You may have taken a spiritual gifts class along with a spiritual gifts survey in the past to discover your unique spiritual gifts. All too often, when the class ended, so did your involvement with your spiritual gifts. I invite you to create a spiritual gifts ministry for your church to continue the journey. Go beyond just knowing what spiritual gifts you were given to being part of a body of believers putting their spiritual gifts into action!
A spiritual gifts ministry supports a culture shift in your church. The shift moves from a church that says, “We need volunteers to provide and serve snacks for VBS,” to a church that says, “We are looking for individuals with the spiritual gifts of hospitality, giving, or service to provide and serve snacks for VBS.”
A spiritual gifts ministry provides opportunities for everyone (church leaders and congregants) to discover their unique spiritual gifts; to explore and develop their spiritual gifts; and then to serve God, their church, and one another by using their spiritual gifts.
The Holy Spirit, as part of God’s grace, enters your life and bestows you with specific spiritual gifts, so it is important to be receptive to the Holy Spirit’s leading, even when it challenges your preconceived notions about what God wants you to do. This is especially true if He is calling you to step outside your comfort zone to use a particular spiritual gift you have been given.
Church Doctor Ministries’ Spiritual Gifts Profile identifies your three dominant and three subordinate gifts from the following list of gifts: administration, apostle, discernment, evangelist, exhortation, faith, giving, healing, helps, hospitality, intercession, interpretation of tongues, knowledge, leadership, martyrdom, mercy, miracles, missionary, pastoring, prophecy, service, teaching, tongues, voluntary poverty, and wisdom.
God desires to use us for the ministries of our church. God is infinitely wise, and He knows through which gifts each of us will be most productive for His Kingdom. There is something else that is abundantly clear in Scripture—God’s command is God’s enablement. That means if God gives us a particular spiritual gift, He will enable us to use it, so we can boldly and confidently step outside our comfort zone to serve Him.
Our spiritual gifts are not really gifts in the typical sense. They are endowments that have been lent to us by the Holy Spirit for building up the body of Christ. They are treasures entrusted to us by God’s grace to serve others. We are to receive and celebrate our gifts. Then we are called to use them according to God’s plan.
To further clarify, I want to share what spiritual gifts are not. They are not talents or skills that we decide to develop, though our talents and skills are often expressed through our spiritual gifts.
Our spiritual gifts are not the roles we have in the church. For example, one of my roles at our church is as a Stephen Minister. Being a Stephen Minister is not my spiritual gift; however, my role as a Stephen Minister provides me the opportunity to use my spiritual gifts of knowledge, faith, and pastoring when I meet with, listen to, and pray with a care receiver.
Galatians 5:22-23 (ESV) tells us “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
The fruit of the Spirit is a set of characteristics of God that grow as our relationship with Christ grows and our identity in Him matures. The fruit of the Spirit becomes the foundation that encourages us to use our spiritual gifts as God has called us to do.
In 1 Corinthians 12:7 (ESV) Paul says, “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”Individuals are gifted as part of a faith community. Through community, gifts are discovered and nourished. Through community, gifts are expressed.
Understanding this is important because God may call forth different gifts in us at different times, depending on what is needed for the body of Christ. We don’t lose our spiritual gifts, but we may use them at different times or in different ways according to God’s plan.
You may be wondering how to begin creating a spiritual gifts ministry. Let me share how I began. I first felt a stirring from God when I listened to and read the recommendations report from Church Doctor Ministries. Through prayer, the stirring became a tug that was a definite desire to form a spiritual gifts ministry at my church. My next prayer was for God to guide me to individuals to form a spiritual gifts ministry team. I was led to reach out to Renee, and Mendi was led to reach out to me. As a team, we created an Introductory Workshop and a Follow-Up Workshop on spiritual gifts. In between the two workshops, participants completed the Spiritual Gifts Profile. Working with all the ministry leaders in our church, we prepared a Ministry Teams and Spiritual Gifts handbook, listing every ministry at our church, its purpose, a short list of opportunities to serve, a list of key spiritual gifts, and the contact information for the current ministry leader. Individuals use this document to explore which ministries use their gifts and where they feel a stirring to further develop their spiritual gifts. And this is how our spiritual gifts ministry began!
How might you respond to God’s invitation to know and use your unique spiritual gifts? Will you complete the Spiritual Gifts Profile? Will you be instrumental in creating a spiritual gifts ministry at your church?
As you pray for God’s guidance, you will discover where He wants you to use your spiritual gifts.
Are you ready to discover your spiritual gifts? Complete the survey here!
Susan Hayward has lived a rich and varied life, yet her roots remain firmly planted in her Illinois farm upbringing. She holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Illinois and a Master of Science from the University of California, Davis, and spent nearly 20 years teaching science. Her background includes running an organic vegetable farm in California, earning professional coach training through Falling Awake Life Coaching, and achieving her PCC credential with the International Coach Federation. For two decades, she has provided pro bono coaching for One to One – Women Coaching Women and has served marginalized communities through work in Colombia, New York City, and California. Susan is active at Templeton Presbyterian Church in Templeton, CA, and enjoys gardening, sewing, puzzling, reading, and time with her eight grandchildren.