For all of us, our vocation will mean serving God through faithful discipleship in everyday life and using our God-given talents and abilities in our family, workplace or community. We are all called to live and share our faith every day. This is expressed, for instance, through our daily prayers and bible reading, through our support for the local church and through living and sharing our faith in the community, at work and at home. One way to explore our faith and discipleship is the through the Theology for Life course. Alongside this everyday faith and discipleship for all, some people find themselves being called to offer their talents and abilities for ministry within the Church.

God calls people to a wide variety of ministries, both lay and ordained. In the Church in Wales, these include, for example, Apprentices, Pastoral Visitors, Worship Leaders, Licensed Lay Ministers (Readers, Chaplains and Evangelists), Pioneers, Deacons, and Priests.

 If you are exploring a calling to a particular ministry, take time to:

• Pray: listen to what God is calling you to.
• Talk: talk to your friends, family, and your church leaders about your calling.
• Act: explore your thoughts about your vocation with your church leaders. If together you discern that it would be good to take a ‘next step’ your Priest and Mission Area Leader can commend you to a Diocesan Vocation’s Adviser. Download the Inquirers’ Form.

Your Priest or church leader, and the Vocation’s Adviser, will seek to meet you where you and explore the next steps of your vocation with you. You could, together, discern a vocation to:

• Locally Commissioned Ministry, such as Lay Pastoral Assistant, Catechist or Lay Worship Assistant
• Licenced Lay Ministry, such as Reader, Pastoral Chaplain, Youth and Children’s Chaplain, or Evangelist
• Apprenticeship in Christian ministry
• Ordination as a Deacon or a Priest (you can also be called to be a Pioneer Priest)
• something completely different or entirely new or pioneering…?

Locally Commissioned Ministries have local training and support. Licenced ministries, whether lay or ordained, involve discernment and training in the diocese and the province.

• If you are called to a Locally Commissioned Ministry, your Vocation’s Adviser will work with you and your church and Mission Area.
• If you are called to be a Licenced Lay Minister, you will also work with the Diocesan Officer for Licenced Lay Ministry, alongside your Vocation’s Adviser, your local church and the Mission Area. There is more about Licenced Lay Ministry here.
• If you are called to an Apprenticeship, you will work with your Vocation’s Adviser, your local church and the Mission Area and advisers in Apprenticeships to explore how to live this out. You can find out more about being an Apprentice in Christian Ministry here.
• If you are called to be a Deacon or a Priest, you will also work with the Diocesan Director of Ordinands, alongside your Vocation’s Adviser, your local church and the Mission Area. There is more about being a Deacon and Priest here.
• If you are called to something completely different or new, you and your Vocation’s Adviser will discern the best pathway. We are still exploring this pathway and look forward to making the way by walking it with you.
• You can download the Inquirers’ Form here. This should be completed with your the support of your local priest and MAL.

There is more information about all of these pathways by following the links below.

There is also more information about general vocations in the Church in Wales here.

• https://www.churchinwales.org.uk/en/about-us/vocations-and-discernment/ (English)
• https://www.churchinwales.org.uk/cy/about-us/vocations-and-discernment/ (Cymraeg)