What's my line

What are you doing with your life? This is one big question Vocations Sunday will pose on April 17th 2005. Traditionally the focus of vocations initiatives has been on asking congregations to consider whether they are called to one of the offices of the Church, – priest, deacon, reader or evangelist. Now the Church of England’s Education and Ministry Divisions have joined forces to encourage ‘ordinary’ Christians to consider how God might be calling them in their everyday lives.

National Vocations Officer the Rev Stephen Ferns said the aim was to emphasise that “all of us are being called by God – not just to the big things but the little things as well, like deciding what you’re going to do with your day, which brand of coffee you’re going to pick off the shelf, who to sit next to at a meal. It’s to do with making decisions in tune with the spirit.”

“I see vocation at the very heart of what we’re about in terms of Christian discipleship,” he continued. “I hope as a result, many people will explore vocation in lots of different ways, not assume it is just about ordained ministry.”

“St Theresa said that Christ has no body or hands on earth now but ours”, added Joanna Cox, Lay Discipleship Adviser. She pointed out that lay Christians, through their work in local communities, employment and daily lives, have a crucial role in bringing the values of the Kingdom of God into society.

Vocations Sunday

“We hope the resources we offer for Vocations Sunday will encourage people to reflect on how they are called to use their God-given gifts and abilities to serve in the world.”

Teaching is one example of this. In Lord Dearing’s report on the future of church schools, The Way Ahead, the Archbishop of Canterbury wrote that the church should make “a very clear acknowledgement of the teacher’s work as the way a teacher responds to God’s call to become herself or himself in helping others to become themselves”. Canon John Hall, who heads the Church of England’s Education Division, said he wanted to take this further. “We see teaching as a clear vocation to be nurtured. We hope to encourage dioceses to develop models of training and supporting teachers whether they’re in church schools or not.”

Several dioceses made their own individual responses to Vocations Sunday: Ripon and Leeds organised a pilgrimage to Santiago, while Canterbury mobilised 80 preachers to spread the vocations message. Examples of diocesan initiatives will continue to be posted on the vocations website, so churches can learn from the creative ideas of others.

More information on Vocations Sunday