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Discerning
God’s Will:
A
Group Spiritual Process
Used at All Saints,
By
The Rev. Thomas L. Weitzel
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
We have all learned
since our beginnings in the faith that discerning God’s will is an important
task for us. Regularly, if not daily, we
pray our Lord’s Prayer, “Your kingdom come, your will be done.” We hear Jesus’ words in the
For our work in church,
that has meant prayer in worship, prayer in meetings and individual prayer
while we engage the “usual” order of business or research possibilities for our
future in the “usual ways”: reading books,
going to workshops, engaging consultants, putting information together, holding
discussions and making proposals.
Recently one of our
congregations, All Saints Lutheran Church in Port Orange, Florida, decided
after doing all of these, to add one more element: engage the whole congregation in an
intentional discernment process over a whole day in an attempt to seek God’s
guidance and inspiration.
Spiritually speaking,
seeking direction is a matter of seeking and understanding call, whether for
individuals or churches. And although
individual prayer and group meetings are important, discerning God’s will
together is not something I had seen as a part of the “usual” approach. Yet why not?
Having been engaged by
All Saints as a consultant, I offered to develop and lead them through a day of
“Discerning God’s Will.” It seemed good
to them, and so we scheduled the day for a Saturday in January.
What resulted was one
of the most profound witnesses to God’s presence and leading that I had seen in
my entire ministry. After sharing this
with our Bishop Edward Benoway, he encouraged me to
write it up and share it with you
A DAY OF DISCERNING GOD’S WILL
The day itself went
like this.
We gathered in the
sanctuary, the place most keenly identified as the place of God’s presence. The Paschal Candle was lighted and remained
lit all day.
Those gathered were
told that this was a day for listening, as opposed to discussing or
debating. Opinions and egos were
encouraged to be left at the door in order to be open to God’s leading, an
important step within the discernment process.
Then we worshiped,
inviting God into our presence. We sang,
and then there was silence. We read
Psalms responsively and prayed after each; then there was silence. We heard the parable of the sower, and there was silence. We sang again and prayed together a prayer
for discernment that the whole congregation had been instructed to pray all
week.
Then we moved into
learning the basics of discernment.
Discernment is spiritually defined as distinguishing the voice of God
from the other voices that can influence us (our egos, the ways of the world,
evil). We can see discernment at work in
the very first church in the book of Acts, which sought the Spirit’s leading for
each decision.
Discernment occurs within
the faith relationship that exists between God and the individual and/or
church, and is therefore something that occurs within the context of
commitment: God’s commitment to us and
our commitment to God.
That means that
discerning God’s will isn’t just seeking direction. It is being in a right relationship with the
God we love. It is this faith
relationship that gives us the ability to act upon what is discerned with courage
and trust and hope. It also gives us the
patience necessary to be loving of others and follow in God’s good time.
Participants in the day
had been asked to bring bibles, so we looked at several stories that witness to
individuals and groups discerning God’s will.
What we learned there was that God is self-disclosing and wishes his
will to be known, and that his will can be known because of the indwelling of
the Holy Spirit, given at our baptisms.
THE HOW OF DISCERNMENT
After a break, we
learned the how of discernment, as informed by many spiritual sages of the past
and present. Although there are many
different renderings of stages or steps to discernment, we identified some
primary ones:
1. Identifying the
focus for discernment.
2. Having a guiding
principle for the process, such as a verse of scripture or mission or vision
statement.
3. Shedding egos and
personal agendas in trust and faith in order to be open to God’s will, which
includes asking if we are truly ready to follow where God leads.
4. Rooting ourselves in
scripture and tradition as it applies to the identified focus for discernment
(i.e., What scripture applies to this path? How does
our tradition and history inform us?).
5. Intentional
listening, not only to God, but to voices of all in the discerning community,
as well as to those who might be affected by any decision or path. (This is the place where the “usual” methods
of gathering information, conducting forums, interviewing people, etc. occur.)
6. Exploring to see if
the options that arise are the only options available, which means being open
to the Spirit’s creative surprises.
7. Improving by
checking to see if the options that arise are the best that they can be.
8. Testing the path or
paths presented: Which seem from God,
which from human ego, which from evil?
Again, different methods for testing are offered by the spiritual sages
of the centuries. Here are two:
From John Cassian (4th c.): Is this path filled with what is good for
all? Is it heavy with faith and trust in
God? Is it genuine in the feelings that
underlie it? Or is it too light because
of human show or novelty? Is its merit
lessened by personal self-seeking?
From Ignatius of Loyola
(16th c.): In this path, is
there a sense of peace and movement toward God (consolation)? Or is there a sense of dis-ease
and movement away from God (desolation)?
9. Coming to closure by
moving toward a decision and testing for consensus.
Such a process does not
usually happen in one day, nor do the steps need to happen in rigid order. Progress may be from one to another, then back to a previous step before moving forward
again. Clearly the listening stage can
involve days, weeks and months of information gathering. But as this is done, spiritually exploring
and improving can be done. So also the
tests of Cassian and Ignatius can be applied within
any business meeting. The chair need
only remind people that they are the people of God called to seek and do God’s
will, and the proceed with asking the time-honored
spiritual questions.
BIBLE STUDY, MEDITATION
After the how of
discernment was defined, we engaged in bible study on God’s will and God’s
call.
Following lunch, we
entered into about 20 minutes of guided meditation to meet with Jesus, share
our concerns and anxieties and release them to him, and then ask him to lead us
to the place of his choosing.
Reports of individual
experiences during the guided meditation followed in a powerful way. While each
person reported different experiences, all the experiences were vivid and rich
and of profound personal significance.
After only a few reports, links between the experiences could be
identified. Common themes developed. We didn’t always discern their meaning, but
the themes were clear. Ideas emerged
that had never come up before.
We charted the links,
the ideas and the common themes. Then we
expanded the reporting: had anyone heard
a word from the Lord at any other time during the day? One person reported an
insight that had come to her during worship, and the insight fit into one of
the common themes.
The how of the
discernment process, previously learned, was now applied to a proposal before
the All Saints congregation. Exploring,
improving and spiritual testing were applied to it, as detailed above.
It was necessary on
occasion to remind attendees that the task was to be open to the Spirit’s
leading and not lapse into debate about direction. Yet in the end, several insights developed
about the proposal that were conveyed to the congregation the next day.
The day closed with a
prayer circle and instructions to continue to pray and seek the Lord’s guidance
for the congregational meeting the next day.
“IT’S A NEW DAY”
Does such a method of
group discernment have a place within our churches? I believe the Spirit is begging us to call
upon him for just this task. God is
there for the asking. God is there for
the leading.
My witness of the day
at All Saints had a profound impact upon me personally, and it was clear that
the same had happened for the people there – even those who had NOT
attended. The congregational meeting,
which had been anticipated to be a rough one, was orderly and peaceful and
filled with people truly seeking God’s direction. A bold proposal that had been worried about
by leaders passed nearly unanimously.
“It’s a new day,” was
Pastor Paul Summer’s conclusion afterward.
God is there to assist
us in power and love if we but call upon him.
I therefore commend this process to you with God’s blessing. Be prepared for the power that comes from tapping
into God:
“In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters
shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall
dream dreams.” Acts 2.17
____________
Sermon – The link to the sermon that I preached
in this congregation about the day on the Baptism of Our Lord.
Does
God Speak Anymore? –
Another sermon preached before a Sunday version of the Workshop in June of
2004.
I am available to lead this discernment process in your church. Click on the email link on the home page.