Vicar took career detour to work for God

Thursday, Oct. 12, 2006

Click here to enlarge this photo Tom Fedor⁄The Gazette Vicar Greg Durig and the Rev. Andrea Ernest of Bethany Lutheran Church’s congregation, talk with attendees of Brunswick’s Railroad Days on Sunday afternoon. Durig began an internship at the church about seven weeks ago.

‘‘They told me to be to be prepared to dance,” he said Thursday afternoon.

Durig is learning that he needs to be prepared for anything as the new vicar at the Brunswick church. Vicars in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America spend a yearlong internship with a church learning the ins and outs of running a parish.

‘‘It’s been busy, but it’s been really good,” he said. ‘‘I’ve enjoyed very much the people here and kind of just settling in, but the people made it great.”

In the last seven weeks, Durig has been exposed to many aspects of pastoral leadership. He’s written sermons and organized Bible study classes and a weekly workshop where parishioners work on their covenants with God.

Durig meets with a group each Thursday to identify ways they can improve their relationship with God and others, he said.

Andrea Ernest, pastor at Bethany Lutheran Church, said Durig was her first choice to fill the annual internship, previously held by Lou Florio.

‘‘He’s a very grounded individual, a very warm and personable person,” she said. ‘‘... I believe those are extremely important qualities in a pastor, and with someone with whom I’ll be working very closely.”

Durig, 51, said Bethany was ideal because of its accepting congregation, his immediate connection with Ernest and the moderate commute from his home in Great Falls, Va.

Durig said the internship is part of his discernment process, finding out where God is calling him to serve in the Lutheran church.

‘‘Some people, when they talk about their calling, have a vivid memory that they woke up one day and knew God is calling them to be a pastor,” he said. ‘‘I know I’m being led, but not sure where I’m being led to.”

In the early 1990s, he started to feel a tug in the church direction. Eventually the calling became too loud to ignore. Family and faith always came first for Durig, who put his professional career in corporate finance aside to enter the seminary in 2003.

‘‘I’ve been getting a lot of encouragement along the way,” he said. ‘‘My wonderful family and friends have supported me all the way, and my teachers at the seminary as well.”

Durig credits his family — wife of 27 years Joanne and three teenagers, Sarah, Amanda and Garrett — with helping him learn about life.

‘‘Having a family teaches you so much,” he said. ‘‘Of course I learned different life lessons from the corporate world. I’ve supervised, been supervised, worked in a team.”

Using those skills and his passion for education, Durig looks forward to working on Christian education courses, especially for youth.

‘‘It’s really not up to me, it’s about balancing the needs of the congregation. ... It’s really up to God,” he said.