Repitching the Tent - back to basics

I recall, whilst training for Salvation Army ministry in Camberwell London during the early 1970's, visiting with a group of other cadet students, a worker priest. At that time, I was too conformist to appreciate his radical viewpoints and what to me, was his scathing attack upon some of the politics and shifted policies of the 'Army'. I left not liking the man and feeling that he was subversive , arrogant and frankly, off track. How differently the years and circumstances enable one to view a previous experience in a different light. As I reflect upon the distant memory, I find myself asking the question who actually was subversive, arrogant and frankly, off track - Me?

I can't remember much about him, except that he was a baker as well as an Anglican priest. (What a lovely thought, he who baked the bread also breaks it and shares it in the Eucharist.) However, as I left his flat above the bakers shop and returned to the College, I could not help but think, How sad that he feels he needs to hold on to the security of a job and not fully enter into real ministry.

Boy, was I arrogant and opinionated in those day's!

How much I have changed in my thinking across these three and half decades. For me, the concept of tent-maker ministry now makes so much theological sense. Today, as I try to picture the scene of that meeting, I feel a sense of shared identity, even a deep respect for what this man of God was trying to teach me.

These thoughts were resurrected when I came across a posting on the website of St Jame's Picadilly by Hugh Vallentine - a worker priest ordained in 1989. The full script can be found at http://www.st-james-piccadilly.org/workerpriests.html.

In this article he explores something of the background of the worker priest, and examines the current climate by high-lighting the Obstacles and Possibilities of this type of ministry. I found these to be both insightful and challenging. Hugh writes.

The obstacles

• Like all institutions, the church is concerned with control and survival. These are often buried motives - subconscious - so this ought not be read as any criticism of individuals or a comment on their considered actions
• Organisations tend to be self-replicating. Candidates for non-stipendiary ministry in England tend to be like those doing the selecting - safe, middle-class and mainly conformist
• We lack models of ordained men and women who manage effectively to discharge their duties as priests and who operate in a range of posts, jobs, roles and professions and who see these as being the places they pray, witness and celebrate the link between the transcendent and immanent.
• The living out of the priest’s office seems often to drift from the ontological and inspirational to the functional and tired. Of course there are exceptions, but many parish clergy drift towards becoming museum attendants: preserving the artefacts, discouraging innovation and preferring well behaved visitors who admire the exhibits.

The possibilities

• We never know when a new, vibrant wind will blow through our tired lives and structures; so there is always room for a realistic hope and confidence in humankind and in God
• There may emerge one or more bishops and others with a sense of what is possible in this sphere, and start a ball rolling
• When we get tired of postmodernism and start again digging around in the muck and muddle of human possibility, the mystery of God and the promises of the Gospel, we may see developments we cannot now dream of.

Hugh Valentine

Over the next few blogs, I want to reflect upon Hugh's thoughts, from the context of tentmaker ministry within a number of different traditions.

Mind the Gap

As we approach the season of the nativity I've noticed afresh how people make the distinction between the secular and sacred celebration. In my part of the world, radio Devon UK has just successfully broadcast a Carol Service that seemed to bridge the gap between these two realms.

On Monday 22nd December the BBC simultaneously broadcast live on the Radio from Plymouth Central Hall Methodist Church as well as through a Webcast on the internet. The weeks before the broadcast, they advertised that they wanted as many groups to become involved across the region and beyond. A Carol Service Kit was made available on the internet and groups of all kinds and locations took up the challenge.

Pub and Club, Church and Home, Community Groups, Congregations and families signed up for the event. There seemed to be a renewed sense of togetherness regardless whether you were Bishop or Barmaid, Church or Club member, Faith and Frivolity seemed to go hand in hand. For 1 hour Political Correctness gave way to Proper Christmas Celebration.

Here is the BBC's own report of the event. "

Thousands of people joined us on Monday 22 December for one of the biggest Christmas carol services the South West has ever seen.

"Sing Christmas" was an interactive community service which brought together congregations gathered in pubs, clubs, residential homes, cafés and places of work in one big service.

People even gathered around their village tree

Everyone was invited to tune their radios or log on to the BBC websites, sing the same carols and listen to the Christmas story unfold.

The main service was held at Plymouth Methodist Central Hall from 8pm and relayed to BBC Local Radio across the South West.

It was also broadcast on The Big Screen in Plymouth city centre - where a Salvation Army band played along - and on the four local BBC websites.

