Finding Faith ... in that God will speak to you, even if it is unclear at times

EDITOR'S NOTE: In October 2021 I began a new venture writing a newspaper column titled "Finding Faith" for the Forum Communications Co. network of newspapers and websites. I was asked to contribute to the company's ongoing conversation about faith, lending a Lutheran and fairly ecumenical approach to the discussion. The column was published in several of the company's papers and websites, including The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead. This column originally appeared as a "Finding Faith" column on March 11, 2022.

The Rev. Devlyn Brooks at his home church, Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minn.

By The Rev. Devlyn Brooks

The Rev. Gayle Pope, now retired after 16 years in active ministry, said she is amazed and inspired at what can happen when faithful people listen to that inner voice they hear, a voice she attributes to God speaking.

“Sometimes you think you want to hold onto the control of things,” she said in a recent online video interview, “but if you can let that go, it’s awesome what God can do.”

Pope should know.

After all, it was God’s voice that nudged her several times during her professional career to take her from a 22-year career in journalism and public relations in Fargo, N.D., to an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, serving two parishes in Illinois before retiring.

But that journey was anything but a straight line, as she attests to: “It’s not always that God’s voice is all that clear. So you kind of look for signs, look for affirmation.”

Pope grew up Catholic in Fargo as one of seven kids, attending Shanley High School and eventually Minnesota State University Moorhead, graduating with a mass communication degree in 1976. Pope took a job at The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead and later worked in marketing for two other local firms.

And even though she had a strong faith as a child, she recognized during college she saw more commitment to God in other people’s hearts than her own. So in 1977 she made a Cursillo, a three-day religious retreat that teaches people how to live out their faith more deeply.

She left the event charged. She got involved in Young Life, a Christ-centered program which serves youth, and that pulled her in the direction of the evangelical church. But, eventually, she missed what the liturgy had to offer, and so she eventually settled into a Lutheran church in Fargo.

She said the thought of becoming a pastor never dawned on her until she was attending a panel discussion by several pastors at her home church. During the event, “an inner voice spoke to me: ‘Be a pastor.’ It startled me. But, yeah, I could see (me doing) that!”

It took another eight years, but eventually Pope attended seminary in the Twin Cities, graduating five years later. She took her first call in Nauvoo, Ill., serving eight years. This is also where she married her second husband in 2005. And she may never have left, but there God was, speaking to her again, telling her it was time to move on. She took the leap of faith, landing at another Lutheran church in Quincy, Ill., retiring there after eight more years of ministry.

“The Lord was showing me I had another place to go,” she said. “It wasn’t my plan to leave.”

As with anyone else’s life, there are more twists to Pope’s story, but the constant in all of them was God’s tug, she said. God was there to direct each turn, and to give her confidence.

“God really does provide,” she said. “You have to look for it sometimes though!”

Devlyn Brooks, who works for Modulist, a Forum Communications Co.-owned company, is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He serves as pastor of Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minn. He can be reached at devlyn.brooks@forumcomm.com for comments and story ideas.