Exploring Your Vocation
Discernment is at the heart of our baptismal call. Every baptized person is called to be a minister of the Body of Christ. For some, that call is manifest in pursuing ordained ministry or a call to religious life.
As the Episcopal Church in Colorado examines what a life of discernment looks like, we are shifting from the Road to Ministry program to Exploring your Vocation Discernment Days. Members of various orders, the Diaconate, the Priesthood and the Vowed Religious Life, will lead conversations with Bishop Kym about their ministry. To assist with your discernment, please feel free to register.
2025 Exploring Your Vocation Events – Online Registration Links below.
10:30 am to 3:00 pm – Lunch is provided.
Saturday, March 15, 2025 – Christ’s Episcopal Church, 614 Fourth St., Castle Rock, CO 80104
Saturday, June 14, 2025 – Northwest Region – St. John the Baptist, 100 S French St., Breckenridge, CO 80424
Please direct your questions to Dianne Draper, dianne@episcopalcolorado.org or 720-677-9004.
Qualities of future clergy
Take time to read Qualities in Future Deacons >
Take time to read Qualities in Future Priests >
Engaging in the Discernment Process
Discernment for ordination is the work of the church, a communal affair, not a solitary or small group task. Therefore, if you have been thinking and praying about how God is calling you to serve and are considering ordained ministry as a deacon or priest, begin your discernment process by following these steps:
- Become an active participant in an Episcopal worshiping community within the Episcopal Church in Colorado (to enter into formal discernment one must have been confirmed or received into The Episcopal Church).
- Meet with a priest in your worshiping community to start a journey of prayerful exploration of a possible call.
- In addition, connect with a Spiritual Director and begin meeting with your Spiritual Director on a regular basis.
- Attend the Annual Exploring Your Vocation event to learn more about ministry in the Episcopal Church in Colorado.
- Your priest will determine when you are ready for Congregational Discernment by completing a Request for Discernment Team Orientation.
Becoming a Nominee for Ordained Ministry
If your Vestry/Bishop’s Committee and your sponsoring clergy feel that discernment by the wider church is warranted, discernment then moves to the diocesan level to involve participation in an annual BACOM (Bishop’s Advisory Committee on Ordained Ministry) Event. At this event, the Bishop makes decisions regarding postulancy for ordination to the diaconate or to the priesthood. Admission to postulancy represents the church’s conclusion that an individual is called to ordained ministry and confirms the church’s commitment of support in response to that call. BACOM events are occur once a year at Cathedral Ridge Episcopal Camp and Retreat Center, Woodland Park, CO.
Please direct inquires and questions to the Executive Administrator and Benefits Coordinator, Dianne Draper, at Dianne@EpiscopalColorado.org or call 720-677-9004.