Tag: Discernment

Pilgrims on a Journey

We have just completed a series of intentional holy conversations at St. Martin’s. Many thanks to all who participated!

The recent parish survey provided an enormous amount of important data for the Rector Search Committee to consider while they are preparing the parish profile. The holy conversations have now provided confirmation of that data as well as a sense of what is on the hearts of the people of this parish. The notes taken during those conversations fills twenty-one pages. The committee now sets about the task of telling the story of St. Martin’s in hopes it will inspire Priests to enter into discernment with them concerning a call to serve as the next Rector. Please remember them in your prayers as they enter this next phase of the search process.

The series of holy conversations was called Yearning to Know God’s Will. The topics we covered were The Power of Discernment During Transition, Honoring the Past, Embracing the Present, and Reaching for What Lies Ahead. These topics helped us look at the past, the present, and the future in the context of spiritual discernment. We asked "What is God up to at St. Martin's?

At the beginning of each conversation, I gave a presentation about the topic at hand. In one presentation, I spoke of an interview I saw with a young man who had walked 750 miles to attend the recent March on Washington. After describing the encounters he had along the way, he said, “When I started out, I thought my goal was to be here in Washington, D.C. But I now understand that the goal was the journey itself.”

In the transition between Rectors at St. Martin’s and in this protracted time of pandemic, we especially need to be reminded of the importance of the journey. How we use the period between the beginning and the end of a thing is vitally important. Did you know the first Christians called the movement “The Way?” Later on in the history of Christianity, more emphasis was placed on the destination – heaven. Maybe too much. Perhaps this is a good time to draw inspiration from those earliest followers of Jesus and focus more on the journey.

Where is God’s hand at work in the world around me today?
How is God blessing me and others in the present moment?
Where is there a hurt to be healed?
Where is there a need to be filled?
What is the word of hope and encouragement that I can to speak?
How can I be Christ to someone around the next corner?

This verse from The Servant Song expresses it this way:

We are pilgrims on a journey,
We are trav'lers on the road;
We are here to help each other
Walk the mile and bear the load.

Eternity is not just the end, it is also the journey!

Blessings,

The Very Reverend Ron Pogue
Interim Rector
St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church
Keller, Texas

September 3, 2020
The Dynamic Relationship Between Mission and Transition

Here is a question I am often asked: What has been the most valuable learning experience in your work as an interim minister and why? Here's my response.

Mission and transition are dynamically related.

When a faith community is intentional about discerning the mission entrusted to it and committed to engagement in that mission, it is also willing to be intentional about the transitions that are necessary. The dots have to be connected.

While considering leaving the parish I had served as rector for almost a decade, I was intrigued by the work being accomplished by colleagues who were intentional interim rectors. In conversations with them, I was encouraged to explore service to the wider Church through transitional ministry instead of as a settled rector in one parish. That discernment led to training in intentional interim ministry, during which I suddenly realized that all churches are in some sort of transition most of the time, although often unconscious of it.

Transition training should be core seminary curriculum. Transitions between settled rectors provide a unique opportunity to explore transition – remembering where we’ve been, clarifying where we are, discerning where God is calling us, making changes that are needed, connecting with the wider church, and embracing a new era of mission with a new spiritual leader. But that is not the end of transition!

During this epiphany, I recalled some words of Titus Presler: “Mission is not fundamentally something we do as Christians but a quality of God’s own being. It is not a program of ours but the path of God’s action in the world. The mission of the Church, therefore, derives from the mission of God, and it has meaning only in relation to what God is up to in the universe. Already engaged in mission, God simply invites us to participate in what God is doing.”

The Church doesn’t have a mission. The mission has a Church. Everything we do as followers of Christ in community is related to and in the service of that mission. And God’s mission is constantly in transition. It became clear to me that when a church continues to function as if nothing has changed, the mission suffers. It also became clear to me that the mission suffers when changes are needed but are avoided or resisted.

So, intentional transition work in the Church, whether between rectors or at any time, must involve discernment about mission, participation in what God is doing for the sake of the world at our doorstep. Transition work matters only in relation to mission.

This insight guides my leadership so that after our interim time together, consciousness of the dynamic relationship between ongoing mission and ongoing transition will continue. Churches that are engaged in mission are healthier, happier, and more attractive to those who are seeking what Christ offers through them. In such places, transition evokes transformation.

