Spiritual Gifts for Lay Speakers

I spent most of the morning planning a new workshop for Lay Speakers about discovering spiritual gifts. Then I changed hats and worked on this week's lesson plan for a critical thinking class at The University of Phoenix in Jersey City. Part of that includes showing students a relatively new resource called MyCareerPlan.

In some ways, it's a lot like a spiritual gift inventory: the plan includes looking at your interests, skills, abilities, etc. to determine how you can fruitfully put them to use. One part of MyCareerPlan that I particularly like centers on "proficiencies." That is a list of skills and abilities (like Leadership or Communication) that employers want in their employees. If students aren't proficient in Leadership, for example, they are then directed toward courses and workshops that will help develop Leadership. Overall, its designed to help students learn how to make themselves attractive to employers in that field.

I couldn't help wondering what this would look like in spiritual gift terms! What would happen if we looked on our spiritual gifts as "proficiencies" that were attractive to a congregation? Could we make ourselves more desirable as church members if we learned to be better at using our spiritual gifts? What is it about me that would make a church want me be a part of their life together? What would church membership be like if I had to apply for a position as "pew-sitter," "small group organizer," "occasional preacher," "choir member," "trustee," based on my ability (or inability) to use my spiritual gifts?

We probably won't have that conversation in the workshop but it sure gave me an interesting after-lunch meditation today!