Discernment Process

Pray

We begin this time of discernment by praying for spiritual freedom. This means laying aside personal agendas and assumptions while seeking greater openness to hearing God and each other on our discernment journey.

We want to grow in our desire to follow God’s call as it becomes clear in each of our lives and for the church as we help discern the next prophet-president. With open hearts, we prayerfully imagine:

God, where is your Spirit leading us next, as a worldwide church?

This question invites us to consider what the next faithful steps may be for our collective journey of faith into God’s preferred future.

SUBMIT A PRAYER

Share

After you have taken time to pray for spiritual freedom and greater openness to God and each other, what is your response to the guiding question:

God, where is your Spirit leading us next, as a worldwide church?

Share around the table with family and friends. Share in sacred community in person and online. As you share, also listen deeply to what others are saying and imagining. Our prayerful sharing with one another will continue to shape our collective discernment and sense of God’s call.

Opportunities to share will be available in April.

Pray

Prayerfully explore the church’s current situation and the world in which leadership will occur. Consider the question from your context while also being mindful of the church’s global context.

What are the most significant situations, opportunities, or challenges that a prophetic leader will need to address? 

Share

After taking time to prayerfully reflect, find spaces where you can share and listen to others in response to the question:

What are the most significant situations, challenges, or opportunities that a prophetic leader will need to address?  

Share around the table with family and friends. Share in sacred community in person and online. As you share, also listen deeply to what others are saying and imagining. Our prayerful sharing with one another will continue to shape our collective discernment and sense of God’s call.

Opportunities to share will be available in June.

Pray

Using the question below, engage the 6 Lenses for Discovering God’s Will (Knowledge and Reason, Continuing Revelation, Tradition, Personal and Communal Experience, Scripture, Common Consent) to expand our shared vision of who God is calling the church to be amid the situations, opportunities, and challenges we have described. What insight comes from prayerfully engaging these intersecting lenses?  

What is God’s call for the worldwide church in this time?  

Share

How did prayerfully engaging the 6 lenses inform your response to this question?  

What is God’s call for the worldwide church in this time? 

Share around the table with family and friends. Share in sacred community in person and online. As you share, also listen deeply to what others are saying and imagining. Our prayerful sharing with one another will continue to shape our collective discernment and sense of God’s call.

Opportunities to share will be available in August.

Pray

This is a time in the process to hold prayerfully all that we have been gathering through prayer, reflection, and sharing together. Considering what you have heard and discovered through discernment so far:

What kind of leadership (qualities, style, competencies, gifts, skills) is needed to respond to God’s call for the worldwide church at this time and into the future? 

Share

What kind of leadership (qualities, style, competencies, gifts, skills) is needed to respond to God’s call for the worldwide church at this time and into the future?  

At this point in the process, there may be individuals you begin to hold prayerfully who demonstrate the kind of leadership you sense or hear described. You are encouraged to share these names with the First Presidency but ask you to refrain from sharing the names of specific people in other settings.

We know that sometimes even our best intentions of considering specific persons can impact other’s lives and families as we all hold the weight of this leadership role in the life of the church.

As we mutually discern both the kind of leadership and specific persons who come to mind, we want to be mindful of the type of listening and sharing environment we are creating in person and online, where we commit to holding one another in Christ like love and mutual respect.

Share around the table with family and friends. Share in sacred community in person and online. As you share, also listen deeply to what others are saying and imagining. Our prayerful sharing with one another will continue to shape our collective discernment and sense of God’s call.

Opportunities to share will be available in October.

Pray

The next faithful step in this process will occur as the current First Presidency sifts through the church’s responses to prayerfully hold the concerns, hopes, dreams, and possible names. We hold leadership in prayer as we consider the call of God for our next prophet-president, and for each of our lives as we shape the future together.  

Share

What words of blessing and hope do you share for the worldwide church in this important time of discernment for our future?  

Participants are invited to continue to send reflections and names through the end of the year.  

Share around the table with family and friends. Share in sacred community in person and online. As you share, also listen deeply to what others are saying and imagining. Our prayerful sharing with one another will continue to shape our collective discernment and sense of God’s call.

Opportunities to share will be available in December.

Pray

Seek Confirmation of the Holy Spirit as the next prophet-president is named for Community of Christ. An indication of confirmation of the Holy Spirit is often the presence of the fruits of the Spirit, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23)

As a prophetic people discerning together, who we become as we collectively discern is as important as whatever the outcome may be. We pray that our intentional journey of prayer and discernment will bear fruit in the life of the church for years to come.

Opportunities to share will be available in January.