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My congregation is looking for a pastor, and I’m on the committee. The process is all about discerning God’s will for our community, which sounds big and scary. How do we go about it? How long will it take, and can we make it go faster? How will we know if we’re doing it right? What if we get it wrong?

Here’s some of what I’ve learned about discerning God’s will.

1. Discerning God’s will is going to take as long as it needs to take. We can’t fit it into a schedule.
2. In Evangelical Lutheran Worship, there are excellent prayers in the “Additional Prayers” section that begins on page 72.
3. Do the homework. Work as if it depended on you alone and pray as if it depended on God alone.
4. Examine your own feelings about the choices.
5. Talk it over with a wise friend or among committee members.
6. If you come to a conclusion, pray about that for a day or two before acting. If you feel a deep sense of calm and rightness, if you feel that this choice gives glory to God, then you just might have discerned God’s will.

This message is excerpted from “Pray for openness to God’s will” by Audrey Novak Riley from the May 15, 2019, blog of the Women of the ELCA.