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Discerning a Call to Ordained Ministry

“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit” 1 Cor. 12:4

Discernment involves a life-long personal questioning, “Where is God calling me? Where might I best serve God?”

All ministry takes place in a community context, through relationships with others with whom we share God’s life. Discerning a call to such ministry must always involve the community of faith adding affirmation to a private call.

The Church, through the process of discernment, identifies baptized members who are already undertaking ministry in such an exciting and inspiring way that other members of the community are motivated to accept responsibility for their own ministry.
 
The process of discerning ministry in the Diocese of New Jersey focuses on how a person might best answer the Spirit’s call for the sake of the common good. In this process more attention must be paid to what benefits the Body of Christ than to the aspirations of the individual. Discernment involves both listening to a private call and also evaluating and defining the leadership needs of God’s people.

Personal Discernment and Episcopal Servant Ministries

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The Episcopal Servant Ministries seminar through the School for Ministry is the first step for all who experience a call to ordained ministry in the Diocese of New Jersey. We hope that through this seminar you will find greater clarity regarding your spiritual gifts and the needs of the Church.

Formal Discernment and the Commission on Ministry

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  • The Prayer Book defines ordained ministry in various ways according to orders as
    • Serving all people in the name of Christ, especially the poor, the weak, the sick, and the lonely;
    • Making Christ’s redemptive love known;
    • Interpreting to the church the needs, concerns, and hopes of the world;
    • Proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ;
    • Celebrating God’s blessings;
    • The reconciliation of sinners with God and each other.
This kind of ministry in not restricted, however, to the ordained alone. In fact, the Baptismal Covenant places the responsibility to perform such ministry on the shoulders of all the baptized. And yet, there are those who exercise these ministries with such particular commitment that the Church holds them up as examples for others to follow. This we call ordination.
 
The Commission on Ministry will guide you through the process of discerning your call, whether it be to lay or ordained ministry and if to ordained ministry, whether to the diaconate or the priesthood.

From Postulancy to Ordination

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For those attending seminary and those who are already ordained either to the diaconate or in another denomination the path has already been decided and the Committee on the Priesthood will guide the process. For those who are planning their formation through the School for Ministry, once the path to a particular order has been discerned, the Commission on Ministry will refer the discerner to one of the subcomittees that will guide them through the rest of the process toward either the vocational diaconate (Committee on the Diaconate) or the priesthood (Committee on the Priesthood).