I would like to leave a legacy of healthy, mission-focused, transformative congregations in my service to the wider Church.

O Lord, mercifully receive the prayers of your people who call upon you, and grant that they may know and understand what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to accomplish them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

(The Book of Common Prayer, Collect for Proper 10)

I'll see you in Church!

The Very Reverend Ronald D. Pogue
Interim Dean
St. Andrew’s Cathedral
Jackson, Mississippi

July 20, 2018
Let Us Pray!

Several years ago, my vocational journey took me into interim ministry. This is a specialized form of ordained ministry in which I devote my priestly and prophetic gifts and experience to aid congregations during times of transition between settled or permanent spiritual leaders. Faithful stewardship of these transitions is vital to the health of the congregation and to its future mission under new leadership.

As I have focused more intentionally on transition and the attendant change and transformation, I have become more conscious of the importance of prayer in helping us to be creative agents of the changes God is calling us to make instead of victims of the march of time. I don’t pretend to understand how prayer works in God’s administrative policy, but I do believe prayer matters. And I believe that prayer matters in the faithful stewardship of times of transition.

For example, the Collect of the Day for Proper 12:

O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us your mercy; that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we lose not the things eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

And, the Collect of the Day for Proper 13:

Let your continual mercy, O Lord, cleanse and defend your Church; and, because it cannot continue in safety without your help, protect and govern it always by your goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Both of those prayers presuppose the movement of the Church through change and transition and uncertain times. With God’s help, we can be agents of the changes God wants to see in our individual lives and in the life of our faith community.

The first Sunday service in my current appointment as Interim Dean of Saint John’s Cathedral in Denver was July 10. In our lectionary, the Sunday closest to July 13 each year is always known as “Proper 10.” The Collect of the Day is a one-sentence prayer we pray near the beginning of the Eucharistic liturgy and before the reading of Scripture. The Collect of the Day for Proper 10 is one of my favorite collects in the Book of Common Prayer.

O Lord, mercifully receive the prayers of your people who call upon you, and grant that they may know and understand what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to accomplish them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Perhaps I like it so much because it is a prayer for discernment. To discern is to divide, separate, or sort things out. In our ongoing spiritual journey, each of us is called to sort out God’s yearning for us and then ask God to supply the resources we need to make the decisions and live our lives in line with God’s hopes for us. I’ve asked the Saint John’s Cathedral Community to pray this prayer daily during this time of transition because we have important transition work to do together. Times of transition are opportunities for amazing, purposeful, creative change and we want to be sure those changes advance God’s reign. So, we pray for divine guidance.

The other prayer I’ve asked the Cathedral community to pray is this:

Almighty God, giver of every good gift: Look graciously on your Church, and so guide the minds of those who shall choose a Dean for this Cathedral, that we may receive a faithful pastor, who will care for your people and equip us for our ministries; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

This prayer helps us be mindful that there are members of our faith community who have been charged with the specific moving through a mutual process of discernment that will result in the calling of a new spiritual leader with whom they will enter a new era of mission and ministry. As we pray, we ask for divine guidance for these representatives of God’s people in this place.

So, whether you are trying to be a faithful steward of a time of transition in your life and the life of your household, the life of your organization, the life of your business, the life of your political party, or the life of your faith community, I invite you to be persistent in prayer. After all, the changes God is hoping to see are humanly impossible. Without God’s help, we cannot accomplish what God has in mind. There are plenty of things we can do on our own. The holy work that issues from our vocation as God’s Holy Church can only be accomplished with God’s help.

I’ll see you in Church!

P.S. If you have a copy of The Book of Common Prayer, take some time to look through it and notice how many prayers refer to transition and change. You'll be surprised!

August 2, 2016
Hearing What You Listen For

Shortly before I went to bed last night, I heard a faint sound outside – like the call of an owl. A few seconds later I heard it again. Then again.

I picked up my iPhone, opened the door, and stepped outside. There was a thick fog and the temperature was just below freezing. It was completely still and the silence was as thick as the fog. The owl called again and this time I made a recording. Here's what I heard:

Rafter J Owl

People often ask, “how can I recognize God's call to me?” It is a question of vocation. The word vocation is derived from the Latin root voca, voice. It means “to call.” There are so many voices crying out for our attention and our loyalty, it is difficult to discern the voice of God. That makes it difficult to know what God is calling me or my community of faith to do. The question may have to do with our overall life mission or with what God wants of us in a specific situation.

