Season of Exploration

The Season of Exploration is the first step in your journey with the Order of the Mustard Seed. This is a self-directed period where you’ll learn about the culture of the OMS, become familiar with the 24-7 Prayer Movement, and prayerfully discern if you should take the next step into the next Season of Preparation. There is no cost to participate in this season other than the cost of a single book. The Season of Exploration will take about three months to work through the activities, complete the reading and most importantly, pray and discern how God is leading. For some people it can take a lot longer. The Season of Exploration should never be rushed but savoured, as a key part of the journey towards joining a preparation cohort, taking vows and living as part of a dispersed monastic community.

The Season of Exploration involves three steps:

1. Attend a Welcome Webinar: Sign up and attend a Welcome Webinar to officially register your participation in the Season of Exploration as an Explorer. Find upcoming Welcome Webinars on the Events page.
2. Get Informed: Complete the Season of Exploration Resource List by reading, listening, and watching the information about the 24-7 Prayer Movement and the Order.
3. Attend a Candidate Discernment Session: After you attend the Welcome webinar, you’ll be invited to register After you attend the Welcome Webinar, you’ll be sent information to confirm that you are an Explorer, and you’ll be given a registration link for the Candidate Discernment Session for when you’ve completed your exploration checklist. The Candidate Discernment Session with OMS Members is to help you decide if you’re ready for the next step: the Season of
   Preparation.

More information about each step is below.

Welcome Webinars

The Welcome Webinars are a 1-hour online meeting where you can meet current Members of the Order. You will hear about the history of the OMS and the journey to joining the Order. There is also an open Q&A time during the webinar to have your questions answered.
Find upcoming Welcome Webinars on the Events page.

Season of Exploration Resource List

The readings, videos, and podcasts in the Resource List will provide you with an overview of the 24-7 Prayer Movement and the Order of the Mustard Seed.
Completing this list is a prerequisite for the following Season of Preparation.

Candidate Discernment Sessions

After you have attended a Welcome Webinar, you’ll be invited by email to register for a Discernment Session. Please request a Candidate Discernment Session after you’ve completed the Resource List and other requirements of the Season of Exploration. During a Candidate Discernment Session, you’ll join a small group of two OMS Members and up to six other Explorers to listen to each other’s journey to this point and to discern God’s invitation to the next step.

The two OMS Members, Listeners, are trained in discernment and/or spiritual direction. After the session, the Listeners will discern together whether they sense God’s invitation to join the OMS for each Explorer. The outcome will be one of the following:
The decision might be:

• Yes, you will be invited to join a cohort for the next available Season of Preparation.
• Yes, and our upcoming Season of Preparation is full, so we will assign you to a cohort next year.
• We would like to have a further conversation with you.

This outcome will be communicated by email within a week of the Candidate Discernment Session.
The Listeners take this responsibility to listen with you seriously. We pray that God will lead you and us clearly in this step of the journey.
For additional information, please see the Season of Exploration FAQs.