MINISTRY Former hairdresser makes the cut as minister

Good hairdressers have to listen, and so does a good pastor.
SCRIPPS HOWARD
Cutting hair and being a minister require some of the same skill sets, the Rev. Robin Hager says.
Especially important in both professions, she says, are "listening and being present with people. You have to listen to give a good haircut."
The Rev. Mrs. Hager, 40, the associate pastor at First United Methodist Church in Stuart, Fla., knows what she's talking about: She was a hairstylist before becoming a minister.
Ms. Hager said she is thankful for the education she got in beauty school in the 1980s and during the years she spent coloring, cutting and perming hair.
"I was a good hairdresser because I listened, and I am good at this pastoring thing because I listen a lot."
The Rev. Mike Shirley, senior pastor at First United Methodist, agrees that Mrs. Hager's previous life contributes to her talent as his ministerial partner.
"Robin is a great people person; she has a ready and constant smile," the Rev. Mr. Shirley said. "She was very gifted in her previous career."
Calling is clear
Mrs. Hager's calling into the ministry is clear to those with whom she works, Mr. Shirley added.
"This is a young woman that left a career to go back to school for a full college degree and three years of seminary, so you're talking about a seven-year educational commitment to prepare for the calling she feels God has on her."
It all happened gradually, Mrs. Hager says.
After moving back home to Titusville, Fla., from Maryland, Mrs. Hager thrived as a hairstylist, first for two chain salons and then as an independent.
At the time, Mrs. Hager, who grew up in a nonreligious home, says she knew there was more to life but had no clue how and where to look.
"I didn't step foot into a church for the first time until I was in my mid-20s," she said.
That first step came when some high school students, clients of hers, invited her to a youth group gathering at their church, Indian River City United Methodist in Titusville, Fla.
"That was a pretty significant moment. I had been searching and longing for something and didn't know what it was."
Attending that first service was pretty scary, she said.
"I walked in kind of shaking -- afraid I wouldn't know the words, afraid they would pray things I didn't understand, that I would stand up or sit down at the wrong times."
But all that melted away during the service, during which she listened to teens share their faith in open and honest ways, Mrs. Hager said.
"Somewhere in the middle of the service ... I realized that this was it, this is what was missing."
What it led to
That experience led to regular church attendance and eventual participation in the youth group as a chaperon. It was while watching the youth minister with the kids that Mrrrrrs. Hager began to get her first religious education and an inkling that she wanted more.
"Kind of through osmosis, I began to grow and to really have a desire to learn more about who Jesus is and the role that he plays in our lives."
The steps kept getting bigger. After making a confession of faith during a youth retreat, Mrs. Hager eventually took on the role of director of youth ministries at the church. That didn't work out -- she was overwhelmed by the administrative and teaching roles -- and after a brief return to cutting hair, Mrs. Hager said her calling began to take shape. In 1995, Mrs. Hager dropped everything to major in religion at a United Methodist-affiliated school.
"So at 33, I sold my house, packed up all my belongings and moved into a dorm room at Florida Southern," she said. "How crazy is that?"
After graduation, she married Rich Hager and "from there right to seminary" at Duke Divinity School. She got her master's degree in the spring of 2002 and landed at First United Methodist that June.
She still has an affinity for youth, since it was their open approach to faith that attracted her in the first place.
"Teenagers can really make a difference in the lives of adults just by sharing their faith, because they do it in real ways," Mrs. Hager said.
Her goal is to provide "places where people can explore their faith in ways that work for them. Faith is about a journey of discovery, so I am as much of a learner today, if not more, than I was way back then."