Maybe it was the summer internship at a church in Birmingham, Alabama, that disabused John-Michael Forman of his plan to be a youth minister.
He enrolled at Covenant College in the mid-2000s eager to work for a church. He majored in psychology and minored in youth ministry.
“But, as I started to learn more, hear more stories, I realized that ministry is actually a lot more interesting when it’s not vocational, in the sense of being a pastor, being a missionary, working for [a non-government organization], that there’s a lot more creative stuff out there that you can do to ‘build the kingdom of God,'” Forman said.
Near the end of his time on Lookout Mountain, Forman became interested in pottery, a trade he picked up from an older sister. He began making pottery on the side, in the time he could find between working various construction jobs. At times, he would sneak back into Covenant’s art facility through a window.
His initial attempts at market sales did not go well, he said, but he was refining his craft.