Judy Martowska has earned the right to be an atheist.
A three-sport athlete in high school, she has been confined to a wheelchair for the better part of this decade, stricken with a rare nerve disease that has paralyzed her from the waist down.
Instead of giving up on the faith that nurtured her in her early years, she's found the challenge has strengthened it. She started college as a student at MIT, intending to become a scientist like her father. She hated it. She switched to a different college and eventually enrolled in theological seminary.
Now, at 44, she's an ordained minister to a congregation in Weymouth, Massachusetts, as its pastor. She's sharing her story here in the hopes that others will be encouraged to share their Moments of Doubt and Faith.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Sunday mornings with Judy
Her day starts routinely, even for someone who's been using a wheelchair for the better part of a decade.
After multiple hits to her alarm clock's "snooze" button, she finally gets out of bed, bathes, has breakfast and gets herself out the door and into her specially modified Subaru Forester, her wheelchair stored in a retractable compartment on the roof.
The Rev. Judy Martowska also needs to prepare herself spiritually during the half-hour journey from Norwood, Mass., to East Weymouth Congregational Church, about 20 miles away.
She talks about it here:
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But, really, how did she "get there"?
Sure, we've told you about Pastor Judy Martowska's Sunday morning routine as spiritual leader of East Weymouth Congregational Church.
We know how she gets there, but how did she "get there"? She didn't start out wanting to be a minister; she was planning to be a scientist like her father. And pursuing science was no lark, either. After her graduation from Norwood High School in 1982, she enrolled at one of the most selective scientific colleges in the world, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
After two years she found herself being pulled in a different direction. She left MIT and spent a number of years trying to figure out what to do with her life, working various jobs in child care, tutor, and even as a softball umpire. She ended up at Curry College in Milton, Mass., in 1995, where she pursued a double major in psychology and sociology, graduating with honors in 2000.
But it wasn't until she went on a retreat that she stopped long enough to listen to and discern a call. Here she reads from a paper she wrote, describing that moment.
The process of becoming pastor at East Weymouth Congregational Church involved several interviews. Here she talks about how her ministry began even before the church voted to call her as its new minister in October 2007.
We know how she gets there, but how did she "get there"? She didn't start out wanting to be a minister; she was planning to be a scientist like her father. And pursuing science was no lark, either. After her graduation from Norwood High School in 1982, she enrolled at one of the most selective scientific colleges in the world, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
After two years she found herself being pulled in a different direction. She left MIT and spent a number of years trying to figure out what to do with her life, working various jobs in child care, tutor, and even as a softball umpire. She ended up at Curry College in Milton, Mass., in 1995, where she pursued a double major in psychology and sociology, graduating with honors in 2000.
But it wasn't until she went on a retreat that she stopped long enough to listen to and discern a call. Here she reads from a paper she wrote, describing that moment.
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The process of becoming pastor at East Weymouth Congregational Church involved several interviews. Here she talks about how her ministry began even before the church voted to call her as its new minister in October 2007.
Using the chair to connect with people
When she was applying to be a student minister at another church, one of Judy Martowska's prospective mentors told her to forget it.
"A minister has to have a presence," the minister said, implying that Judy didn't have what it takes.
"I'm one of those people that if you tell me I can't do something, I will show you that I can," Judy says.
That doesn't mean ministering from a wheelchair has been easy, but it has allowed her to connect with people in different ways. Being "different," she says, has allowed her to find common ground, sometimes more quickly than even she expected. She explains why:
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Bringing the kids along
Before they go off to their age-appropriate church school classes, children at East Weymouth Congregational Church spend the first 20 minutes or so of each Sunday's service with the adults.
Using the time-tested teaching tool of the parable, Judy Martowska integrates her wheelchair into the children's sermon, so that the kids (and the adults sitting in the pews behind them) come to look at the chair as part of who she is and a perfectly normal part of her life in the church.
Using the time-tested teaching tool of the parable, Judy Martowska integrates her wheelchair into the children's sermon, so that the kids (and the adults sitting in the pews behind them) come to look at the chair as part of who she is and a perfectly normal part of her life in the church.
This force she calls God
Belief in God is central to Judy Martowska's life. But how does she maintain faith, especially after all that's happened to her.
She could choose to live a bitter life, she says, but there are too many blessings in it. She talks about it here:
She could choose to live a bitter life, she says, but there are too many blessings in it. She talks about it here:
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Tuesday, July 14, 2009
On diversity and acceptance
East Weymouth Congregational Church has embraced Judy Martowska, she says, because it embraces all kinds of people. She talks about the church's diverse membership and how it has related with her and with the world:
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