Sometimes, in order to hear God's call in the midst of all the voices in our busy lives, we have to learn to recognize God's voice when it is quiet and still, just like it was when I heard the call of the owl. Then, when things get busy and noisy, we can discern the voice of God in the midst of the other voices.

It is true that most of us don't hear God's voice with the ears on either side of our heads. God's voice is perceived as an inner voice. But it is certainly not the only inner voice we "hear." There are the voices of fear, desire, joy, hurt, anger, temptation, judgment, and so many others that speak to us in a language of their own. But we certainly hear them and they often drown out the still, small, quiet voice of God and we lose our bearings.

A word of caution: When we believe we have heard God's call, sometimes our own inclinations get in the way. Sometimes the message we hear is inconsistent with what God would say to us or ask of us.

Coincidentally, yesterday was the feast day of Richard Hooker, the sixteenth century Anglian theologian. Hooker prepared a comprehensive defense of the Reformation settlement under Queen Elizabeth I. This work was entitled Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity. It is Aristotelian in its philosophy and places a strong emphasis upon natural law eternally planted by God in creation. On this foundation, all positive laws of Church and State are based – from Scriptural revelation, ancient tradition, reason, and experience. Hooker offered a process, a way to use the resources we have to discern the voice of God.

One of the resources we have as disciples is the witness of sacred scripture. For instance, St. John gave wise advice when he wrote, "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God" (1 John 4:1). A country preacher once said, "All the spirits ain't the Holy Spirit." Is what I think God is calling me to do consistent with ways God spoke to those whose witness is recorded in the Bible? Is this the voice of the God who is revealed in the sacred texts?

Another resource is the tradition or teachings of the Church. Not all the teachings of the Church have withstood the test of time, but as a professor of mine used to say, "Some things are neither old nor new but ageless." What are the great truths, the enduring themes, the big ideas that have been handed down to us in the tradition of the Church? Can they help us discern the call of God?

And, we have our life in Christian community where there are others to help us learn to distinguish the divine voice calling us. It is important to involve a pastor or mature Christian friends in discerning if it was in fact God. Is what I think God is calling me to do consistent with the reason and experience of others. Is it consistent with my own reason and experience?

That brings me back to the owl. I knew the call was that of an owl, but I wasn't sure what kind of owl. So, I consulted the iBird app on my smart phone. After listening to the recording I made and then to the recordings of various kinds of owls provided in that app, I determined without a doubt that the owl in my neighborhood was a great horned owl. My bird app has photos of great horned owls so had it been daytime, I would have been able to visually identify the owl. If I had a pair of binoculars, I could have had an even closer look as a part of my verification process.

The resources available to me were useful in determining that I was indeed hearing an owl and, more precisely, that it was a great horned owl. Likewise, when we are learning to recognize God's voice and discern what God is calling us to do, we have resources to help us. Scripture, tradition, reason, and experience are resources we can and must use in our quest to hear God's voice guiding us in our spiritual journey.

We tend to hear what we listen for. So let us learn use the disciplines and resources that have been provided to us as we listen for the voice of God.

I'll see you in Church!

November 4, 2015
The Dynamic Relationship Between Mission and Transition

I was recently asked this question: What has been the most valuable learning experience in your ministry and why? Here's my response.

Mission and transition are dynamically related.

When a faith community is intentional about discerning the mission entrusted to it and committed to engagement in that mission, it is also willing to be intentional about the transitions that are necessary. The dots have to be connected.

While considering leaving the parish I had served as rector for almost a decade, I was intrigued by the work being accomplished by colleagues who were intentional interim rectors. In conversations with them, I was encouraged to explore service to the wider Church through transitional ministry instead of as a settled rector in one parish. That discernment led to training in intentional interim ministry, during which I suddenly realized that all churches are in some sort of transition most of the time, although often unconscious of it.

Transition training should be core seminary curriculum. Transitions between settled rectors provide a unique opportunity to explore transition – remembering where we’ve been, clarifying where we are, discerning where God is calling us, making changes that are needed, connecting with the wider church, and embracing a new era of mission with a new spiritual leader. But that is not the end of transition!

