September 13, 2021 in Faith in action, Roster, Vocations and Leadership
How’s Your Vocation Going?
The Rev. Karen Sease, Assistant to the Bishop for Vocations and Leadership/Mission Advancement, reminds us that “vocation” is a calling on our lives that extends beyond professional ministries in the church. [ See video and transcript below. ]
〝But if you’re still wondering about rostered ministry, still praying about whether God is calling you to be a pastor or a deacon in this church, let’s be in touch. Send me a note or talk to the leaders in your congregation,〞she says.〝SEPA Synod has a candidacy committee that wants to be a discernment partner for you, in helping you to live into your calling. We’re already working with nearly 30 people who are somewhere on their journey from the very first questions to waiting for their first call.〞
For information about discernment and the ELCA candidacy process, contact Pastor Sease at 267.323.3744 or via email.
So, how’s your vocation going?
One of the little old ladies sidled up to me at a church breakfast to ask me that very same question. “So how’s your vocation going?”
And high school me, well, shoved a muffin in my face. I was not prepared to admit that God had placed a powerful call on my heart and on my life to care for the people of God.
And out of that list of like 16 possible job options for when I grew up, I just wanted to make the right choice. To know for sure that I was following the path that God had laid out for me. But I was also scared to admit that God might be calling me to rostered ministry and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to serve as a pastor or as a deacon.
If any part of that story feels familiar to you, longing to know for sure how to live into God’s plan for your life, wondering if you are being called to seminary and public ministry, desperate to live into your vocation and your calling, while not being entirely sure about what that is, know this. As people of faith, we believe that you are already called. You have a vocation and a calling from God because you are baptized. And you do not have to find the one thing you are called to, because Luther says we’re called to many things.
We have multiple vocations. We have callings to our jobs, yes, but also to our families, to our congregations and to our communities. We are living out our vocation when we care for aging parents, when we take the kids to the park, when we add extra items to our car, to the grocery store, to give to the food bank, and when we’re in line to cast our ballot at the voting booth. Our calling is to be Christians and people of faith in everything that we do.
But if you’re still wondering about rostered ministry, still praying about whether God is calling you to be a pastor or a deacon in this church, let’s be in touch. Send me a note or talk to the leaders in your congregation. SEPA Synod has a candidacy committee that wants to be a discernment partner for you, in helping you to live into your calling. We’re already working with nearly 30 people who are somewhere on their journey from the very first questions to waiting for their first call.
So, keep the faith and take courage. Answer boldly that you are called when someone asks, “So how’s your vocation going?”
