Sentence examples for vocations from inspiring English sources

There simply weren't enough white-collar jobs to go around, but "if education could be regarded not as a step ladder to a few special vocations, but as the key to the treasure house of life, we should not even have to consider the fatal proposal that higher education be confined to a small and selected class," a decision that would mark the "failure of the American dream" of universal education.

Father Stephen Wang, of Allen Hall seminary in London, counts men from Africa, India and Australia in this year's cohort of 54.Movements such as "Youth 2000" and World Youth Day encourage vocations through what has been called "evangelical Catholicism", says Father Wang, in which the faith is "more confident" about presenting itself.

Despite the recession, generous donations are paying for church refurbishment.Moygownagh belongs to a small diocese with 32 priests serving 22 parishes; that number sounds high, and it reflects a flood of vocations in the 1960s and 1970s.

Wider career options for women and declining religiosity squeezed vocations further.In this section Looming shadows Fewer are called Nowhere to call home ReprintsFalling recruitment to the priesthood in Europe and North America, recently helped along by child-abuse scandals, was balanced by a rise in Africa and Asia (see chart).

Delyth Chambers, director of admissions at Manchester University, says that experience is particularly attractive in applicants for crowded vocations such as medicine and dentistry.As universities get dearer and recouping the investment through future earnings a tougher task, gap years are no longer the preserve of privately educated rich kids.

Whether measured by attendance at mass, vocations or giving, America's largest Christian organisation by far the Catholic church is in a state of crisis.

Such vocations typically pay well.In this section The present past They wish they were in Dixie The First State comes last Too many fish in the sea Religious freedom v gay rights Unbroken Reid Why the gun lobby is winning ReprintsBut dig deeper, and problems appear.

But the decline in vocations has deprived them of cheap manpower.

Anyway, in some parts of the United States the church's recruiting is going well.The archdioceses of Omaha, in Nebraska, and Atlanta, in Georgia, each of which serves the fairly modest number of 250,000 Catholics, average around seven vocations a year apiece.

Archbishop Curtiss believes that there "are as many vocations today as there have ever been", but that "the number of vocations a diocese will receive is inversely linked to how liberal [in terms of Catholic doctrine] that diocese has become".Such language scares many on the left in America.

Many families were considering a move anyway.Along with reviving old churches, this model is also inspiring new vocations.