Barb Clinger is a first-year student at Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Mo. She’s the director of senior adult ministries at First United Methodist Church, 946 Vt.

Her son, Jeff Clinger, is entering the ministry, too. He’s a first-year student at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Ill.

His wife, Heather Clinger  a 1998 graduate of Lawrence High School  has just started classes at Garrett-Evangelical. She’s working toward a master’s of arts degree in music ministry.

And Heather Clinger’s mother, Nancy Kollhoff, has begun her fourth year of studies at Saint Paul School of Theology.

Kollhoff, who formerly served as director of children’s ministries at First United Methodist of Lawrence, is now associate pastor at Lowman United Methodist Church of Topeka.

What’s going on here? Is there something in the water these folks are drinking?

Barb Clinger, 51, has her own explanation of how one small knot of relatives from the Lawrence area came to be supplying the future leadership ranks of the United Methodist Church.

“God has a sense of humor, you know,” she said.

“You got to keep laughing. In the 21st century, God is alive and working in our lives. That’s what’s important. It’s not about us  it’s about us listening to God and what he intends us to do.”

Life of service

God apparently has big plans for this quartet of mothers and children, the two families now related by marriage.

He seems to have issued them a conference call to the ministry, and these four souls are answering it.

Isn’t that unusual?

“Well, yes, clearly. It is very unusual to have that many people in one family experience a call to ministry,” said the Rev. Nanette Roberts, pastor of Baldwin First United Methodist Church.

Roberts, a friend of Barb Clinger, suggested Barb consider following the path to become a minister.

“It’s a life of service, and you’re not going to become wealthy doing it. You commit your life to serving God, wherever God calls you. That’s rare to find in even one person. When you’ve got a family committed to that kind of service, it is pretty unique and a blessing,” Roberts said.

But John Clinger isn’t surprised to find his wife and son both attending a seminary.

“I don’t know of very many families that are connected like that, but there really isn’t anything about it that seems unusual to me,” he said.

“Jeff was on track, and knew he wanted to go into ministry a long time ago, when he was a sophomore in high school. Then Barb had said for a number of years that, ‘When we get the kids out of school, I want to do something else.'”

Before she entered the seminary in August, Barb Clinger had been a teacher in public schools in the Kansas City area, and later Tonganoxie, for many years.

She finished her teaching career in May.

John Clinger applauds having two members of his immediate family, plus his daughter-in-law and her mother, all entering the ministry.

Each one of them, he says, will find his or her own unique place in which to serve the United Methodist Church.

“I think it’s great. I really think that Barb and Jeff are both going to do great things. It just so happens that Heather’s mom also is in seminary, and Heather’s on a different track (in seminary), too. They’re all kind of going different directions,” he said.

Shared experience

How do Jeff and Heather Clinger feel about being in seminary at the same time as both of their mothers?

“I think it’s incredible. It’s been a journey for the whole family this last year. The fact that it’s worked out as it did has been a real blessing,” said Jeff Clinger, 22.

“Growing up, my mother was a real spiritual mentor for me. To be experiencing the same thing at the same time is exciting.”

Barb and Jeff Clinger are both earning their master’s of divinity degrees and want to become pastors.

Heather Clinger, also 22, finds humor in the unlikely situation.

“Jeff and I kind of joke that our kids will be in for it, just having two parents and two grandmothers in the ministry. I think that they’re destined to a childhood in the church,” she said, laughing.

Jeff and Heather Clinger met as teen-agers, while they were in First United Methodist’s youth group. They were married in the Lawrence church in June.

Heather Clinger finds it meaningful to be in the midst of forming her ministry along with her husband, mother and mother-in-law.

“To be able to share that with Jeff, and at the same time with our moms, is very powerful. It’s just amazing, really,” she said.

“My mom is more at the end of her seminary time, and I’m just beginning it, so I watched her a few years ago be in the same place that I am now. That’s really neat to know that we are going through the same experience.”

Kollhoff, Heather Clinger’s mother, is earning a master’s of divinity degree. She expects to finish her studies at Saint Paul in January 2004.

Her daughter enthusiastically greeted the news that Kollhoff planned to enter the ministry.

“Heather’s response was, ‘That’s neat, that’s cool. Good for you, Mom,'” said Kollhoff, 45.

Kollhoff views the situation of having so many relatives in seminary at the same time with a touch of humor.

“I think it will make for some interesting family dinners  probably not the normal ‘pass the turkey’ conversations,” she said, laughing.