• Home
  • About
  • Events
  • Podcasts
  • News
  • Giving
  • Renovations
  • Dribbble
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Email
Collegeville Institute

Bearings Online

Menu
  • Residency Programs
      • Scholars, clergy, church leaders, thinkers, artists, and writers who are seeking to discern and communicate the meaning of Christian identity and unity in a religiously and culturally diverse world are invited to apply for our residency programs.
      • Get Practical Information »
      • Apply for a Fellowship »
      • View 2020 Scholars »
      • Resident Scholars Program

        for those looking to stay a semester or a full academic year

      • Program Details
      • Work and Scholarship
      • Housing and Facilities
      • Application Process
      • Former Resident Scholars
      • Apply Now »
      • Short term Residencies

        for those looking to stay for a shorter period of time

      • Program Details
      • Living and Working
      • Application Process
      • Former Short Term Scholars
      • Apply Now »
    • Close
  • Writing Workshops
      • Each summer, the Collegeville Institute opens its doors to pastors, ministers, lay leaders, and other thinkers and writers for week-long, intensive writing workshops geared toward various levels of writing skill, genre and interest.
        Each fall, the Collegeville Institute partners with other institutes, seminaries, or churches to coordinate regional off-site workshops.
      • Get Practical Information »
      • View 2021 Workshops »
      • Explore Past Workshops »
      • Fall Workshops:

      • We will be posting Fall 2021 writing workshop offerings in May. Check back later.
      • Summer Workshops:

      • Apart, and Yet a Part: A Workshop with Writing Coach Michael N. McGregor
      • Exploring Identity and (Dis)belonging through the Personal Essay
      • Our Own Deep Wells: Writing on Vocation across Race and Culture
      • In the Thick of It: Explorations of Advanced Topics in Prose Writing
      • Emerging Writers Mentorship Program
      • Breaking the Academic Mold: Liberating the Powerful, Personal Voice Inside You
    • Close
  • Vocation Projects
      • The Communities of Calling Initiative invites congregations into a 5-year project on vocation.
        The Collegeville Institute Seminars offer resources to explore calling in your community.
      • Vocation Projects Overview »
    • Resources on Vocation:

      • BridgeCalled to Life – a free program for small groups
      • Called to Work - hands at a laptopCalled to Work – a free program for small groups
      • FrancoisLives Explored – a video storytelling project
      • booksBooks – publications on vocation
    • Close
  • Fellows Program
    • Bringing together an ecumenical group of gifted Minnesota faith leaders, the Collegeville Institute Fellows Program focuses on leadership development with the goal of strengthening religious leaders’ sense of themselves as civic leaders.
    • Fellows Program Overview
    • Twin Cities Fellows Program
    • Rural Minnesota Fellows Program
    • Multi-Religious Fellows Program
    • Close
  • Faith and Writing
    • Good writing is essential to powerful theological education within congregations. In this section we highlight book reviews, provide resources for good writing, feature the writing of our program participants, and more.
    • Resources for Faith and Writing
    • Participant Publications
    • Bearings magazine
    • Submit Your Publication »
    • Close
  • Search
You are here: Home / Vocation Projects / Resources for Congregations / Exploring Vocation in Community

Exploring Vocation in Community

Vis GroupHow do Christians understand vocation today? Where do people experience God’s call—in relationships, through work, or at church? How can congregations support the callings of all members?

Many Christians who long to understand God’s call for their lives are left on their own. While resources on vocation exist for college students and young adults, there are fewer opportunities for children, youth, older adults, retirees or the elderly to reflect on their callings.

Exploring Vocation in Community was developed in 2011 to serve the broader life of the church and ground the theological work of the Seminars in the lived experiences of Christians in congregations.

To date we have launched two cohorts of five congregations working on vocation. Staff and lay leaders meet in Collegeville to learn about the theology of vocation developing in the Seminars and design a year-long project on vocation for their own community.

Our goal is to collaborate with congregations who want to engage vocation and to learn what happens when communities start exploring questions of calling.

Learn more about the Exploring Vocation in Community project. Read about one participant’s experience in the program, and reflect on a prayer created by leaders working together in Collegeville.

