“What do you love? What does our world need? If you could do anything, what would you do?” John Mark Comer, Garden City
Three years ago, these questions had me stumped. They forced me to put words to my life’s purpose – my calling – and that’s not just an answer you arrive at overnight. I had to excavate what my calling was. And while I knew that I loved my church and talking about Jesus, that felt like a far cry from an actionable calling, much less a career. But then I joined The Austin Stone Residency Program, and those answers became a lot easier to discern.
Now, the hope is that a person could discover their calling in college, but if you’re like me, you graduated with a minor in Spikeball, $30,000 in student debt, and no idea what to do with your life. I needed a place to help me answer the question, “What on earth am I here for?”
If you’re trying to find the same answer and have even an inkling that it could be vocational ministry, I’m convinced there’s no better place to discern that calling than in The Austin Stone Residency Program. The Residency Program exists to raise up the saints that will be the next generation of leaders in the church, unearthing their calling for ministry and equipping them to do His work.
The program has three focuses: spiritual development, leadership development, and ministry experience. And every resident has a supervisor, a cohort, and a program manager that’s stewarding these three attributes in each resident.
They’re committed to the growth of your whole person and to discipling you to look more like Christ. They’ll grow your leadership by giving you chances to lead as they model what good looks like. And you’ll get visibility into the career of vocational ministry by working alongside them every day with their support.
I look more like Jesus today and love our church more because of my residency. Residency gives time and space to consider a potential calling on your heart to ministry and determine where you fit in His plan for your life. Our hope is that the future leaders of the church point back to their residency as the inflection point where they heard the Lord speak purpose into their lives and felt equipped to answer that call.
If that resonates with you, reach out. If there’s any part of you that’s wondering if vocational ministry is for you, I’d love to talk. Connect with me by filling out this interest form.
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