Discernment, Yet Again...

I'm once again deep in discernment. I have an opportunity for a retreat in April, which I must apply for by the middle of this month--if I am accepted, I will be informed by mid-December. What a Christmas gift that would be!

Part of the reason, the format, the purpose of the retreat is pastoral renewal. As followers of this blog know, I've been struggling with what I should be doing and where, for a while. My call to ministry is still clear--what's gotten murky is the direction or focus of my ministry now. Do I stay here in River City, encouraging the growth I'm seeing in the church here? Do I go back to grad school for that doctorate I've been toying with for a couple of years now? Do I change directions a bit and look into community work, working in one of the community organizations? I just don't know and my thought/prayer/hope is that the retreat would assist me in the clarification I need. I do know that the thinking I have been doing in order to write the application has helped me to think about all this and what a change might mean, might look like, might imply. Even if I am not selected, this has helped me think about it in new ways. If I am selected--wow, Well, I am not going to think about that because I don't know that I will be...

Growth... yeah. Wow. At our annual congregational meeting recently, we had three spots available on the board and four people ran for them... This was a first for us, and the board had to do some consulting to decide how to handle it! The new members are energetic and committed and I am thrilled to have them. I think we might turn things around here, if this trend continues. WHich may be God's leading to remain...or of gently telling me, "it's time to move on."

Yes. Discernment continues.