St. Lawrence Lounge (Vocations, lay-ministries, and discernment)

[Timothy]

I'm in the process of meeting with people at my church (hopefully in the next week) to look at starting the selection process, finally. God's finally gone through all my excuses to put this off, one by one (in pretty distinct order over the past year, actually) so I'm finally starting the process.

 

[Padre_Eddie]

I'll gladly take a seat!

 

[7he4uthor]

---

 

[No Swansong]

I'm in the process of meeting with people at my church (hopefully in the next week) to look at starting the selection process, finally. God's finally gone through all my excuses to put this off, one by one (in pretty distinct order over the past year, actually) so I'm finally starting the process.

How'd it go Tim?

 

[TomUK]

Timothy, if I can be of any help then by all means drop by a PM. I found the whole process managed to tread that fine line between immensely draining and wonderfully affirming. If I can be of any assistance then I'd be thrilled to help.

 

[Timothy]

Well life has thrown a major spanner in the works--my grandmother's currently in hospital, I'm preparing to move her into care, which means my future place in Birmingham, etc. is not clear at the moment. I think it's a pretty clear sign that I should put this on hold for a few months...

 

[Dewi Sant]

Please pray for me as I find myself always in difficult places.

It was not easy to begin the discernment process, and now, a year after I started it in the Church of England, I find myself pressured to pull the party line of Anglo-Catholicism.

I would go further into detail, but no-one here deserves to hear such a litany of woe.

Anyway, always trying to be positive and rejoicing in the Lord.


Pray for me.

 

[Issa9999]

Good evening

 

[Zoe1188]

I'm currently looking into various religious communities in the Anglican church. It is difficult as there are not many in the US. I am thinking of making a personal vow of chastity. I'm pretty sure the TEC doesn't do any official consecrated virgins, but that's basically what I want to be. I know it sounds like a weird thing for a 24 year old girl to want but whatever.
Are there any formal rites for consecration in the Anglican/Episcopal church?

 

[vespasia]

CofE does Meet the Gang

 

[Sean611]

I head the men's bible study at my parish and it is a very small group. We just finished studying Revelation and I was wondering if anybody has any study/book they'd recommend for a small group of men?

 

[JulianFan]

Hi Sean: I can't help!
But it seems like crickets are chirrupping in the night, waiting for someone to post re their journey.... Sooooo
Hi Just starting on my discernment path. Have spent last year or so in disbelief that I can be of much use! Looks like God is determined to see things differently..
Love all the old-timers here, u are collectively an inspiration xx
Feeling bubbly with the good stuff: 'All shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well' (how cool). So many questions, not sure where to start.But molto thanks for everyone who posts here. Your revelations are beautiful
X

 

[Gnarwhal]

I head the men's bible study at my parish and it is a very small group. We just finished studying Revelation and I was wondering if anybody has any study/book they'd recommend for a small group of men?

Hey Sean, not sure if your group landed on a book yet but what are your thoughts on N.T. Wright? Former Bishop of Durham in the Anglican Church... he's a powerhouse theologian, IMHO, but he presents his thoughts in a very readable manner. If you guys haven't found a book yet, or perhaps need one for later, I would consider some of his titles.

A few good ones are:

1. Paul in Fresh Perspective
2. Justification: God's Plan and Paul's Vision
3. Simply Jesus: A New Vision of Who He Was, What He Did, and Why It Matters
4. Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection and the Mission of the Church <&#8212; This title might be a good tie-in with your previous group study.

Just a couple of ideas...

Chesterton may also be a good author to consider, although I'm admittedly less familiar with his works than Wright's, I know that Catholics, Orthodox and Protestant's alike sing his praises.

 

[Esdra]

Hi

actually I am thinking about entering a monastery.
I am not sure if I'd stay a frater or if I would study to become a father/priest.

I've been in two benedictine monasteries so far. (So I would already know which order to join,: the benedictine. Because they're the oldest order in Western Europe and I had the feeling that they're really living like the first Christians. And I have been looking for such a community since I have been 16). In each a week. And I just loved it. The praying, the eating together in silence and the daily Masses.
and what I also loved is the peace and silence you sense in a monastery.
One of the two was in the centre of the old city of Salzburg. And it's really noisy and the are a lot of people all over the city.
But in the , monastery you heard nothing, not even in the garden. That was amazing.

anyone else descerning entering a monastery?

Esdra

 

[vespasia]

Hi Esdra, I belong with the Franciscans.

The first place to begin is to make contact with religious orders in your home country as you appear to have done. The next step is to spend time in different houses whilst talking with a Novice Guardian about your sense of calling to this life and the demands of being part of a community.

As a visitor you will pick up a sense of silence but I can assure you living within a community is not all sweetness and light and silence. It is not a place to run to in hope of escaping the world for that will always follow into the most contemplative of orders. The discipline of a rule of life may be nice for the occasional visit but it can be a tool that rubs a person raw as they learn to use it. Until you have seen two people deliberatly using silence as a means to punish each other and the walking on eggshells that can cause until a chapter can discipline it you have not seen real religious life.

Listen to the advice from the Novice Guardins, they may suggest that you wait, that you look at another order more suited to the type of calling you have discussed and both prayed about.

In honesty becomming a religious takes longer than the initial exploring of vocation to serve through being ordained as say a priest. It will test you patience, your sense of self worth and who you are in Christ but at the end of it all if you truyly are called to live as a religious this will be gradually confirmed by others until life profession becomes a joy.

 

[alexier]

Please pray for me as I find myself always in difficult places.

It was not easy to begin the discernment process, and now, a year after I started it in the Church of England, I find myself pressured to pull the party line of Anglo-Catholicism.

I would go further into detail, but no-one here deserves to hear such a litany of woe.

Anyway, always trying to be positive and rejoicing in the Lord.


Pray for me.

Hi there Dewi Sant....I did have a problem with being told to 'pick a side' anyway I went to speak to the Dean of St Asaph (only mentioned that in case you have a connection to Wales) and he was fantastic...told me to be myself as that is what God called me to be. It was so affirming. Prayers and sincere thoughts as you discern the path God wants for you.

 

[alexier]

Hi all...just a quickie...I am now young vocations facilitator for my Diocese and wondered if you had any ideas on what young people (16 to 30) would like to experience in discerning their vocation?

 

[CanadianAnglican]

As someone within your age range who has been going through the discernment process for ordination for just over a year now, I can say that clarity in procedures is very helpful. Whether you are discerning a call to religious life or ordination, there is a great deal of uncertainty in the process in terms of figuring out what the future might look like. That is find, but when the discernment procedure itself is shrouded in mystery, that can become very complicated.

When taking someone on, they need to know clearly who they can discuss matters with on a regular basis if they have questions, and preferably the entire discernment process should be made clear early on.

Those are the two things that would have been nice for me, as my entire process has been taking place during a time of organizational transition in my diocese, so much of my procedure has seemed ad hoc, and has been different than other postulants and deacons I know.

 

[Paidiske]

alexier, one thing which would have made my experience easier was some policy and clarity about how to handle the formation of ordinands who become pregnant... (long nasty back story there!)

 

[alexier]

alexier, one thing which would have made my experience easier was some policy and clarity about how to handle the formation of ordinands who become pregnant... (long nasty back story there!)

Oh my goodness I TOTALLY agree...when I went through the process it was almost as if we weren't allowed to know what happens next in anything so I can see why you (and others) would want to have some clear direction for formation! Ridiculous isn it?