Vocations
“Do not lay hands upon anyone too hastily and thereby share responsibility for the sins of others; keep yourself free from sin.” -1 Timothy 5:22
If you’re serious about being part of a real church, with real people, and real ministry please read on…
Do you hear the the Holy Spirit calling you to serve God and His people through ministry in His Church? Do you yearn to offer your life in a vocation of ministry as a loving response to the Lord your God? Perhaps you yearn to celebrate the Sacred Mystery of the Eucharist. If so, please read on!
The Diocese of the Shepherd’s Heart believes in the “priesthood of all believers” and because of that, we have probably more clergy per capita than any mainstream church around. Ministry is not limited to an ordained ministry, to the priesthood or diaconate, but finds its expression and fulfillment in a variety of different ways from study to teaching, prayer to healing, community outreach to care giving, and those are just a few of the myriad of opportunities to minister in this broken world.
If you believe you have been called, please feel free to contact the Abbot-Bishop to discuss your calling and your options. We welcome your discernment and would love to celebrate your ministry with you! Please take a look at our requirements for ordination and again, we welcome your discernment and offer ourselves as a home to the called and the qualified!
If you have already been validly ordained by a validly consecrated Bishop within the Apostolic Succession and wish to incardinate, we would encourage you to contact the Abbot-Bishop to discuss your ministry and your options. Perhaps you have been wounded, or perhaps you are simply lost and wandering. We would like to offer you a safe place to fulfill your ministry, to answer your calling to serve His people. Remember, ordination to Holy Orders is an indelible mark on your soul. Once ordained, always ordained. Let us help you rediscover your ministry and again answer your calling from our Lord.
A note about quickie, online, over the phone, or airport ordinations and consecrations…
There are too many make-believe jurisdictions with empty dioceses, and egocentric “bishops” out there who are willing to ordain or consecrate others at the drop of a hat or a $100 dollar bill which ever comes first. Can you say “Simony?” They are a plague on the autocephalous sacramental movement and great harm, both temporal and spiritual, is done by their irresponsible shenanigans.
One can find with the simplest of searches some “bishop” or “church” who is willing to ordain or consecrate without any prior training or discernment and perhaps even over the phone. The autocephalous sacramental movement has its share of “archbishops” and other “primadonna prelates” who irresponsibly ordain and consecrate people who haven’t even stepped foot in a church for years.
Simply put, these ordinations and or consecrations are fraudulent at worst and certainly irresponsible and ill conceived at best and often only serve immature egos and not Jesus Christ.
Classical discernment, education, and training seem unnecessary. With offers such as this, one must ask why Jesus took three years to train His hand picked Apostles. Perhaps Jesus could have learned a thing or two from these modern day “old catholic bishops.” Certainly if He had followed their lead He would have indiscriminately ordained and consecrated hundreds if not thousands during His three years of public ministry.
But Jesus did not and neither do we.
If you’re looking for a quickie ordination so you can sport a white round collar or if you are looking to simply wear a pointy hat and a purple shirt you would be better advised to look elsewhere. If you don’t want to take the time to discern what God is calling you to… If you don’t want to train to be the best minister you can be to serve His people… If you see no value in education but collect books only as trophies… Or if you are into using churches, people, and relationships to feed your own malnourished ego and get what you want without engaging in real life ministry then you had better move on. The Diocese of the Shepherd’s Heart is not the place for you. Go in the grace and favor of the Lord!
However, if this is not you and if you’re serious about serving our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ by being a shepherd of His flock then by all means, we’d love to hear from you! We welcome people who are serious about ministry and seek only to serve Jesus Christ through service to others. Sincere priests and deacons are needed throughout the world and we’d love to help you answer your calling.
Discernment, training, and ordination takes time but we are a faithful church serving a wonderful Lord and we think we’re worth the time it takes to develop a relationship with and hope you are as well. We are not playing church nor do we wish to be yoked up with those who are. Heeding the admonishment of the apostle Paul we do not lay hands on people quickly nor indiscriminately. But when we do, rest assured you become part of our family and we treat you as such.
“Above all trust in the slow work of God. We are, quite naturally, impatient in everything to reach the end without delay. We should like to skip the intermediate stages. We are impatient of being on the way to the unknown, something new. . . . And so I think it is with you. Your ideas mature gradually — let them grow, let them shape themselves without undue haste. Don’t try to force them on as though you could be today what time (That is to say, what grace and circumstances acting on your own good will) will make you tomorrow. Only God could say what this new spirit gradually forming within you will be. Give our Lord the benefit of believing that his hand is leading you, and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself in suspense and incomplete. Trust in the slow work of God.” -Teilhard de Chardin
If you wish to make application to join the Diocese and Order of the Shepherd’s Heart you may do so by downloading the application packet and following the enclosed instructions. Thank you again for your interest in Shepherd’s Heart Ministries!
Requirements for Ordination or Incardination
How to get started?
Send us an email to Shepherd’s Heart Ministries explaining your situation and asking whatever questions you might have. Many questions can be answered by first visiting our “We Believe” page. Also be sure to familiarize yourself with our two foundational documents: Our Code of Canons and Our Common Rule of Life. Generally, we will then want you to send us the following, either by email or snail mail as appropriate:
1. Your name, address, telephone numbers (home, work, cell), and email address.
2. A standard resume listing employment history, education, references et cetera.
3. So that we can make sure you are who you say you are, send us a photograph (3×5 or larger), a photocopy of your drivers’ license or other official photo ID, and your social security number. Use snail mail for these. We will protect your private information and maintain it in DSH’s central files. It will not be released to others.
4. A paper describing your faith journey. What is your religious background? Your spiritual history? What has brought you to where you are today? If you have had problems with other churches, what were they? Why did you leave them?
5. All persons formally affiliating themselves with the Diocese of the Shepherd’s Heart in any way shall through written statement set forth personal expectations and goals discerning their individual calling. Why are you considering membership/ordination in the DSH? What will you do with your membership/ordination? What ministries are you interested in? How do you plan to pursue these ministries? How do you plan to financially support yourself and your ministries?
6. A paper addressing your personal history. What is your financial situation? Have you had any bankruptcies? What is your sexual orientation? Are you married? Are you living with someone? Have you been divorced? Have you had marriages annulled? Are you “in the closet” about anything? Are there any possible impediments to membership/ordination? Are you hiding anything from family, friends, coworkers? What is the condition of your physical and mental health? While we do not discriminate we do like to know who we are dealing with.
We will need the following additional items sent to us via snail mail:
7. Photocopies of baptismal, confirmation, and ordination certificates; copies of educational transcripts, letters of excardination from other jurisdictions, letters of reference, 3 personal 1 clergy.
8. Results of a criminal background check and psychological screening. If you have already had a Criminal Background Check or Psychological Screening, send us copies of the results or put us in touch with the agency or psychologist which administered them so we can obtain a report.
You will be assigned a Formation Director to guide you through the rest of the process. Or you may be shepherded through by the Abbot-Bishop.
If you wish to make application to join the Diocese and Order of the Shepherd’s Heart you may do so by downloading the application packet and following the enclosed instructions. Thank you again for your interest in Shepherd’s Heart Ministries!
May God guide you and bless you on your “anam turas”, or soul journey, to serve Him and His people!
Go in the grace and favor of the Lord!
Mail to:
Shepherd’s Heart Ministries
P.O. Box 1891
Hollister, MO 65673
