2. Follow me...

Jesus said: ‘Follow me’. This call is addressed to each of us.

Over the past few years there has been a lot of talk about call and vocation in the United Reformed Church (URC).  These are well-known and widely used words in a faith-based context.

Through this Conversation Starter, we aim to enable conversations about vocational journeys of faith, lived out through our work, church, social and family contexts. And then to consider how each of us talks about call and vocation in the URC, how we encourage each other, how we support each other, how we learn and develop and how we serve.

We are all called by God and, as followers of Jesus, we have responded to that call.  Our vocation is how we respond to that call on our lives, where we are. It can change over time and be different things, in different settings, alongside different people.   Many of us are in particular places, roles or responsibilities because of the call we have discerned from God. And many of us would not be the person we are today without someone having approached us or encouraged us or raised our awareness, or without us listening to the Spirit’s prompting internally or externally. 

 ‘As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.’  (Matthew 9:9)

Jesus called the tax collector when he was least expecting it. And yet he responded.

Activity:
  • Pause to think about God's call on your life.  Reflect on how you experienced that call. What was your response?
  • Invite people to share their stories around their call, how it happened and how they responded.
N.B. If you are facilitating this conversation with a group, give people a bit of time to individually reflect on how they have experienced God's call in their lives and where it might have led them.  After a few minutes invite people, if they wish, to share their stories of call as they feel able.  

Video:
In this short video, the Revd Jenny Mills, Secretary for Education and Learning for the United Reformed Church explains some of the background of this resource and introduces the theme of Call and Vocation.



Click Here for a transcript of this video