Iron shapes Iron

Reflecting on what it means to learn through experience often leads us to consider the learning that arises from encountering one another—the wisdom that emerges in and through our relationships within Creation.

The Lord reminds us in Proverbs 27:17 that “just as iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” This wisdom naturally extends to all who teach as part of their vocation—those who accompany and support future ministers as they find their way. Among them is the Rev. Shannon Tennant, who walks alongside students today as they grow into their ministry formation, echoing the days when she herself was a theology student.

“When I emerged from being a student, I was very far from perfect—but that doesn’t mean we stop trying and learning,” she recalls.

For Shannon, a call to ministry often requires a significant leap of trust—one that carries us through the nebulous spaces of uncertainty, where answers emerge slowly as we walk in deep connection with our hearts and with God.

In her experience, mentoring students at the beginning and throughout their ongoing journey of forming an articulated theological understanding reveals a profound challenge many ministers face: grounding their identity as ministers and learning to lead from the heart—rooted in who they are and in who they are called to be through their service.

Preaching regularly within a congregation, getting to know the community, and facing the difficult questions people carry—as she has witnessed through her students—is not only a way of learning, hands-on, how to humbly shape a theological approach grounded in real life. It is also a path that invites ministers to embrace the challenge of expressing their theology in ways that comfort and speak to the hearts of others.

“Having students benefits the congregation—they get to hear new voices, and the students remind me what it felt like to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed,” she says.

Shannon’s work as a supervisor has not only helped students anchor their sense of self as ministers; it has also inspired her to seek ever-new ways to enliven her own ministry. Walking alongside others has reshaped her teaching, transformed her liturgy, and woven fresh creativity into her pastoral work. For, at the close of the day, no matter how far we have journeyed, our wisdom continues to temper the iron of others—shaping them, and shaping ourselves along the way.