A Renewal of the Tent Maker Tradition
With the greater part of society existing outside the organised life of the church, there appears to be a growing need for across-cultural presbyterial ministry grounded within the congregational of the faithful but able to communicate the gospel in incarnational terms. Through such a ministry, substance is given to the latent Word found within all humankind. The example of this can be plainly seen in the life of Jesus Christ, who was able to naturally cross the cultural barriers and frequently accompany people at every level of society.
For the Non-stipendiary Minister engaged in some other work there are two aspects of pastoral care distinct from those engaged in full-time stipendiary ministry. The first is the process of enabling the laity to share with others the problems and achievements of their working or community life. Greenwood suggests that 'in order to be able to fulfil their vocation with awareness, the scattered church members need an ordained ministry that recognises the value of their task and actively promotes an internal church life that sustains them as agents of the world's potential in God's name.' He continues by advocating that the presidency of a Non-Stipendiary ‘priest’ at the communion service has a strong contribution to be made in this area. I recall a stipendiary minister of many years service speaking of a growing gulf between him and his congregation. He knew that his existence was secure, compared with many in his congregation who faced efficiency targets, vulnerable security and all too often, redundancy. The Non-stipendiary Minister faces the same predicament as his/her congregation and in this sense can be truly representative and a focus of ministry with, through and by the Christian Community.
The Pastoral Task in Action
The second aspect that I feel needs liberating within the Non-stipendiary Minister `s ministry is that their day-to-day employment is not merely the means of earning a living but forms an integral part of her/his ordination. There is a need to end what could be termed, ministerial schizophrenia, where the identity and integrity of a Non-stipendiary Minister is brought into question.
The tension within the pastoral setting is often due to the way a local community of faith understands its existence, its dynamic and its locus of operation. This is also true as to its expectation of the ordained ministry, albeit paid or unpaid. Croft expresses this in terms of six church models.
Church Type Av. Mem. Ordained Ministry1. Family 1-50 Minister as chaplain to the family.
2. Pastoral Church 50-100 Minister as pastor to everyone
3. Programme Church 100-300 Minister resources programmes
4. Multiple Church Minister Minister serves 1-7+ churches
5. Nurturing Communities Church Max 250 Minister supports leaders and carers
6. Transforming Communities Church Unlimited Minister Devolves mission to members
Depending how a congregation views itself, the expectation of the ordained ministry will often underlie how a Non-stipendiary Minister will be able to integrate and view her/his ministry in holistic terms. If we take a simpler approach to categorising the way a church operates in terms of what has been called the sheep farming models of Britain and Australia we will have a clearer picture of the scope of pastoral care for the ordained Non-stipendiary Minister. The British model is of an enclosed sheepfold with definite boundaries and capacity. Here the pastoral care is inward looking and subject to a gate-keeping mentality. This model leaves little scope to operate flexible patterns of ministry. Within the Australian model there are no boundaries as the ‘flock’ is centred on a well with scope for variety of mission and extended ministry. However, oversight can become difficult within this model.
In simple terms, we naturally define pastoral ministry in terms of care for the flock. However, to which model of church does this care apply and how is it exercised when applied to the sheep farming models outlined above? Howcroft, describes three inter-related aspect of pastoral ministry as pastoral care - a ministry shared by the whole Christian community, pastoral work - particular tasks allocated to individual's be they lay or ordained and pastoral charge, usually the task of the ordained. He defines pastoral charge as the responsibility of the whole church in the exercise of its ministry but particularly focused in the presbyterial ministry. Howcroft is also at pains to stress that the presbyter, as a member of the whole Christian community, shares the responsibility of pastoral care and concern but also has a particular pastoral work, whilst not distinct from, is a particular expression of ordination. However, I wish to re-emphasise that tent-makers fulfil their ordination as much through their day-to-day work as through the ministry of word and sacrament, for surely presbyterial ministry is sacramental living and an embodiment of the word both in the community of the faithful and the world. If the presbyterial ministry is the gift of God to his church and the church in its institutional form within the context of Northern Europe is contracting, surely we are limiting that ministry unless its care is pastorally active beyond the certainty of building or institutional boarders. It is this institutional bias or comfort blanket of our congregational exclusivity that limits pastoral task within a world of uncertainty.
