2025 Conference on Ministry: Clarifying Your Call, Together

• I sense a call to ministry, but I’m unclear as to what that might look like. What should I do?
• I feel called to ministry, but I’m unworthy. Is there a place for me?
• What are the steps to becoming a priest? A deacon?
• I sense a strong calling to lay ministry. How can I move into such a role?
• I ran away from the call to ministry God gave me many years ago. Lately, he has been reminding me of this call. Is it too late?

If you have similar questions about your call to serve in the name of Christ, the 2025 Conference on Ministry is the place for you. Scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 23, from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at Church of the Messiah, Winter Garden, the conference, which costs just $15 and includes lunch, offers support for those discerning a call to ministry of any kind.

“God is always calling all of us to ministry,” said the Rev. Canon Dr. Dan Smith, canon to the ordinary for the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida. “The issue is discerning what type of ministry: lay, diaconal or priestly. The Conference on Ministry is a great place to do some of that discernment work, as you have the opportunity to listen to speakers in all types of ministries and share with others who are discerning God’s call.”

Time of Discovery

The Ven. Julie Altenbach, one of the diocese’s two archdeacons, pointed out a key statement in the Book of Common Prayer that relates to the call to ministry.

“For the Catechism on page 855, the title is ‘The Ministry,’” she said. “And the question is, “Who are the ministers of the Church?” And the answer is “The ministers of the Church are lay persons, bishops, priests, and deacons.”

“To me, this is clear that all believers are called to ministry, and it’s both a joy and a privilege to be able to serve,” she continued. “Bishop Justin says all the time that we’re all called to ministry, and each of us is trying to figure out what lane our ministry will be in. Is it lay ministry? Deacon? Priest and possibly bishop one day? The Conference on Ministry is for anyone who is trying to figure out what their specific call to ministry looks like, regardless of which lane they think they’ll end up in.”

“When you become a Christian, you learn what the life of faith is all about,” said Ms. Adria Northern, executive assistant to Smith and – with Altenbach and leadership development coordinator Mrs. Marilyn Lang – part of the new diocesan Discernment Team. “But there’s also another unction that you get in your spirit, the one that says, ‘There’s something more that I have to do,’ and this is part of that, of helping truly discern what that call is. It’s a wonderful opportunity, and hopefully, the conference will help people navigate that call.”

“It used to be that the Conference on Ministry was merely a requirement on the path to ordination,” Altenbach explained. “Over the past few years, it’s become much more a time of discovery and discerning with one another what next steps might look like. Many times, we’ve seen God work through that process to help people discern more about their call.”

“And some people find through this process that ordination – either to the diaconate or the priesthood – is not necessarily the call they have on their life,” Northern added. “That’s where the whole licensed lay ministry layer comes in: ‘How can I contribute to ministry from a lay perspective?’ I think that’s an awesome piece of the conference too, just helping people through this process of discovery.”

Team Effort

The one-day conference will feature Mr. Orman Kimbrough, Commission on Ministry chair and master of ceremonies; the Rt. Rev. Dr. Justin S. Holcomb, diocesan bishop; the Ven. John Motis, archdeacon; and the Rev. Mark Lafler, president of the Diocese of Central Florida Standing Committee and rector, St. Edward’s, Mount Dora. It will include presentations on the priesthood and the diaconate/licensed lay ministry as well as a Q&A panel and group meetings for those aspiring to the priesthood or to the diaconate/licensed lay ministry. Registration deadline is Friday, Aug. 8.

“When you register, you do have to identify the specific role you have in coming to the conference, whether you’re discerning priesthood, diaconate or licensed lay ministry; a clergy member; or the spouse of someone in attendance,” Altenbach said. “But the last box says, ‘I just want to learn more.’ This conference in no way locks you into a commitment or trap. It really is just a time to be with the bishop, the archdeacons, Commission on Ministry members and the Diocesan Discernment Team.

“As a diocese, we are known for a really well-thought-out and formulated discernment process,” she continued. “And now we have a whole team to help us do that work well. What an honor it is that people trust us to come alongside them in this process.”

“I think it’s amazing,” Northern said. “We encourage spouses of those going through this process to come alongside them and join them at this event, just to show that support. No matter who people are or what their calling is, it lets them know: You are not alone. You have a whole network, a team of people to help you.”

“It’s significant that many of the students who are at the Institute of Christian Studies discerning a call to the diaconate will also be at the conference,” Altenbach said. “They’ll be helping people register, but they’ll also be available to answer questions and do whatever else needs to be done. Everything about this conference – like the discernment process itself – is a team effort.”

That team effort includes professional interpretation from English to Spanish of large-group sessions and individual meetings by Ms. Amarilis Melendez, an ESOL educator for over 25 years, who also interprets ICS classes. Interpretation into French and/or Haitian Creole is also available as needed.

Essential Steps

“Again, we don’t want to lock people into an ordination track – or any other track – but the Conference on Ministry is a precursor for going through the ordination process in our diocese,” Northern said. “If you really do have that unction, that sense of calling in your spirit, that discerning that this is it: ‘I want to be a priest’ or ‘I want to be a deacon,’ but you don’t quite know how to get started, this is the place to be.

“The Conference on Ministry only happens once a year,” she added. “And every year, we get people partway through the year who have questions about that tug in their heart toward ministry, but because this is the first step in the discernment process, they have to wait until the following year. They can’t move forward until they’ve done this first.”

“If you don’t know what your feelings are, but you feel a stirring, if you’re excited about what you feel is going on in your parish or what’s going on in the diocese, this is a great day to come and hear from lots of people who are doing some great work ‘for the gospel, for the churches,’” Altenbach said. “At the very least, you’ll be given lunch, spend time with them and be inspired.”

For further information on the 2025 Conference on Ministry (remember the Aug. 8 registration deadline), email the Discernment Team at discernment@cfdiocese.org.