At least every couple of years, and in times of extreme stress more often, you should deliberately pause to reflect on the nature of your call that has led you to this position as a staff in the judicatories of the church. The first step in doing that is to choose at least a couple of hours that you can set aside and go to a quiet place. It may be a chapel in a church, a hiking trail in a park, a spot at the top of a mountain, etc. Especially if it is outside, hopefully you will have chosen a pretty day that allows you to be nurtured by the beauty of nature.
Once you have arrived at the spot, enter in to a brief prayer that can calm your spirit and set aside some of the stresses of your position. It would probably be helpful to do some breathing exercises to relax you as well. Then let your mind wander back to those early intimations that began to form your original sense of call. Whether you knew it at the time or not, now as you reflect on these experiences, deliberately consider God’s hand guiding you. Then slowly move forward in your life and consider how different experiences shaped your understanding of your call. If it led to seminary and ordination, again consider how God worked in both the positive and not so positive parts of those experiences.
Keep moving forward through your first position in service to the church. For some it has come out of secular employment, for others it was a call to a church, or maybe you went directly from seminary into serving the larger church. However it took shape, watch it as if it were a movie playing before your eyes and note how God has worked with you in both the exciting and challenging times.
Reflect on what happened to move you to your current position. How had your previous experiences prepared you for this call. What was it about the call that fed your spirit? What were the challenges that you saw and how have you responded to that which you sensed God calling you.
Finally, for this session, take some time to reflect on how that sense of call provides you with some of the gifts you need to creatively respond to the present challenges of your position.
More tomorrow.
