Am I called to be a priest... or something else?
If God calls us, it is does not always mean we are being called to be ordained.
We are all called to use our skills and gifts to work with God in growing his kingdom here on earth. That can mean a variety of things.
As the church we are called to be the body of Christ with each of us having a different function in the same way that different parts of the body have different functions.
"Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good." - 1 Corinthians 12: 7
For most people this means using their God-given gifting to support the work of the church. This could be in administration or working with children or young people, supporting the homeless, reading the lesson in services, serving during the liturgy. These are vital callings which should be prayerfully offered to your vicar. Without people serving in this way the church cannot flourish fully and these are ways every member of the church can contribute effectively to its ministry. We have a page devoted to wider vocations to help you to explore this further.
Licensed Ministry
"Licensed ministry" refers to those roles where training and formal authorisation is conducted beyond the local church, by the diocese or national Church of England.
For some this could mean being ordained as a priest or a distinctive deacon. It could mean following a path towards being a licensed evangelist, perhaps with the Church Army, or joining one of the Anglican religious orders, or working within your church as a Licensed Lay Minister (formerly known as a Reader). All these are licensed ministries and require formal selection processes and take time to explore and train.
"Not Just On Sunday"
Calling goes well beyond what we do in church services and meetings. We are called by God to serve Him in all that we do. Jesus' call is to love God and neighbour - and this itself is a full-time calling.
"I Think God Wants Me To Be A Vicar"
If you - and others who know you well - sense that God is calling you to ordination, then please explore further here.
The Calling
Please read below a reflection on calling from the Revd Olasupo Ogunyinka, Team Vicar at St Andrew’s Bruntcliffe.
"Have you been called or did you call yourself?
"Remember the excitement you felt when you think you’re called by God to his mission. The excitement of talking to your vicar, making several visits to the DDO and eventually attending BAP and afterwards receiving that important call from the Bishop telling you the good news that they are recommending you to train for ordination… Well, all that is in the past now but where are you now in your calling?
"Do you still believe that you have been called by God or you have called yourself into God’s mission?
"Well, I think either is okay with God who knows us intimately and knows what we are made of. The burning question is: if we are so sure of our calling at the beginning, why then are we sometimes acting like those without faith and trust in God? We manifest this behaviour when things are not going our way or we are faced with problems we have no quick solution to. We are very quick to give up and feel powerless as if we are in control of everything in the first place. Our ordination to priesthood does not give us ultimate control or make us any more special than those we are called to shepherd. We are only set aside for God’s mission in a special way.
"We are not in control, God is. He is the one who called us into his mission. If the excitement, joy and the fear of not being worthy or capable of our calling we felt at the beginning is real and active in us, we should be able to always discern, by the grace of God, that He who called us will always be there to support us in any adversity we may face. All we need to do is surrender everything to him and let him take control.
"Sometimes we isolate ourselves from the people we are called to shepherd- churched and unchurched, focusing all our attention only on our comfort zones. Christ criticised the Pharisees for this. Christ called us to know them and to love them as they are. We can’t truly love them as they are if we don’t know them.
"We are called to embrace for the sake of Christ, everything that is beautiful, peaceful and loving and not to run away from putting right everything that is ugly, destructive and hateful no matter how hard it is. After all, Christ, who we follow made himself powerless, suffered humiliation, torture and death on the cross all because of His love for us. He could have forced us to submission instead.. But this is our way not God’s way.
"We recognise the love of God in the joy we feel when we are in contact with all that is pure and beautiful but fail to recognise that adversity is the wound of contact with God when it is painful and sorrowful. It is the contact that matters and which is necessary, not the pain nor sorrow. Adversity makes Christ appear to be absent from us when we really need him. During this time there is nothing for us to love and we will find it difficult to keep faith unless we have a strong relationship with God.
"Do we feel the reality and presence of God in all our activities and through everything going on in our lives and the lives of those we are called to serve?
"We experience the will of God’s nurturing pressure on us when it is necessary for us to experience it. And to the extent that we are obedient to his will he rewards us with the knowledge of his faithfulness and love for us. The more we are obedient to His will, the closer we are to attaining the spirituality needed to have the perfect knowledge of God’s grace. We may however never reach this state of perfection in our lifetime. What matters however is our journey to this state of perfection.
"Think seriously about your spiritually. A close relationship with God requires a deep spirituality.
"We may become more spiritual if we embrace the loving grace of God which is always available to us and give more attention and love into our thoughts of God.
"Have you given yourself to Christ and yet still remain outside the church?
"It is not our responsibility to think about ourselves and our needs. We were created to think only about God, our creator. Those who have a close relationship with God, who know and trust him, know that God thinks constantly about us and our needs.
"Now, the question is, now that you’re faced with the reality of who you are and who you’re called to be, what are you going to do about it? I say to you now, wake up from your slumber. Ignite that passion you felt at the beginning and let it burn by the power of the Holy Spirit which is in all of us. Jesus Christ has given to those who so passionately desire it the empowerment and guidance of the comforter, the Spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit of God.
"Whether you’re called or you called yourself your loving Father who knows the past and also knows the future have embraced you and had given you the responsibility of being part of His mission in a way no one else can be. Move from your lukewarm faith and trust and be active in your calling as He is active in His mission that is given to you. Everything He calls you to do no power on Earth can stop you except yourself. Remember always: His will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven - with us or without us. Let us pray without ceasing that it will always be with us. Amen."