During this epiphany, I recalled some words of Titus Presler: “Mission is not fundamentally something we do as Christians but a quality of God’s own being. It is not a program of ours but the path of God’s action in the world. The mission of the church, therefore, derives from the mission of God, and it has meaning only in relation to what God is up to in the universe. Already engaged in mission, God simply invites us to participate in what God is doing.”

The Church doesn’t have a mission. The mission has a Church. Everything we do as followers of Christ in community is related to and in the service of that mission. And God’s mission is constantly in transition. It became clear to me that when a church continues to function as if nothing has changed, the mission suffers. It also became clear to me that the mission suffers when changes are needed but are avoided or resisted.

So, intentional transition work in the Church, whether between rectors or at any time, must involve discernment about mission, participation in what God is doing for the sake of the world at our doorstep. Transition work matters only in relation to mission.

This insight guides my leadership so that after our interim time together, consciousness of the dynamic relationship between ongoing mission and ongoing transition will continue. Churches that are engaged in mission are healthier, happier, and more attractive to those who are seeking what Christ offers through them. In such places, transition evokes transformation.

I would like to leave a legacy of healthy, mission-focused, transformative congregations in my service to the wider Church.

O Lord, mercifully receive the prayers of your people who call upon you, and grant that they may know and understand what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to accomplish them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

(The Book of Common Prayer, Collect for Proper 10)

Blessings,

November 18, 2014
Enemies of Discernment: Control

Some people need to have an inordinately high level of power and control, over their own lives and over the lives of others. We often find that such persons who don’t get those needs for power and control met in other places in their lives seek to have them met in churches and other voluntary associations. Their involvement in the life of the community of faith often becomes not only disruptive but also destructive. Out-of-control needs for control represent a common obstacle to spiritual discernment.

Look what happened to Moses when he showed off by striking the rock with his rod to make the water flow out. That isn’t how God told him to do it. His behavior interfered with his discernment in a way that suggested he was in control of the situation instead of God. Consider David’s affair with Bathsheba, which resulted in his scheme that got her husband, Uriah the Hittite killed. That was a very destructive expression of control on David’s part.

Jesus chided the Levites and the Pharisees for their need to control things and pointed out to them that their role as spiritual guides was misguided because of the interference of their control issues. Eventually, of course, it was their lust for control that put Jesus on the cross. Maintaining control was for them a life and death situation. The resurrection, of course, was the ultimate assertion of God’s control over life and death.

St. Paul certainly had a tremendous need for power and control. As a Jew who was devoted to the Law, he persecuted followers of Jesus. He liked to believe his motivation was driven by a vision of Judaism perfectly guided by God’s Law. Christians represented a threat to that vision. In Paul’s encounter with the Risen Christ on the Damascus Road, he was blinded and lost control. This experience lasted long enough for him to have to rely on the inner vision given to him not just by Christ, but through an intermediary, Ananias. Paul’s control issues interfered with his ability to discern God’s true purpose in his life. When control was taken away from him, he experienced grace and was liberated from his obsession with legalistic control of his life and the lives of those around him. He became able to discern God’s purposes and his witness gave light and direction to the Church he had formerly tried to destroy.

In his farewell address to the disciples, Jesus promisee to provide ways to keep their need for control out of the way of true discernment of God’s direction of the mission entrusted to them. He promised to send the Holy Spirit to guide them. He gave them the commandment to love one another. He told them that he is the vine and they are the branches. When a branch becomes disconnected from the vine, it ceases to be able to bear fruit, it withers, it dies, and is cast away – it's useless. Therefore, followers of Jesus must remain connected to him and submit to his life-giving control so their lives can be fruitful. He also reminds them, “You did not choose me but I choose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name” (John 15:16).

Placing ourselves under God’s control is a necessary element of spiritual discernment. It is a way of finding humility, getting ourselves off our hands, and becoming instruments in the service of Love Divine in our relationships with others. My prayer for you today as you enter into discernment is that you will surrender your need for control so you can draw life and love and strength from the Vine rather than attempting to distort discernment in ways that make you think you need to retain control.

John Greenleaf Whittier’s hymn, Dear Lord and Father of Mankind, reminds us to manage our need for control by surrendering to the One who can clothe us in our rightful mind.

Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
Forgive our foolish ways!
Re-clothe us in our rightful mind,
In purer lives thy service find,
In deeper reverence praise.

