Welcome and thank you for exploring Lifelong Christian Formation’s new Pathways of Vocation Initiative that engages clergy and lay leaders in the Episcopal Diocese of Texas in the process of discernment and discipleship for all ministry pathways – laity, diaconate, and priesthood – for the purpose of capacity building within our congregations by equipping and empowering lay leaders to become skillful ministers.

Together, we are bridging the gap between being knowledgeable “about” our faith and becoming skillful faith practitioners.

In particular, our focus here is on the first three steps of this process below:

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So let’s begin!

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What is your calling?

In the Episcopal Church, all the baptized are ministers who work together to co-create a new reality on earth that is characterized by peace and harmony among all Creation. This is the “dream of God,” as Verna Dozier once wrote.

We are all Christian practitioners of the good news, and our churches are communities of practice where we all attempt to live and learn into the shape of Jesus’s life and teachings together. We are Living and Learning Communities of faith practice, which we express both inside and outside of the church walls.

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Your ministry to spread God’s love can be expressed through whatever roles you have outside of the church.

“But I’m an architect,” someone might say. “I‘m a minister as an architect?” Another person might say, “But I bag groceries at HEB. I’m a minister as a grocery bagger?” And the answer is YES! In all that you do, God calls us to serve as Christ served – in your thinking, speaking, and actions (Col. 3:17).

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AND…whatever skills or expertise you have developed, these can be used for ministry both inside and outside of the church. Whatever gifts, passions, hobbies, or talents you possess, these can be creatively re-imagined for ministry. And in all of these ways, we contribute to the ministry of the church.

We also bring all of our gifts, talents, and various skills with us when we pursue some of the more specific ministries within the church that many of us often feel called to…sometimes for the short term and sometimes for the long term.

To understand and follow these callings more deeply and faithfully, we must enter into a process of discernment.