When Scott Rush \u201983 lost his job as a laser company executive at age 56, he decided to move his life in a different direction: religion. He began spending his time volunteering to help people struggling with food insecurity and homelessness as a way to strengthen his South Jersey community. \u201cI realized that, when I was working, I was always focused on retirement,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen I was doing volunteer work, I felt like I could do it until the day I died.\u201d Rush had considered a career as a Lutheran pastor several times throughout his life, both due to a desire to build community and his religious beliefs. Now, at the age many retire, he\u2019s finally giving it a shot. \t<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere is something about the community of organized religion that\u2019s very powerful \u2014 congregating and sharing and just being with people,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A high-achieving science student growing up, Rush studied chemistry at Colgate, working as a bench chemist upon graduation. He soon realized the role didn\u2019t have the advancement potential he sought, so he moved toward a career in chemical engineering, studying at New York University \u2013 Polytechnic School of Engineering. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But before he leaned into science, Rush was moved by his Colgate core and January term philosophy and religion courses. He had been involved in University Church, but \u201cwhen I was at Colgate, gay people were not really accepted in the church, in any role,\u201d he says. Rush found solace at the University with Assistant Chaplain Marie Lindhorst, who served as his mentor. \u201cMarie was a feminist,\u201d he says, \u201cand she taught me a lot, really opened my eyes to the power of language \u2026 and helped me to reconcile faith with sexuality.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Years later, when Rush was laid off and found fulfillment in faith-based volunteering, he worked with an executive coach to plot out career paths he might be interested in pursuing: teaching, social work, and being a pastor. \u201cWithin a couple of weeks of trying to do this parallel investigation, I abandoned the other two and started focusing on the ministry part,\u201d he says. Times had changed, and the church was more open to welcoming the LGBTQ community, even at its higher levels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He started the process to become a Lutheran minister last January, enrolling in United Lutheran Seminary in Philadelphia. Additionally, he\u2019s already been \u201centranced,\u201d the first of a three-step process to becoming officially ordained. The next step is endorsement, which he hopes to complete next year. In 2024, when he finishes his studies and the church\u2019s approval process, he\u2019ll be 63. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Apostle Paul\u2019s call to minister came when he was struck blind on the road to Damascus. For me, it was more like listening to a persistent whisper. I\u2019m just letting God put me where he wants me to be.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Scott Rush \u201983 is embarking upon a second career, as a Lutheran minister.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1222,"featured_media":4971,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[210],"coauthors":[168],"class_list":["post-4967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-alumni-updates","tag-religion"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/palXSH-1i7","amp_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/08\/DSC_1380.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1222"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4967"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4967\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5008,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4967\/revisions\/5008"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4967"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=4967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}