I really like your question. It seems to me that you were trying to get some answers to this effect from Brian T. I don't think he ever really answered you. I did read his comments about LDS feelings being "better" than Evangelicals and comparing them to various levels of Mountain Dew intake--whatever. To me that's a silly assessment and the meaning, if there is one, is somewhat lost on me. Perhaps he later answered you?

If I'm not mistaken- the Saints receive their church callings from the Bishop who presumably has been guided by the HS/HG to identify the right person for the right job. I'm just slipping that in for contrast.

I can't speak for all Mainstreamer's (MS's :) so I'll just tell you how it goes in the church that I'm a member of and then tell you what it's like from my side of the calling.

In the church I'm a member of there are technically 3 pastors: The senior pastor (vacant), the associate/youth pastor,and the choir director are all ordained ministers. Anyway, during the worship service either the associate/youth pastor or the choir director will tell us that a position has become vacant during the announcment portion of the service. They'll ask the membership to pray for God's will in this IOW--to see if God is showing you it's you, that's being called.

Decision making in an SB church is a two step process. (1)We don't do anything without prayer (2) or the coffee pot turned on. LOL!

We operate under the assumption that God already has someone in mind for a position, whether they are already in place in our church or on their way to us. I've seen many cases when a position has remained open for several months, even years, and covered by sub's until someone come's forward.

Example: I am someone who seems like a logical candidate to fill a certain position that has remained open for about 2 years now because it's what I do professionally. People still come to me, on occasion, and ask me when I'm going to take over the department because it makes sense to them that I would. I tell them that I think God already has me in a place where he wants me to be and when I tell them how I got there, they seem to understand what I'm talking about.

What do I think it feels like to be called by God? I can't say that I've ever felt what must be the thrill of the "burning in the bossom (sp?) that LDS folks report. Quite the contrary is true. I remember sitting in church when I was a kid and listening to people, especially missionairies, tell us how the Lord had called them to do something. I always wondered what his voice sounded like, could you here it (?) and would he ever call me?

The answer came when I was well into adulthood. What did it "feel" like? It felt like a tug of war between me and God. The main feeling I had was complete and utter resistance and the sense that God must have gotten me confused with someone else. "Me? Are you kidding? You must have the wrong person. Keep looking". The next stage was making up excuses...."it will take too much time, I won't be any good at it, it's too much responsibility, I'm not polished enough to do that"...and it wasn't even a church position! I ended up taking on the position in question and then about a year into it I realized it was just like God had answered a prayer I'd been praying for over 18 months and I never saw any connection going in to it.

After that initial experience, other things have come my way and while I still initially resist and make up excuses, I've learned to be quicker about walking through doors that I see opening, that God doesn't expect me to be a finished product and ready to go, but somehow I think he must know that I have the ability to do it because it's never failed to lead to something that wasn't entirely worthwhile, something that I became good at and useful at, and I've learned to let God polish me as I go. So, I've gone from the "Huh?" stage to "Okay, where are you taking me now?" stage Because I've come to believe that God throws us out of our comfort level to grow us.

And how does that make me feel? I bet you would think that the concept that God has called me to do something makes me feel privileged...not exactly, it makes me feel an enormous amount of responsibility and just when I get puffed up about a thing I try to remind myself of where I came from, that usually deflates my ego pretty fast. I hope this helps...

Vicki