In simple trust like theirs who heard,
Beside the Syrian sea,
The gracious calling of the Lord,
Let us, like them, without a word
Rise up and follow thee.

O Sabbath rest by Galilee!
O calm of hills above,
Where Jesus knelt to share with thee
The silence of eternity,
Interpreted by love!

Drop thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of thy peace.

Breathe through the heats of our desire
Thy coolness and thy balm;
Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,
O still small voice of calm!

September 5, 2012
Enemies of Discernment: Resistance

Spiritual discernment, whether it concerns a personal matter or a corporate matter, is an opportunity to experience God’s grace. I am not certain a person can effectively reject God’s grace, but I know from personal experience that it is possible to resist it. When the human will is in opposition with the divine will, God gives us the freedom to resist. We seem to exercise that option on a fairly frequent basis.

I’m thinking about the patriarch, Jacob. His name meant "supplanter." He cheated his brother out of his birthright and had to flee for his life. This became a pattern in Jacob's life. Every now and again, Jacob would have an encounter with God. Each time, he seems to have resisted less and less until, finally, years later, he was compelled to return to his family home and face the brother he had wronged. Even on the way back, he sent his family and herds on ahead and spent the night alone on the bank of the River Jabbok, wrestling with the angel of God. After that experience, Jacob was physically wounded and had a new name, Israel, which means “to wrestle with God.” Read the story in Genesis 31-33.

Discernment is often a wrestling match with God – our wills pitted against the divine will. Ultimately, I believe God’s will is going to be done. So, that’s why I hesitate to say that we can reject God’s will. To say that we can reject God’s will suggests that we can defeat God. Yes, God allows us to resist and we see how often asserting our will has taken us and the world in which we live in a direction other than the one God has in mind.

A clergyman I know, The Rev. Danny Morris, wrote a book years ago about the will of God. It’s title is Yearning to Know God’s Will. He told me that his original title was Yearning to Know God’s Yearning, but the publisher didn’t think people would understand what the book was about. The book is about discernment and Danny wanted people think of God's will as the yearning of God’s heart for us. So, to yearn to know what is in God’s heart is another way to think of discernment. Perhaps it will help you to be less resistant today in your discernment if you think of it as seeking to know what good things God yearns to give to you or the group of people with whom or for whom you are seeking spiritual guidance.

The prophet Jeremiah described God’s yearning this way: “For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope” (Jeremiah 29:11). The less we resist, the more we discover the goodness God is seeking to bring about through our lives.

Some say that Charles Wesley’s most famous hymn during his lifetime was “Jacob Wrestling” (Also known as “Come, O Thou Traveler Unknown”). It tells the story of Jacob’s wrestling match with the Angel of God. In Wesley's view, Jacob resisted as long as he could and finally understood in that encounter how much God loved him. The original text had about a zillion stanzas. Here are just a few.

Come, O thou Traveler unknown,
whom still I hold, but cannot see;
my company before is gone,
and I am left alone with thee,
with thee all night I mean to stay,
and wrestle till the break of day.

I need not tell thee who I am,
my misery or sin declare;
thyself hast called me by my name,
look on thy hands, and read it there.
But who, I ask thee, who art thou?
Tell me thy name, and tell me now.

Yield to me now, for I am weak
but confident in self-despair;
speak to my heart, in blessings speak,
be conquered by my instant prayer.
Speak, or thou never hence shalt move,
and tell me, if thy name is Love.

'Tis Love, 'tis Love! Thou diedst for me!
I hear thy whisper in my heart:
the morning breaks, the shadows flee.
Pure universal Love thou art;
thy mercies never shall remove,
thy nature and thy name is Love.

September 3, 2012
Enemies of Discernment: Static

Have you ever tried listening to a newscast and found it difficult to understand what the reporter was saying due to static? Of course you have. It may have been electronic static in your television or radio. Or, it may have been the static caused by wind blowing into the reporter's microphone. Maybe the reporter was standing near a very noisy crowd. Static makes it hard to hear and understand what is being said.

Spiritual static interferes with hearing the voice of God and is an enemy of discernment. For this reason, it is wise to discover ways to tune out the static and wait in silence for God to speak. St. James offers wise counsel in his epistle, "You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak" (James 1:19). Stephen Covey offers similar advice in his book Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, when he says, "Seek first to understand, then to be understood." It's good advice whether you are trying to understand the divine Voice or the viewpoint of another person.

