Chapter
03
Clarifying Your Call to Ministry for Personal Enrichment and Professional Fulfillment
There are many different benefits for everyone when it comes to clarifying your call. Everyone has a different reason for doing so. You may be interested in discerning your call because you want to become ordained and spread God’s message as a servant leader.
Or are you interested in faith-based ministry to not only bring to your everyday life, but to apply at work, with your family, in your communities, to non-profit organizations and beyond?
Others feel a call to ministry because they want to increase their knowledge of the Christian faith or they want to understand theological disciplines for one’s self interest or to teach it one day. Maybe that describes you best.
Or, you may be looking to enhance different aspects of your life through either lay leadership roles, personal enrichment or the practice of ministry through advanced study.
Whatever it be, everyone has a reason to discern their call, and they all differ from one another.
Personal Enrichment
Discerning your call for personal fulfillment may need to start with self-reflection. You need to ask yourself, “What are my future goals? Do they align with the call from God that I am feeling in my life?”
Sometimes, people disregard their call as they have other aspirations or life-commitments. This can be especially difficult if you’ve already paved a pathway for your life. But other times, it can be a blessing in disguise.
Imagine, you get up each morning, do your routine and head to your job. This job may feel like a dead-end, or it doesn’t bring you the happiness or fulfillment it once did. You feel like you’re repeating the same day over and over again with no end in sight.
But something in the back of your mind keeps telling you that you’re meant for more; something bigger and more meaningful. It’s your call – the longing for direction that you’ve been seeking.
Alumna Story — Jennifer Kilpatrick
Jennifer Kilpatrick first felt her calling into ministry when she was a senior in high school, but she pushed it to the side and decided to pursue other things, such as attending law school.
It was when she was practicing law full-time as a single mother that she lost her own mother, and credits the loss to re-evaluating her own priorities, who she was and what she wanted to do with the second half of her career.
She turned to God and said, “Fine, fine; you want me? You’ve got me. I don’t know why you want me, but if this is what you want me to do with my life, I’m in.”
Kilpatrick decided to apply to Perkins and was accepted into the M.Div. Program, where she graduated in 2021 and now serves as a Senior Pastor at a United Methodist Church.
The need to be fulfilled should never be overlooked, although it is with many people. Personal fulfillment is extremely life-giving, especially when you feel like you’ve finally found your way; the right path for you. This overwhelming sense of “fitting-in” or fulfilling what you were born to do with the gifts and talents you have been given is like no other.
Do you have a spiritual gift? Maybe you feel called, but are unsure of your talents or untapped potential. The United Methodist Church has created a spiritual gifts inventory quiz to help those like you decipher their talents. You can take the assessment below.
Professional Fulfillment: Learning and Gaining
The heart of theological and religious studies are ideas, text, beliefs and actions–something that many people of all different walks of life can benefit from. Not only will studying theology deepen your knowledge of religion and create a faith-seeking understanding, but it can also be applied to your future endeavors.
Furthering your vocation with a theology degree can take place in many different aspects. For example, upon graduation, there are many theology vocation opportunities, such as pursuing a vocation in theology, a college or seminary professor, a youth worker, a minister of religion, a counselor, a social worker, a chaplain or cleric and more.
A degree in theology can also be beneficial for people who have already established vocations, such as those who work for hospitals and other businesses, charity organizations, non-profits, parishes, dioceses and more. Advancing knowledge in theology and applying it to your vocation can affect and improve your place of work and deepen relationships and guidance you provide to those you serve
