderbrock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":36672907673756,"sku":"9781949888928","price":14.41,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_af7241ba-df73-4a57-a498-e8e90edc35fd.jpg?v=1603928632","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/hopeful-compositions-sermons-from-partway-up-the-mountain-9781949888928","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}