Discernment: A Shared Sacred Journey That Blesses

Andrea Farley, Facilitator for 2023-24, Episcopal Diocese of Spokane

It is my honor and joy to work as the Canon for Discipleship in the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane. I’ve had the opportunity to be part of Loving the Questions for the past two years, as both a participant and facilitator.

In my work, I have the privilege to think on a diocesan level about how we are following Jesus, and to offer support with each congregation in how they discern and practice following Jesus. This plays out in prayer, evangelism, adult formation, stewardship, environmentalism, justice matters, church planting, pastoral care training, small groups development, and many other ways.

In a conversation with a colleague one day, it suddenly “clicked” how ubiquitous discernment is in all aspects of discipleship. We step into discernment in vocational and other major life decisions, in times of transition or change, in mutual ministry review processes, in vestry meetings and decisions, in developing mission statements and missional outcomes, in what direction the Spirit is calling us as a diocese/congregation/individual, etc. We faithfully engage discernment in our ordinary moments of following Jesus, and sometimes we faithfully engage discernment in extraordinary seasons of courage and curiosity.

In discernment, we offer our longings to God to discover God’s longings for us. It is a shared sacred journey that blesses and changes everyone involved, unfolding sometimes surprising revelations of who we are and who God is. This is the gift that is offered in Loving the Questions. From our individual Zoom boxes, we engage silence, wondering, and reflective listening to one another, to scripture, and to the Spirit. We practice audacious hope in God’s relationship with us, trusting that God has desires and prayers for us already and, even more audaciously, that we are invited to join in those prayers on behalf of one another.

The pace and practices that I have learned while being a part of Loving the Questions have shown up in every part of my life. I lean into prayer and silence more quickly, I reach out to colleagues and friends for reflective listening more readily, and I incorporate time for deep wonderings and silent reflection before opening up space for discussion in meetings and gatherings.

I have been changed by my experience in Loving the Questions, and I am so grateful for how it has deepened my relationship with God. It has also been a joy to join the incredible facilitators of Loving the Questions in offering space and time for others to encounter the presence of the Spirit in community.

It fills me with excitement and hope to see our church engaging this deep work of discernment! As the Episcopal branch of the Jesus movement, we know the changing dynamics of our world and of our congregational data. And we know that we follow a God who still creates and recreates, who still breathes over the chaos of our world, who still speaks goodness and love over all. We need intentional spaces of silence, of prayer, of being deeply known and deeply knowing others, of listening for the voice of the One who loves us—calling us, once again, to follow. ♦