Rev. Thanael Certa-Werner (photo by J.Lynn studios)

"My life has been one of learning what it means to trust God – to trust in his leading in my life – even in moments where it doesn't feel like he's going before me, in moments where I feel lost, and I don't know what steps to take," said Rev. Thanael Certa-Werner. Certa-Werner celebrated an important milestone in his journey of following Christ as he was ordained an elder in the Dakotas Conference of the United Methodist Church at this year's annual conference.

Pastor Thanael grew up in Wisconsin, the son of two United Methodist clergy. His journey led him to Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, SD, but not necessarily with a clear end goal in mind.

"When I was in in college and trying to really establish what I wanted to do and where I was going in life, everyone said, 'Oh you have to be a pastor. This is just your obvious calling,'" recalled Thanael. "But to me it wasn't because God had never, in some very blunt ways, said, 'Thanael, this is where I want you.'"

Nevertheless, God continued to open doors and bring people into Pastor Thanael's path to help him clarify his calling. Involvement in campus ministry, an Elisha internship, and working as an intern with the Dakotas Conference were among the opportunities that allowed the seeds of his calling to be cultivated and affirmed during his college years.

After graduating from DWU, Thanael attended Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. Despite his time there being shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic and a season of distance learning, Pastor Thanael was blessed to have an incredibly formative student pastor appointment at Bethany-Calvary United Methodist Church in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin.

After graduating in 2022, he returned to the Dakotas and was commissioned and appointed to serve Cavalier United Methodist Church (N.D.) As that congregation moved toward disaffiliation, Pastor Thanael found himself at a crossroads once again, unclear of God's next step for him.

"I really struggled with Cavalier disaffiliating and knowing what I was supposed to do," recalled Thanael. "I just felt for a long time that I was walking and wandering alone. No matter how hard and how many times I would pray for God to hit me over the side of the head with the answer, it wasn't coming."

A powerful encounter with the Holy Spirit in a moment when he thought he, too, was moving towards leaving the UMC led Thanael's feet back to the path of his original calling.

Pastor Thanael, center, pictured with the other 2018 Elisha and Samuel interns.

"I realized in that moment, which was a week away from the vote, that this is not where God's calling me, and I am starting to go down a path where he is redirecting me," explained Pastor Thanael. "It's all led me to really cherish this idea of Christ being the Good Shepherd and constantly being there to tap me with his rod and say, 'Nope this way.'"

This image of Christ as the Good Shepherd (John 10) has continued to resonate with Thanael as a hallmark in his ministry journey, as he seeks to hear Jesus' voice and trust Him to lead us.

"I found that I need to trust him to redirect me when I take a wrong step," explained Thanael. "And sometimes the trust that we need to have in God is to trust that I'm going to keep moving forward and God will redirect me when I'm going astray."

"That's been a huge part of my calling because there's never been a moment for me where the heavens have opened and the angels are singing," continued Thanael. "But what I have found is, when my feet start to go astray, and I'm starting to wander a path that's far away from where God wants me, there are those key moments that start taking place where God is redirecting my path back."

In 2023, Thanael began serving the United Methodist Churches in Burke and Herrick, S.D. Later that year, he added Gregory United Methodist Church, and through many conversations, deep prayer, and discernment, along with a connectional and collaborative spirit, the Abundance Parish was formed. More than simply a three-point charge, the Abundance Parish is seeking to share ministry and resources in new ways and also reach beyond their community borders.

Looking back, Pastor Thanael can see how God worked through those first two appointments in W.I. and N.D. and their stories to prepare him for this unique appointment.

"The ministry has been tailored for who I am and the ministry experiences I've had," Pastor Thanael shared enthusiastically. "Seeing the overarching picture, God has just so built up my life to lead towards this moment."

Pastor Thanael delivers a children's message at Burke UMC.

"It's been the unexpected joys that have been the strongest," reflected Pastor Thanael. "It's moments like a regular Sunday, and there's no reason for anything spectacular to happen except for that Christ arose, and you get there on Sunday, and all of a sudden the church is just packed, and kids are running around, and the cars are lined up all around the church, and we're just there to worship!"

"It's those moments where you know your sermon was not good, and yet the Holy Spirit just made it so rich, and it felt like God spoke today."

"And the moments where baptisms just touch your soul and confirmations that make me cry and just these random moments have been the greatest joys that have carried me forward. They have been truly random moments when I least expect them when God seems to come up around the ministry, and I get to be part of it. It just bolsters them with amazement and miracle," said Pastor Thanael.

"That I get to experience God's movements today is just incredible," he added.

Pastor Thanael has also discovered that joy in ministry comes with good balance and boundaries and taking time and space for quietness and stillness to allow God to speak into his life as an individual.

"I think one of the biggest challenges for Christians and as pastors is how do we maintain our strong faith and live into our Christian identity as a person first and foremost," said Pastor Thanael. "It is so easy to allow oneself to study the Bible because you're preparing a sermon, not because we're supposed to be living in the scriptures and letting them breathe into our lives. It's so easy to only pray on Sunday mornings because that is when you pray and not allow that to be the central part that brings you back into the presence of God over and over again."

"If I'm consumed with thoughts as "CEO" over the church, then I can't actually be an effective Christian with how God is moving me and not just the church," said Thanael.

Pastor Thanael led a group from Abundance Parish on a Wesleyan heritage tour. He is pictured here preaching at John Wesley's New Room in Bristol, England.

This commitment to and experience of the transforming power of faith in his own life continues to fuel Thanael's ministry and discipleship, leading him to look expectantly for what God is doing and will continue to do in and through the work of the church.

"What gives me the most hope is the movement that I have seen of God as of late," shared Thanael. "I think that we've all kind of trudged through the muck for a while now. But we see signs of life through it all – that the church is here and there's a real difference being made by the church."

He continued, "We're seeing that difference coming out in statistics now. They're finding that the next generation is one of the most open generations to receiving Jesus in a really long time. Study after study is coming out, saying something is happening. Here is statistical evidence of how our prayers and our faith in Christ have shown that God hears our prayer that God doesn't abandon us."

When asked how his Dakotas United Methodist family could pray for and with him in this next season, Pastor Thanael replied,

"My continual prayer is that the folks that are around me – my churches, my parish, my friends, my family – that they may get to know the real Jesus," shared Pastor Thanael. "And the way that people can support me through prayer is praying that through my life, through my witness, and through the work that I get to do that people would experience the real Christ because it's the real Christ that transforms, and there's wrecks and makes us. So that's my greatest prayer!"