1. I Feel Called. . .
. . .Now What?

2. Is God Calling YOU!
Is God calling me to do this work or this ministry?
How do I know the call comes from God and not my own unconscious longings or fears OR even cultural influences on my perceptions and decision-making?

3. God IS Calling Today
Hearing God’s call bestows an honor unequaled upon human beings
What affirmation could be greater than the awareness that God knows your name, speaks to you, and invites your participation in the divine intervention for the world?
God isn’t just calling people to join the clergy

4. Stories of God’s Call
Richard
Carol
Daniel
Tom

5. The Mystery of God’s Call
God’s call is mysterious; it comes in the darkness of faith. It is so fine, so subtle, that it is only with the deepest silence within us that we can hear it.
And yet nothing is so decisive and overpowering for a man or woman on this earth, nothing surer or stronger.
This call is uninterrupted: God is always calling us! But there are distinctive moments in this call of his, moments which leave a permanent mark on us – moments which we never forget.
- Carol Carretto, Letters from the Desert

6. Exercise in Discernment
Make a list of five Christian individuals you know who exemplify the Spirit of Christ. If you identified their call by the life they live, what would your guess their call to be?

7. Is God Messing With Your Life? Anatomy of a Call
It begins as an idea in your mind
The idea is clothed with images and emotions – positive and negative
The emotion-clothed idea initiates a dialogue within – that often involves a struggle
We embrace the call
We take initial steps

8. Exercise in Discernment
Draw a vertical line. At bottom of line write “Birth” and at the top write “Now”.
Slowly picture the unfolding of your life
Make a hash mark at any time along the way you thought about God’s call for you. Identify this point with a word or phrase

9. Sources of God’s Call An idea that emerges in our consciousness
Another person’s affirmation of a gift you’ve been given
A text in Scripture
Coming face-to-face with others pain
Through our own pain

10. Stirrings of the soul
Restlessness in your work
A gentle, undramatic call from God
In invitation to share in an existing ministry

11. Exercise in Discernment
Return to lifeline. Add hash marks for the various sources of God’s call that you’ve experienced

12. The Signs of God’s Activity
Clarity
Persistence
Progression
Congruence of Call and Circumstance
Convergence of Events
Conviction
Peace
Ecstasy

13. Thomas Merton’s Confession
My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this, you will lead my by the right road though I may know nothing about it.

14. Wrestling with God – and Ourselves
Feeling too busy
Feeling unworthy
Feeling inadequate
Having a conflict with spouse or significant other

15. Hearing the Voice of God through Others
Reflections from a Friend
Reflections from a Group
Reflections from the Church

16. Hearing God through Others
Clearness Committee – Council on Discernment
Personal Discernment

17. Discernment to Act
If you feel called to a ministry in your local church or community
Invite several people to form a support group
Make a list of first steps toward your implementing your calling
Get approval from the pastor and/or governing body of your church
Create a timeline
Make regular reports to the church
Keep looking to God for guidance

18. Discernment to Act If you feel called to ordained ministry
Select a small group of friends to pray for you
Seek counsel of your home pastor
Contact seminaries and ask for catalogs
Contact admission director for schedule of conferences for prospective students
Choose a seminary and proceed in faith

19. Ways to Live into Your Call
Live in Awareness Daily
Be Creative in Your Ministry
Find Ways to Keep the Call Fresh
Talk about your sense of God in Your Ministry
Keep your life balanced
Accept Appreciation & Affirmation
Be a Lifelong Learner and Teacher
Uncover the Wells of Renewal (Gen.26:11-19)

20. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Guinness, Os. The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life. W Publishing Group, 1998.
Johnson, Ben Campbell. Hearing God’s Call: Ways of Discernment for Laity and Clergy. Grand Rapids, Mi: Eerdmans Publishing, 2002.
Palmer, Parker. Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2000.
Willard, Dallas. In Search of Guidance: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God. New York: HarperCollins, 1993.