In what way is the church like a helicopter? Sometimes people are nervous about getting too close in case they get sucked into the rotas!

As with all good jokes, it’s funny because there’s an element of truth in it! But vocation and calling are about more than finding willing workers for the enormous list of jobs that an active church manages to generate – vocation is not about what you do but who you are. Roles and jobs may come out of discovering a vocation, but the starting place is to ask the question of God and yourself: who are you calling me to be?

All of us can answer that question by remembering we are called to be children of God, loved more than we can imagine and called to live life fully embracing the freedom that love and forgiveness brings.

For those of us who are part of the church, we can start to explore this question based on the claims of 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 that we are part of the body of Christ. Whoever we are called to be, we know that:
• Christ is the head
• Everyone has a role to play – no one can say they are not needed or important
• Everyone’s role is different – it simply doesn’t work if we’re all the same as each other, trying to do the same things

And whilst we are all called to active participation in the mission of God and the life of the Church, some are called at specific times to specific roles. Can I suggest you pause reading at this moment? Just for a bit…please come back…but take a minute to ask God 2 questions:
1. What part do I play in the body of Christ?
2. Are you calling me to do something new for you?

For those of you who have just had even the tiniest inkling that the answer to #2 might be ‘yes’, here are my top 4 tips for exploring the question: how do I know if God is calling me to something new?

Tip number 1 – Pray!
Start this one now, whether you’re feeling called or not. Prayer is conversation, an opportunity to know God better, to listen to God’s voice so you can recognise it; when we listen to God’s voice in times of stability, we build up enough trust to recognise it when God asks us to do something daring.

Tip number 2 – listen to other people.
It’s often easier to see the gifts in others rather than in ourselves so we need to be brave on two counts – if we think we’re being called to something by God, find someone who knows us well and can be trusted to test the idea on. And let’s be bolder in speaking words of encouragement to others – if you see that someone has the right gifts, temperament, and potential to do something amazing for God, try suggesting it to them.

Tip number 3 – test it with God.
Sometimes we can be reluctant to ask God for signs, it can be seen as a sign of weakness and it’s true that if our faith is reliant on signs from God then some work probably needs to be done. But if God is calling you to something that you need some reassurance in pursuing, then ask away. God is faithful and knows what we need in order to follow his call.

Tip number 4 – start!
There are very few things in life that are irreversible so take a step, see how it feels. You don’t have to be convinced enough to reach the end, only to take the next step.

If you’d like to take a first step today, why not get in touch with myself or Rev Chris and have a chat about what God might be calling you to.

Rev Emma Haggar