Joy and privilege

While the cornfields and gravel roads of southeast Nebraska are different from the hills of Scotland, Owen Derrick, minister of Christ Lutheran Church in rural Pickrell, is quick to note that, in his words, people are people.

Derrick, who is originally from Greenock, Scotland, was to join approximately 50 people at the Homestead National Monument of America Tuesday in becoming a U.S. citizen.

After completing an interview process and passing a 10-question test on U.S. government on Aug. 20, Derrick said he has had mixed emotions in the last month as he thinks about the change his life will take.

“I really have two feelings about it,” Derrick said. “There's a feeling of great joy and of privilege in becoming an American citizen. There is also a great sadness of losing my Scottish citizenship, but they really can't take that away. What I value most is the unique mixture of freedom and responsibility and the idea of being part of the American Dream.”

Fulfilling a lifelong desire to work in the United States, Derrick moved to Minneapolis in 1999 where he worked as a computer consultant for the Spherion company. The next year, he moved to Lisle, Ill., to be closer to his girlfriend, Dianne, whom he would marry in 2001.

Derrick then received his green card which allowed him to have permanent residency in the United States. He also continued to work for Spherion while in Lisle until a chance meeting with the minister of his church led him to rethink his career path.

“He suggested that I should think about becoming a pastor,” Derrick said. “I must have said something deeply theological to him. It's something I've always wanted to do and I began to think this was a direction I wanted to go. I did become concerned, however, because I had just married Dianne and I knew that she had married a computer consultant.”

With his wife's blessing, Derrick became a full-time student and joined the seminary at the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago in 2003. In June 2006, he was called to serve as an intern at Christ Lutheran Church until his graduation from seminary in May. However, he plans to continue serving Christ Lutheran and is scheduled to be ordained at the church on Nov. 11.

Once Derrick and his wife were established at Christ Lutheran, Derrick began the process of applying for citizenship. Last winter, he sent an application form to the Nebraska Service Center in Lincoln.

When his application was approved, he was then called to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Office in Omaha where he was fingerprinted and given a study guide for a 10-question quiz that asked basic questions about U.S. government. Returning to the CIS office Aug. 20, Derrick said he took the test and was told that day he had passed it.

While his wife will be unable to attend the naturalization ceremony because of her job as a fifth grade teacher at Pershing Elementary School in Lincoln, Derrick will likely have one family member supporting him. In August, Derrick and his wife spent two weeks in China where they adopted 15-month-old Elianne, whom Derrick plans to have on his lap when he takes the Oath of Allegiance.

“It has been one busy year for us,” Derrick joked.

On Monday, Derrick said he was also considering wearing a traditional Scottish kilt to the ceremony. While he said he was unsure whether he would dress Scottish or American, he proudly displayed an American flag given to him by a member of the Christ Lutheran congregation. Tied to the flag is a tag which reads “To a new American citizen.”

“Being an American is a privilege and an honor,” Derrick said. “There's something about having the opportunity to choose to be an American that's fundamentally American in itself just by having the freedom to choose a nationality.”