SVMC’s theme for our 2022 calling essays is God Calls Ordinary People. Someone recently stated to me that they felt unworthy in comparison to biblical call stories. We began to discuss some of the biblical settings of call, and we reflected that worthiness did not matter as much as willingness or ability did not matter as much as availability. The biblical call stories include some ordinary people: Peter, James, and John at the seaside (Luke 5: 9-10), David as a shepherd boy, (1 Samuel 16:12) and the little-known names of Bezalel and Oholiab as craftsman of the tabernacle. (Exodus 35:30, 34-35)
I have very humble roots as a farm girl. Some of my earliest memories are of people at church who cared for and nurtured the children in the church family. My parents were original members of a Baptist church plant. I have vivid memories of meeting in a house as the church building was being constructed. I remember sitting on a bed with other small children as someone cared enough to tell us a Bible story. I also remember being given a very simple framed picture of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, and I have kept the picture to this day. As my faith deepened and as I answered my own call to ministry, the picture remains a reminder that people cared enough to nurture the little ones by teaching the love and care of Jesus.
My family moved to a different farm, and we eventually became connected with the Church of the Brethren. My humble and ordinary roots were nurtured by others along the way who named skills and gifts for ministry. That foundation is a strong one on which to build a journey of doing my best to answer God’s call in my life.
Our calls are personal and unique, but our callings are divine as we offer our gifts in service to Christ and the Church.
What is your story? Have you nurtured a long-existing call? Are you sensing something new? SVMC and your district office will help you along the way as you seek education and credentialling.
Share the SVMC calling essays of God Calls Ordinary People with someone in whom you see the gifts for ministry. God calls us to serve…. amid our humble and ordinary lives…. God seeks our willingness and availability. Embrace being an ordinary person and serve for the glory of God and our neighbor’s good.
Donna Rhodes is Executive Director of the Susquehanna Valley Ministry Center and a member of Stone Church of the Brethren in Middle PA District.
