From the Rector

My dear family in Christ,
 
This week, we launched the latest course in our ongoing Living Christianity faith formation series:  an extended workshop focused on discerning our specific spiritual gifts.  As I introduced the course and laid out some foundational concepts, I realized that much of what we covered last Monday applies to the nature of just being Christian and trying to live a Christian life -- particularly, the work of discernment.
 
In The Episcopal Church, broadly speaking, we tend to associate the word “discernment” with some very specific activities:  rector searches, the elections of bishops, capital campaigns (or just general stewardship), &c.  But probably seven or eight times out of ten, when people in Episcopal circles bring up discernment, we’re going to assume that they are talking about exploring a potential “call” to Holy Orders (to priesthood, in the vast majority of cases).  Naturally, y’all will be able to think of exceptions, but I’m pretty confident in my claim that when most Episcopalians hear “discernment,” they think about a possible call to the priesthood.
 
That, my dear friends, is terribly unfortunate!  Not the call to priesthood itself, obviously -- we still have quite a priest shortage across The Episcopal Church; there are many more full time positions for priests throughout the country than there are priests to fill them.  What is unfortunate is that, in our boots-on-the-ground practice in our Church, we end up restricting the work and practice of discernment only to those folks who feel that God might be calling them to ordained ministry.  Now, why is that unfortunate?  Precisely because the work (and joy!) of discernment is what every single Christian is called, invited, and indeed commanded into in the sacrament of Holy Baptism!
 
It is not an overstatement to say that the entirety of the Christian life is meant to be defined and profoundly shaped by the constant, consistent, and ongoing practice of discernment.
 
Hmm.  After a blanket statement like that, I suppose I’d better get around to offering some concrete definitions (the former English teacher in me will only allow me to write so much before “defining my terms” as I should have done in the introductory paragraph…).  What do I mean by “discernment”?  Well, here’s the dictionary definition (from the website dictionary.com):

discernment [noun]
1. the faculty of discerning; discrimination; acuteness of judgment and understanding.
2. the act or an instance of discerning.

[to discern:  verb
(used with object)
1. to perceive by the sight or some other sense or by the intellect; see, recognize, or apprehend:
They discerned a sail on the horizon.
2. to distinguish mentally; recognize as distinct or different; discriminate:
He is incapable of discerning right from wrong.
(used without object)
3. to distinguish or discriminate.]
 
And here’s an Episcopal Church definition (from the website of The Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina):
 
“In recognition of our baptismal covenant, the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church provide guidelines for ministry of the laos (the people of God). The canons require each diocese to make provision for the affirmation and development of the ministry of all baptized persons, including assistance in understanding that all baptized persons are called to minister in Christ's name, to identify their gifts with the help of the Church and to serve Christ’s mission at all times and in all places. Specific roles express that identity in accordance with God’s calling to each of us to use our unique gifts in the service of God’s kingdom.”
 
So, to put it all together, all Christians, by dint of their baptisms, are called by God to perceive, apprehend, and/or distinguish, by whatever physical, mental, and/or spiritual “senses,” their unique, God-given gifts, and to discover the specific roles which express their identities in the use of those gifts as ministers in and of the Church and in service to God’s kingdom.  And the Church is instructed to make provision for this work of affirming and developing the respective ministries of all baptized persons (i.e., all Christians).
 
Whew!  That’s a lot much, isn’t it?  It is, indeed.  But it’s also extraordinarily exciting -- at least, that is how we ought to see it.  The work of discerning one’s spiritual gifts can be (always ought to be) incredibly inspiring, energizing, affirming, even healing.  Discovering your particular spiritual gifts is a process of connecting ever more deeply and specifically with the person, the identity, the Gift that God created you to be, that you already are (even if you don’t yet know it or fully understand it).  It reveals an intensely personal connection and relationship with our Maker, who not only made the heaven and the earth, but also and more to the point made each one of us, individually, each one a special, one-off, custom creation, called to particular roles and identities and ministries within the Body of Christ and in service to God’s world.  It’s not about the burden of work that we have to do; it’s about the ecstatic joy of getting to be what we were created to be.
 
So, in the short term, I hope those of you who were not able to join us last Monday for the kickoff of this latest Living Christianity series will be able to attend some or all of the workshops these next three Mondays (Jan. 20 & 27, and Feb. 3).  We’ll be rolling up our metaphorical sleeves and really digging into the hand-on practices of doing this kind of discernment.  It’s going to be exciting and very fun!  But I also hope that we as a parish will find more and more ways to integrate the ongoing practice of discernment into our daily, monthly, yearly cycles of life in Christ and in Christian community.  This kind of spiritual work is literally transformative, for individuals, for congregations, for communities, and ultimately for the whole world.  So join us, won’t you?
 
Yours always in Christ,
C+

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