We had people taking part in Devon, Cornwall, Jersey, Guernsey, the USA, Canada, Belfast and even New Zealand where former 'Devon Maid', Janet Pugh, joined in after cooking breakfasts for her guests at her B+B in The Bay Of Islands.

There was music, lots of well known carols, special guests and a unique interactive element - all about the real meaning of Christmas and we're hoping to do it all again - even bigger and better - next year!

Happy Christmas to everyone who took part!" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/content/articles/2008/10/16/sing_christmas_feature.shtml)

For me this image, of barrierless community sharing in worship of the Christchild, is about not minding the Gap. It is also the task of a tentmaker minister to enable Congregation and Community to feel at ease in each others presence. It is the taking part without too much concern for theological difference that indeed this makes theological sense as the One who came was just at ease regardless of sacred or secular arena in which he moved.

This is the essence of incarnational ministry.

What is the ordained minister's pastoral task in an age of uncertainty? (part two)

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 Ministry
1. 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 World
I 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
• General Synod Board of Education, All Are Called, CIO Publishing, London 1985,
• Lesley Newbiggen, The Gospel in a Pluralist Society, SPCK London 1994
• Norman Wallwork, the gift of ordination - Epworth Review, Vol. 8 No. 3 September 1991
• Wilhelm Herrmann, The Communion of the Christian with God described on the basis of Luther's Statements, SCM London 1971
• Robin Creenwood, Transforming Priesthood - A Mew theology of Mission and Ministry, SPCK London 1994
• Michael Harper, Let my People Go, Hodder & Soughton London, 1977
• General Synod Board of Education, All Are Called, CIO Publishing, London 1985
• Paul Johnson, Pastoral Ministrations, James Nesbit and Co.
• Anglican - Methodist Unity - The Scheme, SPCK London and Epworth Press 1968
• Nathan Niles
• J Calvin, Institutes, Meinena Delft 1956, Book 1 Chapter III,1
• 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,

What is the ordained minister's pastoral task in an age of uncertainty? (part one)

A Renewal of the Tent Maker Tradition

What is your image of an ordained minister? No doubt you picture someone employed full time by the church as a leader of a congregation, with pastoral and pulpit responsibilities. But was this always the case and is it the only mode of ordained ministry? As a former Salvation Army officer, I struggled for many years to redefine the seat of my ordination outside officership until I realised that ordination was far greater than the constraints of denominational constraints. Currently I am an ordained non-stipendiary minister within the British Methodist Church with pastoral care of three congregations as well as the Principal of an Independent Specialist College for young people with leaning difficulties. If you like, I am a minister of the tent maker variety.

Dual Vocation
Tent Maker ministry is a relatively renewed ‘order’ within the church, although the term itself comes from Paul's insistence on supporting himself whilst conducting his mission of proclaiming the gospel to the gentiles. The idea of a professional elder-ship, wholly supported by the church, took some time to become a regular feature of the emerging Christian community of the first century.

Although the subject of much discussion, I am concerned that this renewed mode of ministry is often seen as financial expediency rather rediscovering a particular mode of ministry. Whilst much of the official rhetoric gives ascent to non-stipendiary ministries as equal importance within the church, in reality it is often seen as second best by both ordained and lay members. An example of this surrounds my own circumstances where people have asked, "so you are going to be a part-time minister", or “ will you ever see yourself going on to be a proper minister?” I want to challenge the popular view that Non-stipendiary Ministers are only ordained for the time spent in 'church' work as this seems to point to a suspect theology of ordination and an impoverished view of the ministry for the whole people of God.

The use of the term secular work in respect of a Christian's day to day employment would seem to indicate that there are ‘no go areas’ in which the faith and ministry play a secondary role. Ruth Ethchells, former principal of St John's College Durham, described a true layperson as one 'whose centre is outside the Church, in the world'. If we further expand this idea to include the strongly held concept within the Methodist Church of the priesthood of all believers, there would appear to be ‘no place where pastoral ministry cannot be exercised’. Placing this concept within the context of non-stipendiary pastoral ministry exercised through day-to-day employment gives a renewed emphasis to ordination.

The Priesthood in Context of Presbyterial Ministry
The priesthood of all believers is the framework through which all ministries, whether lay or ordained, are exercised within the context of the church and its ministry in the world. Central to this ministry is making the gospel credible and thus enabling people to believe that 'the power which has the last word in human affairs is represented by a man hanging on a cross.' Newbiggen further advocates that the only hermeneutic of the gospel is a congregation of men and women who believe it and live by it. If the location of this priesthood is considered to be the church in the world and that being the church, whether at work, play or worship, is its reason for existing, is it not also true that the presbyterate should be assessable, enabling and sustaining this work?

