Discerning God's Guidance In Our Lives

Our Vestry recently went on a retreat. We met at the St. Katharine Drexel Mission Center. Our facilitator, Father Tom Pumphrey of St. David's Church, Radnor, helped us to get better acquainted and to tell our stories of faith. We spent time together in prayer. We also discussed All Saints' Church in depth: our history, our current situation, our hopes and dreams, and our challenges and problems. All in all, it was an enjoyable and valuable experience.

I am proud of our Vestry. Over the past several months I have been impressed by how we work together and reach a point of consensus, at times agreeing to disagree on issues, but at all times uniting together in support of our decisions. At the center of this is our conviction that we are the spiritual leaders of the congregation and those who are called to discern God's guidance for our parish as we move forward. This cannot happen effectively without prayer.

Martin Luther, writing in the 1500s, remarked, "I have so much to do today that I will spend twice as much time in prayer." Prayer, fundamentally, is about entering into a relationship with God. Usually we think prayer is about asking God for help or a favor, and that is part of it. But it is also about praising God, asking questions, saying we're sorry, expressing sadness or anger, and searching for direction or correction. We additionally need to listen, putting ourselves on the receiving end. One practice I've found inspiring is to spend a certain amount of time each day in quiet seclusion without distractions, sometimes for only a few minutes, trying to be open to what God might have to say to me. While God is capable of communicating in an unlimited number of ways, it helps to create an atmosphere in our lives that makes room for God. I believe our Vestry did this during our retreat and will continue to do so as we work together.

How is your prayer life? Do you make time for it? Is it a priority? If we are to have quality relationships with our loved ones, we need to make time for togetherness. We need to create an atmosphere, intentionally reach out, and communicate through expression and listening. It is the same way with God. I believe God has a will and purpose for each of us, and the only way to discern or discover it is through this relationship known as prayer.

I also believe God has a will and purpose for All Saints' Church. As our Vestry members meet together and do our work, we will prayerfully discern the nature of God's guidance for our congregation. In the process, we will need your prayers and support as well.

Do you feel God guiding you in your life, or do you wish you did? As in the familiar hymn What A Friend We Have In Jesus, "Take it to the Lord in prayer." As always, if you would like to talk about it, I would love to meet with you.

May the companionship of God be your guide this month and all the days of your life.

Brad +

Please consider sharing your time, talents, expertise, interest, or curiousity about one or more of these Vestry ministries. Since these are volunteer opportunities, there are no term limits, you may serve as long or as short a time as you are able. We on the Vestry are all looking forward to working on our ministries as members of a team, taking full advantage of the myriad gifts of everyone at All Saints' and sharing in fellowship. You are welcome to serve on more than one committee. Please let us know if you are interested by emailing the Vestry liaison for the committee and copying Fr. Brad and I in your email. Our emails are listed below: