Exploring Ordained Vocation
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Exploring Ordained Vocation Thank you for taking the time to consider this pack. In it you will find out more about the people involved in the discernment process, discover what is involved in helping you find the right path on this important journey and resources to help you find out more for yourself. We are all praying for you as you take your journey further. The Vocations Team 1. Understanding Discernment to Ordained Ministry Discernment is a journey of discovery to help you grow your God-given gifts. At some point in the journey, a decision is taken as to whether your gifts are the right ones for ordained ministry. Time spent discerning your vocation is a time of personal growth. You will be increasing in self-awareness, developing a disciplined prayer-life, and building your knowledge. Father, I abandon myself into your hands. Do with me whatever you will. Whatever you may do I thank you. I am ready for all, I accept all. Let only your will be done in me and all your creatures. I wish no more than this, O Lord. Into your hands I commend my soul. I offer it to you with all the love of my heart. For I love you Lord and so need to give myself, surrender myself into your hands without reserve and with boundless confidence for you are my Father. Amen Foucauld (1858–1916) Confidentiality People exploring ordination are advised that whatever emerges as part of the process of discernment is liable to be shared with those who are part of the decision-making process within the Diocese, and with the Advisors should the candidate be sponsored for a Selection Conference. Confidentiality is to be maintained within the process but not between its separate parts. In any matters of safeguarding the DDO team will need to consult with the Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser. If the person considering ordination wishes to discuss matters in confidence this should be done with their spiritual director or other such companion. 2. The DDO Team In the Diocese of Sheffield, discernment and selection for ordained ministry is overseen by the Sponsoring Bishop, the Diocesan Director of Ordinands and their team. See below for information about them. Bishop Sophie Jelley, Bishop of Doncaster is the Diocesan Sponsoring Bishop and she has oversight of the selection of ordinands, their training and the training of curates. Bishop Sophie works closely with the Diocesan Director of Ordinands and the DDO Team. The Diocesan Director of Ordinands (DDO) is the Revd Stephen Hunter. He was appointed DDO in 2013, prior to which he was the Bishops’ Advisor for Self-Supporting Ministry. He, under the Bishop, has oversight of the selection and training of ordination candidates. His role is to work with men and women who sense that God may be calling them to ordained ministry. The DDO works with a team of Assistant Diocesan Directors of Ordinands (ADDOs): The Revd Dr Richard Walton is an SSM The Revd Canon Kathryn Herrod is ADDO Priest in Doncaster. Richard is a Bishops’ and Priest to seven rural churches in the adviser at local and national selection Doncaster Archdeaconry. Kathryn panels and is advisor for self-supporting promotes vocation in the Diocese and ministry. supports those who are exploring their calling to ordained ministry. 3. The Discernment Process I think God may be calling me to be ordained. What do I do? God calls us all as his children and we all have vocations or callings to different areas of life: to be a doctor, a lawyer, to work in business or as an aid-worker. Some people are called by God to minister in his Church. There are numerous different callings: to be ordained as a priest or distinctive deacon, to minister as a Reader, to take vows as a monk or nun, or to work as a Church Army Evangelist. Mainly this pack is aimed at people considering the call to ordained ministry, but there is information that you may find useful if you feel a calling to another type of ministry within the Anglican Church. Local Selection The first step is to speak to your parish priest, who will be very pleased to talk this through with you. You may be surprised to find that he or she may have been waiting for you to come and see them about vocation for some time! It may also be good to share your feelings with some close Christian friends, who will talk and pray this through with you. If your parish priest feels that you do have a potential vocation to ordained ministry to be explored, he or she will refer you to the Diocesan Director of Ordinands (DDO), who is Revd Stephen Hunter for the Sheffield Diocese. You will meet with him and he will outline the discernment and selection process to you and check if there are any matters that you need to address before entering the formal process. Once he is satisfied that you are a potential ordinand, he will refer you on to meet a Vocations Adviser for several months of reflection, study, and prayer. Later, you may undertake a placement, do a course of theological study, and then prepare for a Diocesan Local Panel. This part of the selection is based on the Bishops’ Criteria for Selection for Ministry. The Bishop’s Advisory Panel The DDO or Assistant DDO will then arrange for you to meet with the Sponsoring Bishop who, if she is satisfied with the report from the DDO, will make the decision as to whether you should attend a Bishops' Advisory Panel (BAP), organised by the Ministry Division which determines whether you should enter training for ordained ministry. Training Once the Bishop has confirmed the Panel’s recommendation, he will sponsor you for training. It normally takes between twelve and eighteen months between a candidate seeing the DDO and entering training, but can take longer. The type of training will depend on you and the ministry you are to exercise within the Church. The DDO will discuss the different options and generally training will be for either two or three years. Ordination The decision as to whether you will be ordained will be made by the Bishop, having taken advice from the Principal of your training college or course during your final year of training. 4. Types of Ordained Ministry Ordination as Priest Priests or vicars are disciples of Jesus Christ, who love God and neighbour, and are filled with an infectious and life transforming faith. Priests lead a church through prayer, teaching, and worship, enabling God’s people to be better disciples of Christ. They preside at Holy Communion, baptisms, weddings, and funerals, walking alongside people in their joy and in their grief. Priests are generous to those who are different, striving to be mature, self-aware, and willing to learn. Priests or vicars are committed to the mission of the Church of England, working with others to build up the Church through recognising where God is at work in the world and in the lives of others. Ordination as Distinctive Deacon A deacon’s ministry is marked by mission through service. Deacons are outward moving and community minded. Deacons prefer to be out and about, building relationships, identifying and meting needs, and creating stepping-stones between God and the world. Deacons are radical in their outlook and ready to try new ways of serving God in the community. Deacons have a particular concern for poverty and justice, seeking to be the voice of the voiceless, advocating for those on the margins, and loving those in need. As ambassadors, deacons take the gospel into the community, bringing its needs back to the church for intercession and practical action. Deacons read the Gospel, assist the priest, encourage intercession, and send out the congregation, going with them as we all play our part in God’s mission. Ordination as Chaplain Chaplains are committed to carrying God’s love into hospitals, hospices, prisons, universities, airports, and other areas of life, working with others for the well-being of those who are part of these institutions. Chaplains love and care for people with humility and compassion, in the good times and the bad, telling the story of God’s love, and helping people make connections between life and faith. Chaplains are usually ordained but some are lay. 5. The Criteria for Selection On the left is a summary of the Criteria for discernment of vocation prior to training for ordained ministry in the Church of England, authorised by the House of Bishops. On the right are questions to consider relating to each of the nine criteria. It is important to reflect on these deeply as Advisors will use these criteria as guidelines for discernment throughout the whole process. A. Vocation Candidates should be able to speak of a growing • How have you come to recognise sense of being called by God to ministry and your call? (in yourself and from mission, referring both to their own inner others) conviction and the extent to which others have • What do you believe you are being confirmed it. Their sense of vocation should be called to be or do? obedient, realistic and informed. Candidates • Do you have the wherewithal to should also be able to demonstrate ways in which realise this vocation? their vocation has had an impact on their life. B. Ministry within the Church of England Candidates should demonstrate an understanding • What has been the extent of your of their own tradition within the Church of experience of Anglicanism so far? England, an awareness of the variety of traditions • What attracts you about the and practice that are encompassed within the Church of England? Church of England and commitment to work • Does anything irritate you? within that variety.