SHAPE for Ministry

My SHAPE: Nothing Is Wasted

9 Comments / Lung Cancer, PCUSA, Personal, SHAPE for Ministry, Teaching, The Pastoral Call / By /

As [Jesus] walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him. (Matthew 4:18-22) When Jesus […]

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My SHAPE: Pulling It All Together

2 Comments / Lung Cancer, PCUSA, Personal, SHAPE for Ministry, The Pastoral Call / By /

Now begins the process of synthesizing the various discoveries of my SHAPE. To review: S—Spiritual Gifts. Teaching is dominant among my gifts, with Leadership and Prophecy right behind. You could probably account for the results of and response to my singing and writing abilities as a God-thing, too; so add Creative Communication to the list. H—Heart. I am particularly drawn to people who have questions, who are making big decisions, who are trying to align their lives with God as revealed in the Scriptures. A—Abilities. I can express myself clearly through speaking, singing, and writing; I am an accomplished cook.

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My SHAPE: E—Experience in Ministry

1 Comment / Leadership and Spirituality, Lung Cancer, PCUSA, Personal, SHAPE for Ministry, Teaching, The Pastoral Call / By /

It’s an interesting thing about experience and ministry. Experience is not required to do something or to be someone useful to the Kingdom of God. There are many entry-level positions in God’s economy. But if one has had experience in ministry settings, one has some clues as to one’s gifts and calling. I remember my very first mission trip, a month-long excursion to Guatemala after its 1976 catastrophic earthquake. Based on that experience—riding a school bus from the Bay Area the entire length of Mexico into Guatemala, mixing cement and setting reinforced concrete brick, cleaning bathrooms, and speaking with the

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My SHAPE: P—Personality

2 Comments / Leadership and Spirituality, Personal, SHAPE for Ministry, The Pastoral Call / By /

When our second daughter was born, I was blown away by how different she was from her older sister, on the first day! I guess I had held the view that “a baby is a baby,” until Darling Daughter A exhibited her own response to the world in contrast to Darling Daughter 1. It’s a good thing I could see the difference between them, because I was enabled to receive each girl on her own terms and enjoy her uniqueness. Such an appreciation releases a mom from the temptation to treat her children exactly alike, which I think was a

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What Is My SHAPE: H—Heart and A—Abilities

2 Comments / Leadership and Spirituality, Personal, SHAPE for Ministry, The Pastoral Call / By /

As a way of discerning God’s call upon my life after sitting on the bench through a bout of lung cancer, I am continuing an assessment of my SHAPE for ministry. In my last post I listed my S—spiritual gifts. Many assessments stop there, but God provides pointers to his call in other aspects of our lives, too. Two people with the same spiritual gift(s) can express their Christian discipleship in very different ways, because of how they are wired emotionally, in their personality, or through the experiences that have shaped them and developed their abilities. The Saddleback SHAPE model

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