Season Two of It's Your Call podcast begins with a conversation with Jim  Short, a retired clergy person who has an extensive and interesting  career in ministry, including years as a chaplain with the Reserves and  the Fire Department.

Jim grew up in a committed church family, and liked to say he was  "United Church in my mother's womb." Yet, his exposure to ministers  during the 1970s, when some of the cracks that were starting to appear  in the assumed "glamour" of the role, convinced him that that wasn't  what he wanted to do. But then a mystical experience changed his mind  and opened him to hearing God's call to ministry.

He has re-examined this call numerous times through the years to  make sure it was still legitimate, and a cloud of witnesses have  surrounded and supported him through this life-long discernment and all  the challenges that come with ministry.

Jim also discusses the difficulties of the transition to  retirement, and the opportunities this presents to consider a needed  role for elders in The United Church of Canada.

It's Your Call is a podcast from the Office of Vocation of The  United Church of Canada. It is available on Google Podcasts, Spotify,  Apple, and other podcast distributors.