This activity is designed to engage the session and the pastor in a conversation about God’s call or vocation for the pastor. your congregational contact could introduce this quarter’s emphasis by identifying the issue of vocation or God’s calling.
We speak of the pastor receiving a call to the ministry but often assume that is a onetime event. While Paul had the dramatic Damascus Road event in his life, he also speaks of other times throughout his ministry when he sensed where God was calling him. Pastors also sense special aspects of their call beyond their current practice of ministry. We want to honor our pastor’s vocational journey. We want to honor the movement of God’s spirit in our pastor and seek ways that s/he can respond to those urgings as part of our ministry together in this congregation.
Then ask the pastor about his or her vocational goals in the near future. Having heard about some of the urgings in the pastor’s life, invite the session to creatively reflect on how the church can both honor and support those goals.
Ask the pastor about the gifts s/he thinks need to be further developed. One pastor who loved to write music found that the demands of being a pastor had caused that to be put aside. When the session worked with him in integrating that gift with other aspects of ministry, he was able to develop further.
In addition, pastors need to be asked about the passions that they have felt the necessity to compromise in the exercise of their ministry. One pastor had a passion for mission in a particular part of Mexico. When the congregation recognized that as a legitimate part of their call to him, he was able to feel supported in responding to that aspect of God’s call in his life.
The purpose is to seek ways that those particular gifts and passions that a pastor has can be creatively integrated into the overall ministry of the congregation to the enrichment of the congregation. If God is the one who calls and the pastor and the congregation is responding to God’s call, then those passions and gifts may well be the creative edge of a congregation and pastor being obedient to God. By responding to the sense of call results in a further maturity of our faith.
Since Presbyterians believe that everyone has a calling from God, another approach to this would be to expand the conversation and ask all of the board to reflect on their vocational goals and passions in life.
