Hearing or reading about God's call was a highlight of my years serving in seminary enrollment. Every prospective student was asked to describe their experience of recognizing and responding to God's call to ministry, missions or the workplace. It was a holy honor to witness their faith journeys and to know how God had formed and equipped them to listen and obey.
Every narrative was unique in its various aspects of timing and place, personal confidence or concerns, family and religion dynamics. So many variables comprised their collective journeys. Yet, the one constant in every narrative was that each one, all of them, testified to having heard and were being obedient to respond to God’s call.
Reading your district newsletters and listening to General Board meeting conversations continues to confirm that Wesleyans are responding to God’s call. Examples include the annual count of district ordinands, the youth and young adult outpouring at Follow 2023, growing engagement with GodWorx and expanding opportunities in Global Partners.
God calls ALL of us — All united doing God's work. All having the choice to obey God's call from which no one is excluded.
“The Anatomy of a Call” is our theme for this issue. All of Us have a calling on our life. Do we believe it? What does it look like?
The following pages focus on exploring God’s call through various expressions of “ALL,” from a theological perspective to strategic calling pathways to examples of how calling is demonstrated within and throughout The Wesleyan Church.
We pray as you read that you will consider the call of God on your life. We also pray that you will more clearly see your ability to impact those around you to hear and respond to God’s call on their lives.
God is calling ALL of Us and ALL of Us need you.