{"id":2692,"date":"2013-06-23T14:39:20","date_gmt":"2013-06-23T19:39:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/?p=2692"},"modified":"2013-06-23T14:39:20","modified_gmt":"2013-06-23T19:39:20","slug":"put-your-hand-on-the-knob","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/2013\/06\/put-your-hand-on-the-knob\/","title":{"rendered":"Put your hand on the knob\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Today&#8217;s post is written by Jo Anne Taylor, Worship Pastor at <a href=\"http:\/\/bethlehemcov.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Bethlehem Covenant Church<\/a> in Minneapolis, MN.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Several years ago, a wise mentor gave me some advice about discerning God\u2019s call. He said, \u201cwhen you see a door that looks inviting, put your hand on the knob. If God doesn\u2019t want you to go through that door, he will slam it in your face, don\u2019t worry! But if you are truly seeking God\u2019s will, and the door is one that is <i>okay with God<\/i>, it will open.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There might be many doors that God would be happy letting me walk through, he went on to explain, so it\u2019s up to me to choose one or another. I shouldn\u2019t try to force my way in, if the door doesn\u2019t open. \u00a0But I can\u2019t just sit around waiting for a door to miraculously appear and effortlessly open of its own accord, either. I must seek doors that look like God might want me to try them, and then I have to choose one, put my hand on the doorknob and test it myself.<a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2013\/06\/handondoorknob.jpeg\" rel=\"prettyPhoto[2692]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2693 alignright\" alt=\"handondoorknob\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2013\/06\/handondoorknob.jpeg\" width=\"176\" height=\"176\" srcset=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2013\/06\/handondoorknob.jpeg 176w, http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2013\/06\/handondoorknob-150x150.jpeg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 176px) 100vw, 176px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>At the end of April, just as our conference was holding its annual meeting, an unexpected door came into view. When I gingerly touched the knob, not holding out much hope that it would budge any more easily than all the other doors I had tried, I\u00a0was surprised at how quickly and easily it opened. And then the next door opened, and the next, and before I knew it, I was heading down a path that I would never have chosen for myself, but a path that God clearly wanted me to follow.<\/p>\n<p>In a few weeks, I will become the pastor of a non-Covenant church. The fact that the church I will be serving not only accepts, but <i>values<\/i> my Covenant credential makes this transition easier than it would otherwise be. But it is still difficult to say goodbye to dear friends in my congregation who have encouraged me through each step of my call into ministry, through seminary, and into my identity as a Covenant pastor. While I cherish the relationships that have developed through the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/eccworship\/\" target=\"_blank\">Better Together Facebook group<\/a>, learning how to be a\u00a0pastor in a\u00a0new setting will probably mean I\u00a0spend less time chatting online with the gifted worship leaders who make up that group.<\/p>\n<p>And it means this is my last monthly post on the <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/\" target=\"_blank\">WorshipConnect blog<\/a>. Two years ago, when Matt Nightingale asked me to join the blogging team, I wondered what I was getting myself into. It turns out that what I got into was a great community of dedicated worship leaders who pray for one another, help one another, and give each other more joy than I\u00a0could have imagined. I\u2019m glad that walking through this next door does not mean I have to lock it behind me. The door remains open, and everything I have become and\u00a0learned is still there to remind me that we truly are Better Together.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-report-this\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc?moderation_action=report_form&#038;object_type=post&#038;object_id=2692&#038;width=250&#038;height=300\" class=\"thickbox\" title=\"Report This Post\">Report This Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today&#8217;s post is written by Jo Anne Taylor, Worship Pastor at Bethlehem Covenant Church in Minneapolis, MN. Several years ago, a wise mentor gave me some advice about discerning God\u2019s call. He said, \u201cwhen you see a door that looks inviting, put your hand on the knob. If God doesn\u2019t want you to go through [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":118,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14503,19],"tags":[28,33,19838],"class_list":["post-2692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-better-together","category-vocation-and-call","tag-discernment","tag-ministry","tag-saying-goodbye"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Put your hand on the knob\u2026 - Worship Connect<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/2013\/06\/put-your-hand-on-the-knob\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Put your hand on the knob\u2026 - Worship Connect\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Today&#8217;s post is written by Jo Anne Taylor, Worship Pastor at Bethlehem Covenant Church in Minneapolis, MN. 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