James Swanson

I am a minister and professor, these two themes run through my life like twin streams stemming from the same source. I cannot imagine not being in ministry and I cannot imagine not teaching (wow, that was double double-negatives!)

I first entered the ministry when I was 18 years old, as a youth pastor at the Christian Church in Gas City, IN. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, but we had a great time. It was not long before there were 30 teens playing ball, eating lots of junk food and having Bible studies. Those 'clueless' years were actually great times of learning for me. I'll never forget feeling that I had preached everything the Bible had to offer after about one year of giving Bible studies. Now over 30 years later I am utterly lost in the depth of the Bible and I realize that I will never exhaust God's word.

I went to Marion High School in Marion, IN and then earned a Bachelor degree at Indiana Wesleyan University (known as Marion College at this time) in the same town. I vaguely remember sitting in the library one day and the thought occurred to me that I might one day teach on a collegiate level. I literally laughed out loud to my self because I was not much of a student and that seemed highly unlikely.

My first 8 years of full pastoral ministry involved a steep learning curve and a lot of moving. After my wife Joan completed her degree at IWU we moved to Plattsburgh, NY where was a solo pastor for the first time. I put myself under tremendous pressure to be the perfect pastor and to make that church grow. Eventually my internal pressure and perceived expectations became too great and I left that church to become a youth minister in Harrington, DE. I was there for about three years (and loved it!), and in my second year I began graduate work at Baltimore Hebrew University, which was about two hours away. We then moved to Westminster, MD for two years. While we there Joan completed her Master of Science degree in Educational Counseling and I completed my Master of Arts in Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Civilizations while serving as the Youth Services Director at the Carroll County YMCA and Youth Director at the Reisterstown United Methodist Church.

I felt strongly called back into solo ministry and eventually we landed in Horseheads, NY which is nestled between Binghamton and Corning in the southern tier of central upstate NY. I knew that God's was leading to Horseheads (yes, there is a story behind the name). We ended up staying there for 13 years and raising our older children Jocelyn, Joshua and Jacob there. These were great years in many ways. I enjoyed the church very much and the ministry there was successful in many ways. Joan worked for Elmira College nearly the entire time we lived in Horseheads and I also began teaching there in 2000. I taught World Religions courses, and Old and New Testament survey courses. I enjoyed the interaction with the students tremendously (especially the Monday at 8am classes!). Eventually I began feeling that I needed to pursue my Ph. D. I wrestled with this decision greatly because I felt inadequate to the task and I was unsure of my motives. After a couple years of questioning myself and God I enrolled at Towson University near Baltimore, MD and began traveling down there once a week during the school year. These were tough years, but very rewarding. I did not finish my degree until 8 years later, but the process helped me in so many ways - I would do it all over again. Along with the course work, comprehensive exams and dissertation, the degree program required me to have a reading comprehension of academic German, French and Modern Hebrew. This was all very daunting and sometimes felt impossible. God helped me through these years (and Joan too!).

I began feeling led back to Eastern NY around 2007 and Joan began her doctoral work at University at Albany (NY) around the same time. We moved to Fort Edward, NY in 2009 where we currently reside. We are raising our youngest daughter Julia here while I pastor a local church and teach for Davis College at an extension site in Latham, NY. Joan completed here Doctorate of Education degree in 2013 and she is now on the Educational faculty of Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY.

I have felt the urge to write for the past several years and I finally began the process in 2014. My first book was "Necessary Tensions: How God Uses the Tensions in Our Lives to Guide Us" which was published in 2015. I hope to continue preaching, teaching and writing for many years to come - Lord willing.