Vocations Sunday – Calls everyone to be Apostles

2 May, the forth Sunday of Easter, is this year’s Vocations Sunday as initiated by the Church of England. This event has been held for some several years and the response is proved to be successful.

It is recorded by the Ministry Division of the Church of England that the number of those recommended for training for ordained ministry with the Church rose slightly from 475 in 2002 to 505 in 2003.

This encourages the Ministry Division to put more resources in ecclesiastical training. First of all, 8 extra Selection Conferences is put to meet the demand of candidates wishing to attend them to test their call to ordained ministry. Second, the website for Vocations Sunday is enriched with resources for prayer, worship, sermons and bodybuilding.

Meanwhile, the Ministry Division is trying to initiate people to reflect their vocation through displaying poster and distributing attractive leaflet in churches. The age of making apostles of every single member of churches is coming now.

As The Revd Stephen Ferns, Vocations Officer for the Ministry Division believes, “Each of us does have a vocation. God calls each one of us. First and foremost, God calls us to change: to become more Christ-like.”

“But while we are called to change, we are also called to be more deeply ourselves. God never calls us to be something or someone we’re not. God always calls us to what we are capable of becoming.”

This is the faith of Apostle Paul confessed in Romans 8: 29- 30, “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”

Other resources being made available for this year’s Vocations Sunday will assist people to consider how to serve in the church in a variety of capacities, not just ordained ministry. They are now available on www.cofe-ministry.org.uk/vocsun .