God's call comes in different ways, clergy tell young people
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Photo by Vicki Brown, Board of Higher Education and Ministry The Crossroads United Methodist Church Praise and Worship team from Jacksonville, Fla., opens the worship service.
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Crossroads
United Methodist Church Praise and Worship team from Jacksonville,
Fla., opens the worship service for EXPLORATION 2006. The Nov. 17-19
event in Jacksonville, sponsored by the United Methodist Board of Higher
Education and Ministry, drew 525 people exploring God's call to
ordained ministry in the denomination. A UMNS photo by Vicki Brown,
United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry. Photo #061363.
Accompanies UMNS story #693. 11/30/06 |
Nov. 30, 2006
By Vicki Brown*
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (UMNS) -- Ordained clergy told their personal stories
of answering God's call to 525 young people attending EXPLORATION 2006.
The event, sponsored by the United Methodist Board of Higher Education
and Ministry, invites young people to explore whether God is calling
them to ordained ministry in the United Methodist Church.
More than 300 high school seniors and young adults from 42 states
stepped forward Nov. 18 to pray with elders, deacons, local pastors,
chaplains, and campus ministers in a commitment service. At the end of
the night, 198 youth and young adults signed commitment cards indicating
their definite interest in ordained ministry.
"It's New Year's Eve at Times Square for the United Methodist Church,"
said the Rev. Peggy Johnson, pastor of Christ United Methodist Church of
the Deaf in Baltimore. Johnson, one of two American Sign Language
interpreters, said EXPLORATION is about the future of the church and she
would not miss it. "I would crawl on glass across England to be here."
The Rev. Jerome King Del Pino, top executive of the Board of Higher
Education and Ministry, welcomed young people to the Nov. 17-19 event,
telling them they are already considered leaders in the church.
"You are here to struggle with the idea that you might someday speak for
God. You are here to dive in and make waves as you endeavor to discern,
'What is my path? What am I to do with my life?'" Del Pino said.
The Rev. Telley Gadson spoke of hearing God's call as a teenager. "But I
was going to law school. I advised God of my plan to preach during the
weekend and be a lawyer during the week," she said. "God laughs when you
tell God you have a plan."
Then, Gadson heard the late Bishop Cornelius Henderson preach at an
EXPLORATION event. "It was as if God was asking me, 'Is my calling
nothing to you?'" she said.
After that, Gadson said she got the "true wireless communication," the one that "takes you by hand and calls you by name."
"This wireless communication that offers the best plan -- you don't have
to wait until 7 p.m. to talk for free. You've got to listen above the
noise, listen above the clutter that would prevent you from hearing God.
I can hear him now," said Gadson, pastor of St. Mark United Methodist
Church in Sumter, S.C.
'More of a realization'
Young people attending the event, high school seniors to age 24, said
hearing the stories, both in the main worship and plenary session and
during workshops and small group sessions, was helpful in clarifying
what God was telling them to do.
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Photo by Vicki Brown, Board of Higher Education and Ministry The Rev. John Miyahara speaks of fighting his call to the ministry for nine years.
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At
EXPLORATION 2006, the Rev. John Miyahara, campus minister at United
Methodist-related Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa., speaks of fighting
God's call to ministry. After nine years, Miyahara said, he could no
longer resist. "OK, God, I'll do this, but you have to do it with me,"
he said. The Nov. 17-19 event in Jacksonville, Fla., sponsored by the
United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry, drew 525 people
exploring God's call to ordained ministry in the denomination. A UMNS
photo by Vicki Brown, United Methodist Board of Higher Education and
Ministry. Photo #061364. Accompanies UMNS story #693. 11/30/06 |
Matt Benton of Springfield, Va., was struck by how the call stories he
heard never started with a single moment. "They started with background.
The calls weren't really a burning bush, but more of a realization.
That kind of made me start to look back at my own life."
"When they started their stories, it sounded like they were talking
about me. They were active in youth group ... had spoken in church a few
times. That's what I did. They felt at home in the church and were
called to seek a vocation in church. When I meditate on that, I felt the
same way," Benton said.
The Rev. Meg Lassiat, the board's director of student ministries,
vocation, and enlistment, said people trying to discern God's call often
find it is hard to meet others struggling with the same questions.
"EXPLORATION gives youth and young adults the opportunity to meet others
who are listening for how God is calling and how they can respond to
that call," she said.
"Knowing that there are young adults from around the country and meeting
people who are willing to support young people in their discernment
process is very empowering for those who want to say 'yes' to God's
call," Lassiat said. "The connections made at EXPLORATION can provide
strength and support throughout a young person's discernment and
candidacy process."
She stressed the crucial need for young clergy in the United Methodist
Church. "For youth and young adults to gather together for one purpose
and for the rest of the denomination to witness these participants'
commitment shows us that there is excitement in today's church and much
anticipation about the next generation of deacons and elders. I look
forward to seeing how these students develop over the next few years,"
Lassiat said.
God kept calling
The Rev. John Miyahara, an elder in the Rocky Mountain Annual Conference
and campus minister at United Methodist-related Dickinson College,
Carlisle, Pa., spoke of fighting the call for nine years.
"God just kept calling," he said.
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Photo by Vicki Brown, Board of Higher Education and Ministry Young people pray together during the commitment service.
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At
EXPLORATION 2006, young people pray together during the commitment
service. The Nov. 17-19 event in Jacksonville, Fla., sponsored by the
United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry, drew 525 people
exploring God's call to ordained ministry in the denomination. A UMNS
photo by Vicki Brown, United Methodist Board of Higher Education and
Ministry. Photo #061365. Accompanies UMNS story #693. 11/30/06 |
First, Miyahara told how as a child he was watching an episode of the
television series "Mission Impossible" in which one of the main
characters thought a room was bugged.
"I thought maybe the KGB (Soviet secret police) were bugging my room, so
I wandered around tapping the walls. Then, just to make sure, I picked
up a hammer and smashed a hole in that wall," Miyahara said. About that
time, he realized no one had bugged the room, and his parents were not
going to be happy about the hole in the wall.
"I had this leaflet from our church with Scripture that was just the
right size, so I taped it over the hole. Then God used that Scripture to
teach me," he said.
God called again when his grandfather told Miyahara how he wanted to
become a preacher, but felt he couldn't do it because he had a family
and it was during the Depression. Later, a camp counselor asked Miyahara
if God might be calling him to ministry.
"It freaked me out," Miyahara said. He said he wanted to go to Stanford
and make a lot of money and buy a BMW. "I finished college and applied
to seminary and withdrew." Finally, he was driving down the highway one
day and could resist the call no longer. "OK, God, I'll do this, but you
have to do it with me," he said.
"All of our calls are different; all of our calls are important," he
said. He described how his own ministry has included urban churches,
military chaplaincy, and now campus ministry.
"We are making waves around the world for his kingdom," he said. "Is God
calling you? What steps are you taking? Tonight we challenge you to
take that call seriously, to listen. If you are called, step out on
faith."
*Brown is an associate editor and writer in the Office of
Interpretation, United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry.
News media contact: Linda Green, (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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Resources
Exploration 2006
Explore Calling
Board of Higher Education and Ministry
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