I recall the story of a dog that wandered out onto a baseball field during a major league game. The players, coaches, umpires, and people in the stands were all shouting to the dog, "Get off the field!" The dog didn't know which way to turn and kept running around on the field. At one point, the sportscaster who was describing the incident said, "He's confused because he can't detect the one voice he needs to hear; that of his master." The dog couldn't discern what to do because of the static of so many unfamiliar and angry voices.

When we are discerning what God would have us do, eliminating the static is one of the first things we need to do. Other voices and distractions make it very difficult to hear and recognize the "still small voice of God."

Certainly, we need to listen to what others have to say about the subject, as long as they are speaking the truth. But the time comes when we have to place the matter before the One whose opinion matters most. We fail in our spiritual discernment when we confuse the static for the divine Voice. We cannot hear God's response with our physical ears, but what we do hear with our phyiscal ears can block what we need to hear with our heart.

The Venite, Psalm 95:1-7, is the Invitatory Psalm we often use in Morning Prayer. Verse seven is a daily reminder of the need to eliminate the static so we can hear the voice of God: "Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice!" That is my prayer for you during this day of discernment.

Horatius Bonar wrote this familiar hymn about hearing the voice of Jesus – I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say. Here it is sung by the Choir of Manchester Cathedral, using the tune Kingsfold.

I heard the voice of Jesus say,
"Come unto me and rest;
lay down, thou weary one, lay down
thy head upon my breast."
I came to Jesus as I was,
so weary, worn, and sad;
I found in him a resting place,
and he has made me glad.

I heard the voice of Jesus say,
"Behold, I freely give
the living water; thirsty one,
stoop down and drink, and live."
I came to Jesus, and I drank
of that life-giving stream;
my thirst was quenched, my soul revived,
and now I live in him.

I heard the voice of Jesus say,
"I am this dark world's light;
look unto me, thy morn shall rise,
and all thy day be bright."
I looked to Jesus, and I found
in him my Star, my Sun;
and in that light of life I'll walk
till traveling days are done.

September 1, 2012
Enemies of Discernment: Fear
Fear is one of the greatest enemies of spiritual discernment. If you are involved in a process of spiritual discernment, you need all the verifiable facts and details of the situation before you. But you also need wisdom, courage, hope, and vision in seeking God's will and fear gets in their way.
- If you find yourself feeling afraid, breathe deeply and listen for the still small voice of God saying, "Peace. Be still."
- Go to your bible concordance and see how many times someone facing a spiritual decision is told, "Fear not!" or words to that effect. Some say there are at least 365 instances.
- If there are people in your life who are saying things that strike fear in you during discernment, RUN! Get away from them.
- When you are speaking to another person and begin a sentence with, "I'm afraid that…" STOP! It may be hyperbole and, what's worse, you may be instilling fear in someone who needs your encouragement.
Fear is a natural and instinctive response, which human beings have in common with reptiles, aquatic life, birds, and other mammals. It stems from the brain's limbic system and is necessary for survival. However, unlike the other creatures with which we share this planet, we are endowed with the cerebral cortex, giving us the ability to reason and to find resources with which to overcome fear. That ability is necessary for human beings to be stewards of creation and co-creators with God. The ability to overcome fear is essential for any pioneering endeavor. Every person or group who have ever contributed to the forward progress of civilization have had to overcome fear, and that is particularly true in the realm of spiritual progress.

It is fair to say that the entire canon of Scripture is a testimony to the triumph of spiritual discernment over fear. Some examples:
- Abraham had to overcome the fear of leaving everything familiar, his lands, his kinfolks, and the comforts of his life in order to go to "God knows where."
- Moses response to God's call was the excuse that he would be afraid to speak God's words because of his speech impediment.
- The prophets were all frightened when God called them.
- Mary, Joseph, the Shepherds in the field – all had to be told to "fear not."
- Jesus sweated drops of blood, the product of fear, the night before his crucifixion.
- Do you think St. Paul was frightened out there on the Damascus Road?
When God's people were in exile, their fears almost overcame their hope of ever returning home. The prophet Isaiah gave them a message from God to overcome those fears. Those words, recorded in the 43rd chapter of the Book of Isaiah, inspired the talented Anglican musician, Philip Stopford, to compose this lovely anthem. My prayer for you, in the midst of your time of discernment, is that they will help you rise above your fears and hear the words of wisdom, courage, hope, and vision God has for you.

