A Few Ideas for Supporting Call

It is coffee hour after church. Usually your conversations stay on the surface, in part because every time you get into a deeper discussion, a 7 year old pulls on your leg and spills your coffee. (Sometimes the child is yours, sometimes not.) But on this particular Sunday, the kids are destroying some distant room in the church, leaving you free for a more in depth conversation.

The person you are talking with is feeling restless at her work at the hospital. She has been there 15 years, and is wondering if it is time for a change. She is also open to the possibility that there is a reason she is at her current job. Aside from that, the thought of transitioning to something new fills her with anxiety. Is it time for her to look for something new, or recommit to the work she is doing?

Church as Call Center

FAW believes that the church is the community best able to help people live out their call in the world. That is the assumption behind this regular column: That the church, at its best, is a true ‘call center’. It is the place where people are helped to discover what they are called to do in the world. We believe it is why the church exists. In each issue of this magazine, we steal a few ideas from local churches that we think are worth sharing. Call us the Robin Hood of ideas.

1 Call Groups

Does your church have anywhere in its structure where people can bring their emerging sense of call to some new thing? Is there a place to talk about the ramifications, who it will impact, what the financial implications might be? FAW is in the business of helping churches set up call groups, where call can be supported and sustained. We see at least three dimensions that are critical:

Discernment:

Discernment work means a group that can listen as someone says for the first time they are considering something new. It is not to fix or problem solve, but to be midwives, helping someone explore some new possibility. Many churches have begun to use some version of the Quaker Clearness Committee to help people listen for the Spirit. Most recently, a woman in my small group used this process to listen for God’s voice in a decision she faced about major surgery. For her, it was a question of call, and she wanted the help of our group to listen.

Support:

Living call is hard work. Whether the call is to leave or stay, it often means being out of your comfort zone. The support of a small group can make the difference between the willingness to risk or not, or to stick with a commitment or not.

Accountability:

This is hard for us. It is the ‘Last time we met you said you wanted to do this.... how is it going?’ question. It is not judgement. But it is providing the space where a person can hold themselves accountable. Often just knowing you have a meeting and someone will ask how you are doing with your call is accountability enough, to confess what has not happened, and celebrate what has, Does your church offer groups for discernment, support and accountability?

2 The Growing Edge Fund

The Growing Edge Fund began with a $1,000 gift by someone who had a vision for supporting people who were ready to take a risk, but lacked the funds. Seekers Church in Washington DC established the Growing Edge Fund in 1979 with this stated purpose: To provide funds which will encourage an individual to take a daring leap into a new, challenging venture that one would not ordinarily undertake without the moral support of this community. Since 1979 the church has given $38,844 in gifts. Funded as a line item in the budget like any other mission support, the Growing Edge Fund is an example of a church making a financial commitment to supporting call out in the world . John Schultz received $600 from his church’s Growing Edge Fund to buy a drill press. Jim Power received $1,000 to capitalize a new graphics business. Sheri Bergen got $525 for a massage chair. Mary Clare Powell published a book and Lewise Busch took a course to prepare for her licensing exam.

The thing about exploring call is that it often takes money. Sometimes the support people need to try some new thing is financial.

The expectations for recipients are simple: Share with the community your experience; and partner with someone in the community while you undertake this exploration.

Resource Ideas

Discernment

Listening Hearts: Discerning Call in Community by Farnham, Gill, McLean, and Ward
A Hidden Wholeness by Parker Palmer

Discernment of Gifts

Discovering Your Gifts, Vision and Call by Jacqueline McMaken and Rhoda Nary
Eighth Day of Creation by Elizabeth O’Connor

For information about The Growing Edge Fund, contact Seekers Church at WriteSeekers@SeekersChurch.org

Doug Wysockey-Johnson is the Executive Director of Faith At Work. He can be reached at DougWyJo@aol.com