discernment
We refer to the method by which we call leaders for our church as a discernment process. Our Deacons and Discernment Team met recently to begin this annual work of discerning the right persons for positions of leadership in our church. Discernment has been around for a long time. I Chronicles 12:32 describes the tribe of Issachar as “those who had an understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do.”
Everyone in our congregation has an opportunity to be Issachar people. You will soon find on the table at the back of our worship area a list of positions that will be open in January. Each of you is invited to prayerfully “discern” who you believe to be the best person to be called to each of those positions. You may submit your suggestions prior to our next Deacons and Discernment Team meeting on October 22.
Lumunos, Faith and Light for the Journey, is a quarterly newsletter focusing on faith issues. The latest edition arrived in my mailbox the day before our Deacon meeting. The lead article was on discernment at work. The focus of the article was on discerning how one knows when it is time to change jobs, to retire, or to just quit.
The author suggests it goes beyond deciding—the practical and financial considerations. It is also about discerning—which has an inner spiritual dimension. He lists several definitions of discernment that he has heard:
While these definitions may relate to personal decision making, they can also guide us in discerning the needs of our church. May we all be a part of a prayerful process of discerning the future to which God is calling us and those whom God is calling to be leaders in our church.
Pastor Wayne
Everyone in our congregation has an opportunity to be Issachar people. You will soon find on the table at the back of our worship area a list of positions that will be open in January. Each of you is invited to prayerfully “discern” who you believe to be the best person to be called to each of those positions. You may submit your suggestions prior to our next Deacons and Discernment Team meeting on October 22.
Lumunos, Faith and Light for the Journey, is a quarterly newsletter focusing on faith issues. The latest edition arrived in my mailbox the day before our Deacon meeting. The lead article was on discernment at work. The focus of the article was on discerning how one knows when it is time to change jobs, to retire, or to just quit.
The author suggests it goes beyond deciding—the practical and financial considerations. It is also about discerning—which has an inner spiritual dimension. He lists several definitions of discernment that he has heard:
- Listening with ears, eyes, mind, spirit, and heart to God, other people, the earth, and your gut, and then coming to clarity and moving in one direction or another.
- The process of being guided by our deepest values and a power greater than ourselves, cultivated through listening, testing, risking, failing, trusting, and then listening again.
- Figuring out what the right question really is. Transitioning one’s focus from short term needs to long term, from just your personal good to the greater good.
- Discernment is the “sound of silence”, “the still small voice”, that when we hear it, it resonates deeply and we trust it, and it provides a deep calmness.
While these definitions may relate to personal decision making, they can also guide us in discerning the needs of our church. May we all be a part of a prayerful process of discerning the future to which God is calling us and those whom God is calling to be leaders in our church.
Pastor Wayne