Military duty adds new dimension to clergy couple’s life

The Rev. Peter Lawson answered a two-fold call —
as a military chaplain and church pastor.

By LINDA M. LINONIS

VINDICATOR RELIGION EDITOR

The Lawsons serve God and country.

Being on call as a minister has taken on a whole new meaning for the Rev. Peter Lawson and his wife, the Rev. Joyce Lawson. His second calling, the U.S. military, has placed other demands on their vocations, family and careers.

The Rev. Mr. Lawson is a chaplain at the National Guard Readiness Center, Arlington, Va. He began the assignment in January and it will conclude Sept. 30. He also served at the center after the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the Pentagon.

As a minister in the military, Mr. Lawson holds the rank of lieutenant colonel and is a member of the 28th Division, 2nd Brigade of Pennsylvania. He was a brigade chaplain to the 2/28 Brigade Combat Team in Iraq, stationed at Camp Ramadi, about 60 miles west of Baghdad, from June 2005 to June 2006.

Added responsibility

With his current assignment, he comes home most weekends. Even so, the Rev. Mrs. Lawson said, “I feel like a single parent some of the time.”

“It’s been stressful,” she admitted. But, she noted, thousands of other spouses with a military-serving husband or wife who has been deployed face the same circumstances.

“I’m coordinating activities with the kids,” she said, and is responsible for the day-to-day demands of family life. The Lawsons’ children are Emily, 18, who is graduating this spring from Boardman High School and plans to attend Youngstown State University; and Ethan, 15, a BHS freshman.

Not only has the couple faced uncertainty on the military side, Mr. Lawson’s church, Brownlee Woods Presbyterian in Youngstown, recently merged with John Calvin-St. Paul United Church of Christ in Boardman, to become Heritage Presbyterian Church USA.

Mrs. Lawson has been the full-time and only minister at Mahoning United Methodist since 2000. In listing “responsibilities” on her résumé, she summed it up with “everything that goes with being the only pastor of a 260-member church.”

Those responsibilities aren’t something Mrs. Lawson thought would be her career. “I never envisioned myself as a preacher ... having to get up and speak before a group of people,” she said. “But I had always been involved in the church ... leadership in youth groups ... and had a passion for that.”

While a student at Mount Union College, where she earned a bachelor’s degree, the demands of course work crowded out time for engaging in religious-based activities. “I didn’t like that and was unhappy about it,” she said. But that realization led her to the acceptance that “God was working on me.”

“I knew it was the right thing to do,” she said of deciding to attend Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, N.J. “I felt good about being there.”

How they met

It was at the seminary that the Lawsons met. They were married in 1986. “We knew other clergy couples,” Mrs. Lawson said.

“It wasn’t the plan [to marry another minister], but it was the way it unfolded,” Mr. Lawson said.

Mr. Lawson said their different denominations — he being Presbyterian and she, Methodist — wasn’t a problem.

“We work together to make it work. And because it does work, it shows me the Lord at work,” Mrs. Lawson said.

“Theology wasn’t an issue. We don’t agree on all aspects but we work it out,” Mr. Lawson said, noting they both are Protestant. Each gave thought to converting to the other’s faith.

Overall, he said, “It’s all about compromise. You limit your opportunities for the sake of the other person.”

Their denominations also supply ministers differently. Mr. Lawson said the Presbyterian system is based on the free market, and ministers send out résumés and interview at churches. The Methodist bishop makes appointments.

“It has worked out for us,” he said, noting he would find a position first, then his wife would inquire about nearby openings.

The pieces have come together in family matters with their location in Boardman. They are relatively close to their families, who live in the Pittsburgh and Cleveland areas. “It’s the first time we owned a house,” Mrs. Lawson said, noting they lived on church properties before.

“Church has been a natural part of our lives,” Mrs. Lawson said.

Emily is Presbyterian. “she got used to going with her dad,” her mother explained. Their son is Methodist.

Mr. Lawson said he and his wife are in sync because “she’s a colleague in ministry and able to understand from that perspective what I do.”

linonis@vindy.com