Discerning a Call

From the Rt. Rev. Samuel Rodman, XII Bishop of North Carolina

In the Diocese of North Carolina, we are seeking to be a community of disciples committed to following Jesus Christ into God's dream for us and for all creation. We seek to be a missionary community committed to living and sharing God's dream for creation by proclaiming in word and deed the reconciling love of God that we know in Jesus Christ. We strive to do this by making disciples — living as disciples of Jesus ourselves and inviting others into the community of disciples — and making a difference for the kingdom of God through works of compassion, justice, and witness in the world. In response to this missionary vision there is...

• an ever-increasing need for ordained leadership of deacons and priests that reflects the variety and
• a need for increased numbers of young people;
• a need for persons with a missionary vision, a pastoral heart;
• a need for persons who are comfortable in a multi-cultural and multi-national society and world;
• a need for persons who have cross cultural experience and/or linguistic skills, particularly in Spanish;
• a need for persons who are willing and able to serve where they are needed.

As Nominees for ordination, we seek persons who...

• have a living, growing, and healthy faith relationship with God, known and experienced through a commitment to and relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior;
• are loyal to the Episcopal Church while at the same time being able to be reflective and constructively critical;
• have either the potential for or demonstrated capacity for leadership;
• have the capacity to understand the Christian faith and tradition and to articulate it appropriately, as well as a strong sense of biblical literacy and connection to the Book of Common Prayer;
• are able to exercise leadership and independence while maintaining a healthy sense of accountability to the community and its structures of authority;
• are willing to be a part of intensive formation and discernment - in this communal work, done not only in the context of community but within an organized cohort of other candidates, formation enables supportive colleague relationships that model team leadership and defines the ordained minister as one who serves alongside others;
• are willing to own their process of discernment and be proactive in the work ahead with the bishop, supervising rectors, committees and his/her own reflection;
• have a healthy passion for the mission of the Church embracing the whole Gospel in its liturgical, evangelical, social, formational, pastoral, and prophetic dimensions;
• have a loving heart with the manifest capacity for compassion, practical caring, and a lived sense of fairness and justice;
• are comfortable with and able to live into the variety and diversity that is America;
• have a healthy sense of self, manifesting the capacity to be appropriately self-aware, self-affirming, and self-critical with evidence of healthy self care—physical and emotional;
• have the ability to manifest a sense of humor and joy;
• practice a Rule of Life and pursue the virtue of self-awareness;
• are willing to go anywhere to follow and serve God in this call.

Finally, ordained persons are called to be "wholesome examples to the flock of Christ." In that light it is my expectation that applicants for the ordained ministry will exhibit the teachings and values of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in their personal lives. Family life must be characterized by faithfulness, monogamy, life-long commitment, mutual caring and affection.