For more information, please contact Laura Kelly Fanucci at lkfanucci@collegevilleinstitute.org.

Participant Congregations and Projects

Church of St. Paul and the Redeemer, Chicago, IL
Created “Called to Love” program for small groups
Read more about St. Paul and the Redeemer’s work in an interview with their pastor.

Christ Lutheran Church, Blaine, MN
Collected vocation stories from parishioners to use as video clips during worship
Paired adults with youth in gifts discernment part of confirmation program

Wellesley Village Church, Wellesley, MA
Used Called to Life to create 20-week “GIFTs and cALL” program
Learn about Village Church’s work around gifts and discernment in an interview with their pastor.

Ascension Catholic Church, Oak Park, IL
Used Called to Life with catechists, parents, and schoolteachers
Connected discipleship and vocation through parish stewardship committee

Plymouth Congregational Church, Lawrence, KS
Launched Called to Life group for health care professionals
Offered day of reflection on national health care issues

St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church, Maple Grove, MN
Offered Called to Life as Lenten series for existing small faith communities

Resurrection Lutheran Church, St. Joseph, MN
Focused on vocation during Lent: home devotionals, small groups, Wednesday worship services with professionals sharing how they live out their callings
Organized synod-wide event connecting worship with vocation

Visitation Monastery of Minneapolis, MN
Adapted Called to Life into their Following the Spirit discernment series
Read more about the Visitation Sisters’ work with young people and discernment in this interview.

St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Edina, MN
Developed parish-wide retreat based on Called to Life
Offered Called to Work small groups to professionals in congregation

St. Joseph University Parish, Buffalo, NY
Paired community service experiences with vocational discernment for college students
Use Called to Work with students from professional schools

Benedictine Retreat Center of St. Paul’s Monastery, Maplewood, MN
Focused on calling in retreat ministry and spiritual direction
Used vocation as a framework for institutional discernment

What We Are Learning

Worship, preaching, faith formation, adult education and social justice ministries all offer opportunities for exploring God’s call in our lives. Working with congregations on vocation has taught us the following:

  • Many Christians in congregations do not have an outdated or unhelpful notion of vocation—instead people are more likely to lack any understanding of the concept.
  • While the language of “vocation” can be an initial stumbling block, once people start to explore how God works in their lives, they quickly resonate with the idea of being called to particular work, activities or relationships.
  • Vocation is inherently narrative. We learn about ourselves and God by sharing stories from our own lives.
  • Participants in our Called to Life and Called to Work programs are quick to connect service and vocation: they feel called to serve others through professional work, family responsibilities, or volunteering in their community.
  • Our understanding of vocation is closely linked to our image of God. For example, vocation is understood differently if God is seen as a “planner” who determines each person’s path in life or if God is a “partner” who walks with us as a companion on the journey.
  • People are especially hungry for preaching and prayer practices that connect their faith with the challenges of their daily lives and work.
  • Sharing stories from professional life in sermons, offering a small group for people facing retirement, and exploring vocation with youth as part of confirmation preparation are all ways to start exploring vocation in the local church. Check out our Lives Explored video project for clips to show in faith formation events.

Contact us for more ideas about exploring vocation within your faith community!

 

 

More in this Section

  • Research Seminars
  • Books from our Projects
  • Resources for Congregations
    • Called to Life small group program
    • Called to Work small group program
    • Lives Explored Video Project
    • Exploring Vocation in Community
      • Participant Congregations and Projects
  • Bearings Online Articles on Vocation
  • Contact Us

Latest News

Apartment Renovation Project Underway

April 21, 2021

*POSTPONED* Publishing for Christian Writers Event

March 24, 2021

An Update on the Executive Director Search

March 8, 2021

Subscribe

Sign up for our email newsletter today, and keep up to date with what's going on at the Collegeville Institute.

Sign Up Today

Get Involved

Give online

Check out our writing workshops and our residential programs.

Contact Us

2475 Ecumenical Drive
PO Box 2000
Collegeville, MN 56321

Phone: 320-363-3366
Email: staff@collegevilleinstitute.org

Map/Directions

Copyright © 2021 Collegeville Institute. Read our Privacy Policy.