An Uncertain WorldI question whether the uncertainty of this age is any more severe than that of previous generations. There are numerous occasions where pastoral need has challenged the status qua and led to the reordering of the church. The rise of denominationalism owes as much to the lack of pastoral concern for whole groups of society, as it does to doctrinal or structural disenchantment. Whether it was Wesley's working class member's access to sacramental ministry or Booth's submerged tenth unable to find a place within the institutional church, the need for pastoral invention was a necessity. The difference with today's pastoral necessity is that it seems to be affecting all established churches and the reordering or creating a new order of the church that has to be more radical and definitely more contextually orientated. Tony Rogers, a Roman Catholic Priest suggests that 'Rooted in Christ we are set free and liberated.. to take risks and to innovate daring all things for him. With such an openness of heart and mind we become a church on the move, a church living and growing, serving sensitively and wholeheartedly the world of our time."
Ordained Presence
How is all this expressed in terms of the ordained minister’s pastoral task? The Lutheran Church, through it’s ‘Vision Expectations’ document ” emphasises that ordained ministry is a privilege granted by God through the call of the church and that those who serve in this ministry are accountable to the Word of God for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Ordained ministers are called to faithful preaching and teaching, to be examples of the Christian life, and to lead and equip the baptized for their ministries in the world.” In other words the emphasis is the ministry of Word and Sacrament expressed through holy living and enabling ministry in others. For the Non-stipendiary Minister this has to be expressed through a sense of presence and purpose within the community of the church, its wider field of mission and the context of daily employment. John Mantle writing about Britain’s first Worker-Priests speaks of such a presence in the pastoral sense as being an organised presence, an articulate presence and a prophetic presence. In his book he tries to answer the question “What did a worker-priest have to offer in the workplace that a layman did not?” by saying that the simple answer might be an understanding of human and pastoral problems, substantial theological comprehension and a human face for a distant institution whose clergy he represented. Whilst acknowledging the differences between a worker-priest and a Methodist Non-stipendiary Minister, there is a similarity of where pastoral ministry is exercised. Mantle questions why leadership, in the presbyterial sense, is restricted to the church environments. He argues that the traditional role of the pastor is seen as exclusively within the 'fold', whilst the laity are those who venture into the world of work is an inappropriate model.
There are, however, those who would advocate the need for the ordained minister to have a sense of separateness in order to fulfil the pastoral role. I feel that this is primarily a misunderstanding of what it means to be set apart. Yes, there is a need for a presbyter to disengage in order to reflect upon her/his engagement both in the world and community, but unless the pastoral task is focused on care and development of the body of Christ, it will become impoverished and itself ineffective in ministry. Gordon-Taylor puts the church's task as ministering "to the community by reaching out to it as it actually is, rather than passively expecting a sudden active Christian commitment from people before anything else can be done. Being with people, where they are making the Incarnation known in the community" is surely true pastoral ministry.
Conclusion
For me the ordained Non-stipendiary Minister’s task in an age of uncertainty is to truly underpin the life, ministry and care of the whole people of God. This work has to be truly incarnational in essence, participatory in nature and holistic in expression. Whilst individually focused, the pastoral task has to project the all-embracing representation of Christ, with, through and by the whole people of God and as such is in, through and beyond any human institutional limitation.
`The presbyter ‘ says Richard Barrett, … `is both engaged and disengaged from life, an inhabiter of the margins, a dweller of the verges the mass experience, at least in the mind of many of those she/he meets; yet perhaps because of that very dislocation is able to see the whole…. wandering her/himself, she/he is used to discerning signs in the topography of the lives of those who either frequently or momentarily find themselves before her/him, seeking direction.’
Bibliography
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• Lesley Newbiggen, The Gospel in a Pluralist Society, SPCK London 1994
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• General Synod Board of Education, All Are Called, CIO Publishing, London 1985
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• Nathan Niles
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• http://www.pres-outlook.com/mckelway_ficca.html
• Kenneth Howcroft, I'm in Charge!, Epworth Review Vol. 24, No. 3, July 1997
• Tony Rogers, The Pastoral Ministry of the Church - A Roman Catholic View, Epworth Review Vol.9, No. 1, January 1982
• http://www.elca.org/dm/candidacy/vision_ordained.html
• John Mantle, Britain’s first worker-priests, SCM Press Ltd, London, 2000
• Benjamin Gordon-Taylor Ed. George Guiver, Priests in a People's Church, SPCK London, 2001
• Richard Barrett, The Priest as Artist, New Blackfriars 1999,
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