2 July 2006
A pastoral letter on vocation to be read at every service in every church
of the diocese of Gloucester on Sunday 2 July 2006
Dear Friends,
I greet you all in the peace of Christ.
Thirty years ago this week I was ordained a deacon by Archbishop Donald
Coggan in Canterbury Cathedral. This weekend 22 men and women are being
ordained deacon or priest in Gloucester Cathedral. The future of ordained
ministry is very important to me and crucial for the health and growth of
the Church.
I need first to give my own testimony that the calling I received to be a
deacon and then a priest has been for me an enormous blessing. Of course
ordained ministry calls for sacrifice, but I also believe that it can bring
immense joy and bear much fruit. Never in those thirty years have I wished
my calling had been a different one.
But vocation – calling – is not primarily about ordained ministry. It’s
about each Christian disciple tuning in to the voice of God to discover what
it is that God is calling them to do with their life. Or, more precisely, it
is what God is wanting to do with our lives if we will let his Holy Spirit
direct their course. Every single person who hears this letter has a
vocation. Some will be very clear what this vocation is. Others will still
be trying to discern theirs. Many may be in for a surprise as they try to
listen to God.
Some vocations have a strong Church bias. Their calling is to ministry
within the Church. But for the majority, God wants a committed life lived in
the world, bringing Christian perceptions to bear, in the workplace, in the
home, in the life of the community.
There’s a danger in mentioning just one example, but I do so because it is
such a crucial need today. We desperately need more Christian teachers for
our schools and colleges if we are to reclaim our place in the education
system of our land and win a new generation for Christ. But that’s only one
example.
Within the life of the Church there is a variety of ministries that build up
the Body of Christ. In our own diocese many parishes have been blessed by
their Local Ministry Teams. Some of these Teams are looking for new members.
Some parishes are coming to the point where they want to form such a Team
for the first time - or something rather like it. The ministry of a Reader
is another vital one for the Church’s life and growth. The Reader has a
preaching and teaching ministry that relates theology to the business of
daily life and lay discipleship.
We need all God’s people to discover their potential and discern their
vocation. But I do want to underline our need for vocations to the ordained
ministry. The more the Church comes alive with a diversity of lay and local
ministers, the more we need priests to support lay people; to be teachers
and pastors, missioners and ministers of the sacraments. I believe we also
need them for their presence in every community, being as much as doing.
We need priests of every age, but especially we need to foster the vocations
of young men and women who can devote the whole of their adult working life
to the service of the Church. We need some priests who will be stipendiary,
but we need, in greater numbers, those who will train and then serve while
being self-supporting, in some cases living out their priesthood as much in
the workplace as in the parish.
So - is God calling someone in your church to something new? It may be you.
If it’s not you, it may still be your job to sow the seed in the mind and
heart of another person whose calling you believe you can discern. Vocations
needs to be nurtured, encouraged. The call is not always an inner spiritual
experience. Sometimes it is the pointing of the finger by the community or
by a wise Christian friend, who says, “Could it be that God is calling you?”
I’m not looking for a dramatic increase in vocations to ordained ministry
overnight though I would rejoice if that happened quickly rather than
slowly. But I am looking and, more importantly, I believe God is looking,
for a change in our culture. He wants us all to think more clearly and
searchingly about our Christian vocation; to expect every community will
produce vocations to ministries of various kinds; and to become better at
encouraging vocations.
The diocese centrally can play its part. The Director of Ordinands, the
Warden of Readers, the Local Ministry Officers and our new Vocations Officer
are ready to talk to people who sense a vocation is stirring. Vocations
weekends are being arranged. Training for different ministries is available.
But the vocations will come from the parishes. Clergy, PCC members and other
mature Christian people have a crucial part to play in prayerful
discernment, helping people to tune in to the voice of God who has a purpose
for their lives. I ask you, individually and together, to take up this
challenge and to work with me to put vocation high on our agenda. I believe
that’s where God wants it to be. May God bless us as we listen to his voice.
+Michael Gloucestr:
