In November 2025, a cohort of seekers from across the Convocation gathered in the historic city of Strasbourg to engage in the vital work of communal discernment. We were again graciously hosted by the ecumenical Centre Culturel St Thomas, a historic and formerly Jesuit seminary situated near the European Parliament campus, whose meeting rooms, refectory and gardens served as backdrop for a weekend focused on the intersection of ancient tradition and contemporary calling.
The retreat offered aspirants a transparent look at the lived reality of ordained life, moving beyond the theoretical to address the true nature of the vocation. We were privileged to be led by the Reverend Canon Dr. Martyn Percy, Canon Theologian for the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe, whose teaching provided a profound framework for our time together. Through his insights and the quiet fellowship of peers, participants considered the full landscape of ministry: its moments of personal isolation alongside its transformative communal trust, and its administrative weight balanced against those unscripted instances of grace.
The following reflection from one of our attendees captures the shift from idealized expectation to a grounded resolve. It recalls the narrative of Isaiah 6, tracing the journey from the prophet’s initial, eager volunteerism to the “sobering and compelling” clarity required to run the race with endurance.
The following is a personal reflection piece written by Philip Bryan after attending the autumn 2025 COMB Discernment Retreat.
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I attended the discernment retreat in Strasbourg last November, and perhaps that very uncertainty ended up serving as one of the significant take-aways of the weekend.
It’s easy to idealize the role of the minister when in the early days of aspiring to the office. We often take our fresh theological discoveries, filter them through our own past church experience, and kindle a passion to fulfill the heritage of our spiritual formation (or maybe right its wrongs) as ministers ourselves one day. We are sure we can see our futures so clearly! And so we arrive at the discernment retreat, our eyes bright and our hearts willing. I was reminded of Isaiah chapter six. There were were, eagerly volunteering to be sent to do God’s work, but not really knowing what we might be getting into.
And so, like Isaiah, there was a reality check first. What if our eagerness is met with complacency in those we are trying to serve? What if our grand plans for ministry get sidetracked by minutiae or the tyranny of the urgent? What if this most public and relational of vocations somehow results in profound personal isolation? As we discovered at the retreat, all of these could potentially come to pass, and there are myriad examples of ministers who endure the pain of dashed expectations.
Yet we were not only confronted with the potential pitfalls of ministry. We also heard of the transformative trust that can evolve, not necessarily from a brilliant homily, but through the many brief interactions that take place at the doorway of the church. We were encouraged by examples of unexpected vulnerability and transformation in those that seemed beyond reach. And we were reminded that it was often in unplanned detours from our own ministry plans—the very detours we find so irritating—that the Spirit of God often blows in and we get to witness the miraculous take place in ways we could have never dreamed possible.
We were presented with both the sublime and the pedestrian aspects of ministry, and it was simultaneously sobering and compelling. The combined wisdom and experience of our leaders/presenters lent an authority to the message that was reassuring. Looking into their faces and talking with them, it was easy to see our need for a deep commitment if we intended to go down this path. But their very presence with us at the retreat brought hope. After all, here they were after many years of ministry, and they were still running the race with endurance and building into another generation.
Will all of us who attended the retreat continue on through discernment and ordination? God only knows. But now we can go forward with the clarity and resolve to serve with freedom: free from our own limited expectations, and free to see what God can do through those who are willing to serve wherever and however the Spirit leads.