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    United Methodists of Upper New YorkLiving the Gospel. Being God's Love.


    news article

    How God has been calling me into pastoral ministry

    August 14, 2018 / By Gavin Hill, Eden United Methodist Church

    Editor's Note: The article below was featured in the Summer 2018 issue of the Advocate, which focused on churches and individuals that are boldly living their call. Read how young Gavin Hill, not even out of high school has already been called to pursue a career path into pastoral ministry.

    It’s important to know this when discerning God’s call—God whispers, he doesn’t shout. The way I was able to hear God call me to ministry was through his little hints and the gifts he has given me. I believe God’s hints and gifts started in English class, before I was a Christian.

    At one point, I wanted to be an author. My reasoning was because I was always good at making an essay or a story out of any topic. However, when I looked back one day, I realized God gave me that gift to use for sermon-making. No matter what my topic is, I will make a good sermon out of it.

    Another gift God has given me, is the gift of fighting for justice. Ever since I was young, I have fought for justice. The only problem was I didn’t know how to use it correctly at first. As I became more mature, I realized that justice can stem from God’s word … and that’s a tool that can be used as evidence for the importance of justice.

    Next, God gave me the opportunity to preach at my church. This made me close to finalizing my choice of going into pastoral ministries. The way God communicated with me this time, was through other people. When I heard I made people cry with happiness and that I made people rethink how they were living, I was 99 percent sure God was calling me to pastoral ministries. When discerning God’s call, listen to what others have to say also.

    My Mission of Peace trip to Cuba finalized my decision to go into pastoral ministries. The final step was “Experiencing.” In Cuba, I experienced the feeling of doing God’s work. You know the feeling of what God is calling you to do when your soul is still? The feeling you get when you are floating on water because; when you float on water everything is in balance. You are half in the water and half out creating the perfect balance. Another way to explain it is when you sing in perfect harmony with other people, and then you get that one feeling of perfect peace and stillness.

    When I was experiencing God in Cuba and helping others, I felt that stillness. Doing God’s work convinced me that I should do even more work for him as a pastor.

     

    TAGGED / Advocate


    With more than 100,000 members, United Methodists of Upper New York comprises of more than 675 local churches and New Faith Communities in 12 districts, covering 48,000 square miles in 49 of the 62 counties in New York state. Our vision is to “live the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to be God’s love with our neighbors in all places."