Do not be afraid, for I have redeemed you.
I have called you by your name;
you are mine.

When you walk through the waters,
I'll be with you;
you will never sink beneath the waves.
When the fire is burning all around you,
you will never be consumed by the flames.

Do not be afraid, for I have redeemed you.
I have called you by your name;
you are mine.

When the fear of loneliness is looming,
then remember I am at your side.
When you dwell in the exile of a stranger,
remember you are precious in my eyes.

Do not be afraid, for I have redeemed you.
I have called you by your name;
you are mine.

You are mine,O my child,
I am your Father,
and I love you with a perfect love.

Do not be afraid, for I have redeemed you.
I have called you by your name;
you are mine.
August 31, 2012
To Discern or Not to Discern…

The word "discernment" is used often in the Episcopal Church. At Calvary Episcopal Church in Ashland, Kentucky, it's been used quite a lot lately as the leaders of the parish are attempting to discern who should be called as the next rector. Those priests who are under consideration have also been discerning if they are called to come to Calvary. We describe it as a process of mutual discernment. But what is that and how does it work?

In attempting to understand the meaning of words, I find it helpful to know something about their etymology. For example, the word discern is directly from the Latin discernere, meaning "to separate, set apart, divide, distribute, distinguish, or perceive." The word is made up of the two Latin roots, dis, meaning "off or away," and cernere, meaning to "distinguish, separate, or sift." So, discernment is a process of sorting that leads to a decision about something.

We use the term very intentionally in Christian circles when the decision has spiritual significance and requires the guidance of the Holy Spirit. For example, we probably would not speak of "discerning" which brand of pet food to buy, which flight to take, or which direction to walk around the park. As important as those decisions may be, we probably don't need much guidance from the Holy Spirit to make them. However, if we are attempting to reach a decision about an action that may be good or evil in the eyes of God, about whether we are called to a particular ministry in the Church, or about which priest will be our next rector, that would be discernment. We need the assistance of the Holy Spirit to reach decisions like those.

Hiring a CEO of a corporation, a member of a company staff, or a lawn service, usually requires a very thoughtful process that includes reviewing resumes, calling references, performing background checks, and interviews. We might pray about it, but it would not normally be a requirement in the secular setting. In this Church, clergy are not hired; they are called. Search committees, vestries, and clergy are all very well aware that there is a distinction and that distinction has to do with the work of the Holy Spirit among us. Remember that God called the prophets, they did not volunteer. Jesus called the Disciples, they were not hired. It is in that spirit that clergy in this Church are sought out and, following a period of mutual spiritual discernment, may be called to a position.

The practices of deploying clergy in different places of ministry varies from one communion to another. However, in every instance I am aware of, there is some discernment on the part of the calling or sending body, those who provide oversight, and the clergy under consideration. These decisions are made after a prayerful, godly process in which there is a sorting out or sifting that leads to a decision.

The process we follow is informed by scripture, tradition, reason, and experience. These are the lenses, as it were, through which we examine one another, all the while asking the Holy Spirit to help us to see what we need to see and hear what we need to hear. After we've done our "homework", following the pattern of St. Ignatius, we ask God a somewhat simple question. "God, is this your will or not?" And God answers with a somewhat simple answer, "Yes or No." Ignatius said we would normally sense the answer as a feeling of consolation or a feeling of desolation.

So, as the discernment process for calling a new rector for Calvary Episcopal Church in Ashland, Kentucky nears its conclusion, I invite you to uphold the nominating committee, the vestry, and the candidates in discernment with your prayers. May they yield to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and continue to rely upon the same Holy Spirit in carrying out the decision they are called to make.

Here are two prayers from the Book of Common Prayer.

Almighty God, giver of every good gift: Look graciously on your Church, and so guide the minds of those who shall choose a rector for this parish, that we may receive faithful pastors, who will care for your people and equip us for our ministries; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

O God, by whom the meek are guided in judgment, and light rises up in darkness for the godly: Grant us, in all our doubts and uncertainties, the grace to ask what you would have us to do, that the Spirit of wisdom may save us from all false choices, and that in your light we may see light, and in your straight path may not stumble; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

August 30, 2012