In the pursuit of excellence in ministry
Published: December 2008
Related Topics: Ecclesiology, Editorial, Leadership, Spirituality
The new guy on the block, Michael Bird, has certainly grabbed everyone's attention these days. It seems like the laying on of hands, might be quite effective! The bishop is calling the church to an excellence that we haven't thought about for a while. Let's take a step back and think this through.
There is no doubt that we are experiencing a decline in attendance in our Anglican churches. We're not alone. Some other denominations have steeper declines and others not so steep. The mainline churches seem to be suffering the most. The fundamentalist versions of Christianity continue to fill their parking lots. Coming to grips with that observation is the subject of another article. Most of us don't believe much of the fundamentalist message and we don't want it as part of our faith journey. Our approach to scripture is careful, methodical and utilizes all of best forms of literary, historical and form criticism that we have at our disposal. So, let just say that we want to continue along our journey but we want to stop the decline in our numbers and we really want to make a difference in our world.
If that's the case then maybe we ought to think a little more seriously about excellence in ministry. But, in order to do so, let's think about what this is not. First and foremost the pursuit of excellence in ministry is NOT a program. If we try to turn it into a program, we are doomed to fail, as have most of our attempts at programming our faith in the past. Secondly, it is not about clergy. Most of us have resisted the title of "minister" for our clergy for a long time. Anglicans have talked about deacons and priests and bishops, but we haven't called them our ministers. Thanks be to God! Ministry is not the property of the clergy. It is the property of the baptized. Thirdly, the pursuit of excellence in ministry is not a guilt trip. This is not to say that our predecessors were not trying to be everything that God called them to be. The pursuit recognizes that times have changed and that God's Spirit blows in the wind of time asking us to constantly renew our understanding of faith and mission to the world.
Michael Thompson, who is the rector at St. Jude's in Oakville, I'm told, does not put up his license to operate as a priest in his office, but rather proudly posts his baptismal certificate. For Michael, his ministry is a result of his baptismal commitment, first and foremost. I remember when I was rector of the University Catholic Parish in Waterloo; we had a sign-up Sunday every September when the majority of students arrived for the year. There were about 1500 students who signed up as members of the parish each year and beside their name and address was a line that was not optional: What ministry will you exercise in our community? They all chose something. Ministry is the property of the baptized.
If in fact ministry is a result of our baptism then it seems that each of us, responding to the call of our bishop need to think about what is it that God asks of me with regard to ministry, and how can I pursue that with some kind of excellence? Here's the crunch. The bottom line of the pursuit is prayer. Every Anglican needs to first of all learn to hear the voice of God speaking within their own hearts. Do we really think that Mary had some miraculous apparition of an angel to speak God's will to her? If she did, then why does it not happen to the rest of us at some point? Mary was a woman of prayer, who took the time to listen to the voice of God. She heard it within and responded generously. Each and every one of us needs to take that time. We need to settle ourselves, perhaps read a line or two of scripture and then simply listen. Will God answer you right away? Maybe not, but who knows? Eventually we will become convinced that God is calling us (like Mary, like Joseph) to minister to the world around us. When we become convinced, then we can move forward.
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