In this “Word from Urbana Seminary,” Rob and Jean Gill explain the spiritual life forum that Urbana Seminary will be hosting on October 24:
Christian ministry can be some of the most joy-filled and satisfying work there is. Walking deeply with people. Sharing in the joys and sorrows of their lives. Helping others to know God and to grow spiritually. Reaching out in our communities to demonstrate the love of Christ in tangible ways.
But we also recognize that Christian ministry is filled with challenges and never-ending demands on our time. It’s easy to get bogged down in the details of our role as pastor, church leader or campus worker, meeting the endless needs of those in our care and managing the limitless list of “to do’s” in leading our church or organization.
That was certainly the case for my husband, Rob, and me nearly 20 years ago. We had been in full-time Christian ministry for 17 years and were doing cutting-edge work with denominational leaders in Japan. We were so focused on ministry – on “doing” good things for God, that it was easy to lose track of our “being”.
After this ministry came to an abrupt halt, we found ourselves back in the U.S. for a time of personal and spiritual renewal. A long-time mentor helped us create a timeline, a map of God’s activity throughout our lifetime. This timeline gave us a clearer picture of His intimate involvement in our lives, the deeper lessons He was teaching us, and how He was shaping our calling. We also began focusing on our “being” in Christ and creating a Biblical Identity statement – who ARE in Christ regardless of what we DO for Him.
This life-changing process allowed us to discover anew our primary call as Christians to KNOW God, and then from this posture of “being” flows our call to “doing” God’s Kingdom work. For the last decade, we have shared this process with hundreds of Christian leaders, both cross-cultural missionaries in Asia and church and campus leaders in the U.S.
We invite you to join us and other Christian leaders in the Champaign-Urbana area on October 24 as we spend a day focusing on our personal and spiritual formation. Each of us will have the opportunity to look back at God’s activity throughout our lifetime, and discover and celebrate His fingerprints of shaping and blessing in our lives. We’ll also focus on our “being” and who we are apart from our roles and daily tasks.
The activities we do at this year’s Spiritual Life Forum are reproducible tools you can take back to your congregations or campus groups to facilitate spiritual formation with your church leaders, congregants or students.
We look forward to seeing you on Monday, October 24!
To Register: http://www.urbanatheologicalseminary.org/