Central to ordination within Methodist Church is what the Statement on Ordination (1974) that calls the focal and representative nature of this ministry. Wallwork says that through ordination the ministry of the whole people of God is focused and represented. Whilst I go some way in agreement with this concept I do not feel that this belongs exclusively to the ordained ministry. After all the word minister, often translated as presbyter in the New Testament, has also been translated as huperetes meaning under-rower. Paul used this to describe himself in Romans 1:1 signifying that ministry is wider than leadership in the traditional sense.

The concept of the representative, focus and priesthood is often misunderstood when applied to ordained ministry. Depending upon a Christian's tradition, the image of the priestly office will differ greatly. Cranmer understood the word priest to have its root in the word presbyter and this word became interchangeable with ‘prester’, possible after John Prester, a legendary Christian King and priest of the Middle Ages. Through usage, the word Prester eventually became Priest. Michael Harper urges the need to drop the term priest and restore the presbyterate to its rightful scriptural position. The presbyter’s ordination does not in itself indicate a greater degree of holiness but through Christ's call given in a particular gift, further enables the whole church to exercise the common priesthood. Of this Patrick Rodgers argues, 'if it is Christ's ministry (royal, prophetic, priestly, serving) which is to be pursued in the world, it does not seem probable or in accordance with his own attitude towards 'lay' humanity, that a mere fraction of the membership of his body will do it justice.' He also questions '... if the clergy do not teach, do not pray, do not love and endure, do not recall Christ, what are they there for?'


Defining Pastoral Care
The Deed of Union of the Methodist Church uses words as such Steward, and Shepherd to describe the call, vocation, life and responsibility of the Presbyter. This is very much in line with Wesley's sermon based up Hebrew 13:17 where he speaks of "pastors... who guide and feed a part of the flock of Christ." The words steward and shepherd, deeply rooted in Jewish thought, also reveal something of the nature of a ministry of word and sacrament. This task is the care of souls , the conduct of worship and the oversight of church order . Wesley continues by considering the presbyter as having a dual role of both ‘under-rowing’ and oversight expressed in terms that the steward employs all that she/he has through ‘the poor, whom God has appointed to receive by looking upon ourselves as one of that number of the poor.’

For Paul Johnson, such pastoral care is "a religious ministry to individuals in dynamic relationships arising from insight into essential needs and mutual discovery of potentialities for spiritual growth." But how is this dynamic expressed through the presbyterial ministry? Ordination has been described as the setting apart of an individual for the task of eldership. However, the concept has led to a false understanding of the ordained being somehow, separated and removed from the people. If presbyterial pastoral care has a hallmark it is surely incarnational in essence and participatory in practice. The 1968 Anglican/Methodist unity report spoke of ordained ministry as " ...distinctive...a special form of participation. It is in this way that the priesthood of the presbyter should be understood... as both Christ's ambassadors and the representatives of the whole people of God."

Defining what is meant by the whole People of God is perhaps the most difficult aspect of this statement when considering what it means to be incarnational in terms of the ordained ministry. Nathan Niles suggests, "becoming incarnate in society is moving onto a group's "turf" - its social territory and living fully among people in a way that they can understand".

The Pastoral Task Beyond the Fold
Throughout Church history, many attempts have been made to identify and define the essence of human spirituality, the seat from which humankind can begin to realise the incarnate Word of God. Justin Martyr spoke of the logos spermatikos, the germinal logos, as that which potentially unites humankind to God. It gives the potential to realise the divine and that this same seed potential is found in all. Calvin described this as the “sensus divinitatis” (sense of divinity) found in the nature of everyone and Karl Barth speaks of "other lights" that might, unseen by us, appears in other religions. He was careful to say that all, irrespective of belief structure would necessarily reflect the "one great light" of Jesus Christ. In 1886 William Herrman suggested that 'the only God that can reveal Himself to us is one who shows himself to us in our moral struggle as the power to which our souls are really subject'.

What is tentmaker ministry

Non-stipendiary ministry is a form of ordained ministry that is not limited to the local church. This ministry is often exercised through a specifically secular context and is sometimes called Tentmaker Ministry, following the example of the Apostle Paul as found in Acts 18:1-3.

This group is for those exercising such ministry regardless of denominational label, with the object of sharing experiences, developing prayerful support and theological reflection.

I hope that this blog will help develop a healthy exchange of thoughts to strengthen front line tentmakers.