A Full Plate—and Thankful For It
Kelly Soifer
Kelly Soifer (MA ’00) is a woman in ministry with an extremely full plate. Her career is a balancing act as she serves as director of recruiting and leadership development for the Free Methodist Church in Southern California (FMCSC), teaches religious studies to high school students part time at a Christian preparatory school, runs a college pastoral internship program through FMCSC, and writes for various publications including the Fuller Youth Institute and YouthWorker Journal—not to mention her work as a strategic planning consultant and adjunct lecturer at Westmont College. But Soifer’s plate is loaded with all the things she loves to do, a fact reflected in the obvious joy and gratitude that mark her words. “My current work with the Free Methodist Church keeps me up at night because I am so motivated by it,” she says about one of her areas of service. “It doesn’t even feel like work!”
That same enthusiasm seeps into Soifer’s sharing about her time at Fuller, where she had a non-traditional experience that was just right for her. Soifer began taking classes at Fuller’s regional campus in Colorado back in 1984, when she was serving with Young Life. Then, Soifer took a long time—“too long,” she says—to finish her MA in Theology, completing her degree 17 years after attending that first class! “The most amazing part of my Fuller experience was how much they made seminary work for me,” she recalls. “I was still challenged academically, but I was able to integrate the academy into the stream of my ministry and life.”
But she loved taking a class or two at a time, comparing her method to becoming a full-time seminary student, which she says is like “buying a whole new wardrobe at once” instead of picking up new outfits as you go. “This slow and steady diet of study and lecture,” says Soifer, “allowed me to live the ‘lecture and lab’ rhythm of school in powerful ways.” She shares that her life was changed especially by classes with professors Terry McGonigal, Tremper Longman, and Jim Edwards—but that, in fact, “I loved every single class.”
Now, in her thirtieth year of youth ministry, Soifer is still putting all of those courses to use as she wears her many hats of ministry, sharing with colleagues and youth what she has learned in the classroom and in life. But she is still always learning, Soifer points out, explaining that working with teenagers keeps her faith fresh. “I have never had a dry period in my faith,” she shares, “but I believe that is because I am always around young people having that ‘aha!’ experience with God for the first time.”
Part of what fuels Soifer’s gratitude is knowing that she is not merely working for an institution, but for a movement of God’s Spirit through the Free Methodist churches in Southern California as well as the greater Church in the world. “I cannot believe I get to wed my work with the way that God made me,” she says with infectious enthusiasm. “I am beyond thankful!”
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