A pathway for exploring vocation in community

Many people find themselves asking deeper questions about vocation—wondering whether God might be calling them to something more, or something different.

  • The Enquire Program offers a supportive and flexible way to explore a sense of calling within the life of the Church. You don’t need to be certain about your direction. Enquire is for those who are curious about ministry, beginning to explore a call, or seeking space to listen, reflect, and discern.

  • You don’t need to be certain about your direction. Enquire is for those who are:

    • exploring a sense of calling,

    • curious about ministry,

    • seeking space to reflect and discern.

    This may include exploring Licensed Lay Ministry, the Distinctive Diaconate, priesthood, or other forms of ministry in the Church.

  • The Enquire Program is grounded in the conviction that vocation is not something we manufacture, but something we discover.

    God is already at work in people’s lives—drawing them into participation in God’s mission through the life of the Church. The purpose of Enquire is to provide a prayerful, relational, and reflective space where that call can be noticed, tested, and discerned.

  • Enquire is not a selection process or a commitment to proceed. It is an invitation to listen, learn, and discern.

What does it involve?

  • As part of the program, participants typically:

    • develop a personal learning plan with a priest or companion,

    • deepen their spiritual practices of prayer, reflection, and Scripture,

    • engage in real ministry experience in their local context,

    • meet regularly with a companion or small group,

    • and may join a Cohort Hub with others on a similar journey.

  • Each participant develops a Personal Learning Plan in conversation with a priest or companion. This plan is flexible and shaped around:

    • personal spiritual practices,

    • conversation and reflection,

    • reading and learning,

    • engagement in ministry experience.

  • Participants are encouraged to deepen core practices of Christian life, including:

    • prayer and Scripture,

    • reflection and worship,

    • theological reading.

    These practices form the foundation for any future ministry.

  • Discernment is tested in practice. Participants are encouraged to:

    • serve in real, local ministry,

    • try new areas of service,

    • reflect on their experience in conversation with others.

  • Each participant is supported by a companion or small companioning group:

    • usually 3–5 people,

    • meeting across a 6–12 month period,

    • in a prayerful, relational, and non-formal setting.

    A typical rhythm of conversations may include:

    1. Call and story

    2. Prayer and Scripture

    3. Anglican identity

    4. Gifts and passions

    5. Ministry in practice

    6. Discernment and next steps

  • Participants may also be part of a Cohort Hub:

    • a small group of enquirers journeying together,

    • meeting regularly across a season,

    • rooted in local contexts but connected across the diocese.

    Hubs provide space for:

    • shared reflection and storytelling,

    • theological input,

    • mutual encouragement in discernment.

It usually begins by taking time to explore your sense of call in prayer, reflection, and everyday life in your parish. From there, you connect with others who can support you—usually your local clergy and a companion or small group—because vocation is discerned best in community.

As you begin, you are invited to engage in a supported season of exploration, which may include conversation, reflection on your experiences, and gradually participating in a cohort or Enquirer group.

There’s no pressure to reach a particular outcome—this first step is simply about paying attention to how God may be calling you, with support from others along the way.

If you or your minister would like more support, information or to be connected into the wider Diocesan process (such as Discernment Cohort) please contact the Clergy Development, Training and Wellbeing team.

How to get started?