Copyright © 2005 The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee

Hearing God’s call:
Conference speaks to individuals

Deacons host one-day event featuring workshops,
Sewanee faculty keynote speaker

Some may think God calls people only into ordained ministry. Not true, learned nearly 80 participants in this year’s diocesan ministry conference, held April 23 at Ascension, Knoxville.

“Hearing God’s Call” was the conference theme chosen by the diocese’s Sacred Order of Deacons, who hosted the conference. From the chaplain to the keynoter to workshop leaders, the theme of a personal call was explored from a range of angles.

Calls were flashier in biblical than modern times, noted the Rev. Janice Robbins, conference chaplain and deacon at St. Francis of Assisi, Ooltewah. Moses saw a burning bush; Samuel heard a voice in the night; and Saul was struck blind.

“In some ways, the early servants of the Lord had an easier time,” she said. “We live in a world that generally does not support extraordinary representations of God. But that doesn’t mean the call isn’t coming. And it doesn’t mean we’re not hearing it.”

Just as today’s telephones, through the technology of call waiting, alert us to a call even when we’re already engaged, “God’s call is always ‘pinging’ into our lives – and for sure the call is waiting,” she said. Our journey “is one of discernment and discovery,” and like the biblical heroes and heroines, we’re “leaning in to listen, straining for clarity, yearning to serve.”

A call is directed to an individual, stressed the keynote speaker, the Rev. Dr. Rebecca Wright, Professor of Old Testament in the School of Theology at the University of the South, Sewanee. “God did not make us clones of each other. We’re individuals,” she said. “What God is saying to you may not be exactly what God is saying to your neighbor.”

Our communities help us to hear and interpret our individual calls. “We need the community to help us figure out the call,” she said.

She recalled the Rev. Canon Martin Brokenleg has said one of the things the Lakota Native Americans do for one another is to “listen” each other into speech. “Part of the job of the body is to listen each other into God’s call,” she said.

And by the way, “biblically speaking, God doesn’t call priests,” she said. In those days, “you got to be a priest by being a boy born into a priestly family. God called prophets, primarily, in the Old Testament, and judges, who were military leaders.”

Wright reminded participants that the biblical giants were fully human, and their stories teach us lessons.

For example, not everyone is thrilled to be called. “Moses’ call goes for a chapter and a half in Exodus, because Moses keeps raising objections and asking questions and calling God’s bluff,” Wright said. But God is understanding, as well as persistent. “Not a single person is scolded for having doubts. And God’s promise is always, ‘I will be with you.’ ”

We are called to use our specific talents and abilities. “In David and Goliath, God uses the skill that David has practiced and honed and offers to the cause. Saul has to be willing to lend David his armor, and David has to be willing to try it on; but when it doesn’t fit, David has to be willing to take it off and Saul has to be willing to accept it. David has to say, ‘this is my skill,’ ” Wright said.

“Each person is called to a specific job. God can call anyone, anywhere at any time for any thing – and does.”

Jeremiah was called for a new task before he’d completed another assignment. “Being called once does not inoculate you from further calls,” Wright said.

Our lives are intended to have meaning, purpose and belonging, she said. “That ultimately means more than making sure I have my eight hours’ sleep and my three good meals.”

Four workshops focused on listening, gifts and talents, prayer and meditation and scripture and reflection. Workshop facilitators provided a taste of topics usually covered more fully in longer workshops, and many participants expressed interest in more in-depth offerings.

Danese Sizer of Christ, Chattanooga, talked about how we discover and use our gifts and talents.

“Our gifts are a product of genetic inheritance, of our life experience, of our likes and dislikes and even of our wounds and suffering. We’re all unique,” Sizer said. “When we use our gifts, we’re affirming our best self.”

She described the content and structure of longer gifts and talents workshops that are available to parishes and other groups, and she led a short exercise by way of example.

The Rev. John Talbird, rector of Good Shepherd, Lookout Mountain, discussed the value of listening as a means to understanding.

“If we have someone who will truly listen to us and reflect back what we are thinking and feeling, we can all solve our own problems,” he said. And when we are the ones who are listening, he said, we can learn skills to take in the totality of the communication – “the 100 percent, not just the 7 percent of words, but the 38 percent of tone and the 55 percent of body language.”

Following a “perception check” exercise, one participant affirmed that skills learned in the longer workshop setting have deepened understanding, but laughed and said, “sometimes I miss just having a meaningless conversation!”

Valerie Gibson, a member of St. Timothy, Signal Mountain, and a longtime Education for Ministry mentor, described how we can discern direction through scripture and reflection.

In reading scripture, we can examine “what’s around the subject to learn more about the subject and our relationship to it,” in a manner similar to that used by an artist who looks at the space around a subject to gain understanding of it. She described a theological reflection exercise, used in EFM classes, in which group members read a biblical passage, then work through a particular method to gain insight.

The Rev. Mary Lee Bergeron, Canon of Special Ministries at St. John Cathedral, Knoxville, conducted a workshop in which she suggested ways we can hear God through prayer and meditation. She led participants through a relaxation therapy technique and then into exploration of a scripture passage.

“Through visualization techniques, one has the opportunity to almost experience the presence of God in the scripture itself,” said one participant.

Following the workshop sessions, Bishop Charles vonRosenberg spoke briefly, offering thanks to those responsible for the content and logistics of the conference.

He reminded participants, “The basis for our partnership in ministry is the baptismal covenant. … As we examine God’s call and consider the partnership we share with all Christians, the context for this examination appropriately is the baptismal covenant – which is, after all, the foundational call for each one of us.”

Rick Govan, diocesan ministry development facilitator, later reflected on the conference. “I was especially pleased this year that our deacons served as hosts. It was a great opportunity for us to see them as the body of servants that they are,” he said. “And Janice Robbins’ homily was masterful!” he added. “I very much enjoyed working with Ed Scott, the conference coordinator, and all of the deacons. They, along with the workshop leaders, put in a lot of time and effort, and the result was a very good conference.”

Participant evaluations noted a desire both for more time with the keynote speaker and for longer workshops. Govan said the necessity of building in travel time limits daylong conferences to a 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. window, but that future conference formats will look for ways to maximize time.

For more information about ministry conferences, contact Rick Govan, 423-698-1222 or rgovan@etdiocese.net.
Find out more about shared ministry in the Diocese of East Tennessee.