FATHER TIM AND ALL PARSONS

An academic colleague of mine, Dr. H. once generously wrote a very flattering letter of recommendation for me with this comment: “In many ways his effective commitment to both church and to scholarship is reminiscent of the sort of nineteenth-century minister who would have tea in the morning with the ladies of the altar guild and then retire to his study in the afternoon to write, say, the definitive commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians.” Yes, I think that sums me up, although I doubt that I ever had that level of scholarly ability. (I do not have sufficient mastery of Greek, for one thing.) And then there is the fact that the nineteenth century is long past. I am certainly aware that I never quite fit in modern times. After 32 years in the ministry, I still don’t feel I’m doing it right.

Dr. Joseph Sittler, with whom I studied for far too brief a time described the heart of the clergy problem.

This basic force is a loss of the sense of the particularity of the church, the consequent transformation of the role of the minister into that of a "religious leader," and the still consequent shift whereby the ministry is regarded as a "profession" and theological education has come to understand its task as "professional education.” Had this shift in meanings not occurred the three specific forces I am about to name could hardly have been effective. But the shift has occurred -- and the minister is macerated by pressures emanating from the parish, the general church bodies, and the ‘self-image of the minister.’ (“The Maceration of the Minister” from The Ecology of Faith. )

Here’s the kicker. Sittler identified the problem of ministry as a “profession” fifty years ago. Ministers are still being chewed up. When I studied with him in the late 70s, he maintained that clergy needed to ditch the idea of being professionals. We ought to go back to being parsons–literally “persons.” Wikipedia quotes Blackstone’s Commentaries to explain the term “parson.” “A parson, persona ecclesiae, is one that has full possession of all the rights of a parochial church. He is called parson, persona, because by his person the church, which is an invisible body, is represented.” That’s what clergy are supposed to do–represent the church in his or her person. It’s not just what you do, but who you are.

It makes me think of Father Tim, the Episcopal priest at Lord’s Chapel in Jan Karon’s fictional Mitford, North Carolina. He really is at core a parson. And yet he, too, experiences the “maceration of the minister.” Despite his faithful work, Father Tim is burning out, or at least he is as far as I have read in At Home in Mitford. The January, 2002 described Father Tim this way:

He drives himself in his work, facing an unending parade of spiritual needs and practical demands: spelling a woman who lives with her senile mother, taking livermush (a local delicacy) to his bedridden sexton, baking a ham for a parish wedding, tending to the leaks in Miss Sadie's roof. He has diabetes, and must discipline himself to jog and watch his diet. He seethes inwardly at Emma Garrett's bossy interference. His difficulty in making a commitment to Cynthia and his clumsy letter-writing while she is away create some rocky patches in their romance. He approaches retirement with fear and denial. He worries about his thinning hair. . . .

Prayer suffuses the lives of Father Tim and his parishioners, and nothing is too small to ask God for, whether it be help with a recalcitrant dog or keeping a feverish boy "in bed and out of mischief." When it comes to something big, a prayer chain can be galvanized with a phone call. Quotations from Scripture pepper everyday speech ("Philippians four-thirteen, for Pete's sake") as well as reining in Barnabas. Grace cannot be earned and isn't about deserving in any case: it's free. Salvation can come from turning one's life over to Jesus Christ with a simple prayer. "It isn't a test you have to pass," Father Tim tells a stranger he finds kneeling in the empty church. "It doesn't require discipline and intelligence ... not even strength and perseverance. It only requires faith." In a tidy two-for-one the rector saves both the stranger—a traveling businessman—and a jewel thief who is listening from his hiding place in the church attic

Karon’s writing has been characterized as “comfort food” literature. I don’t care. I like meatloaf and mashed potatoes with gravy, (However on a low-fat, low-carb diet I rarely eat potatoes and my meatloaf is always low-fat ground turkey with oatmeal in it. ) If I can’t eat comfort food, I’ll read it. Father Tim is a comfortable sort of parson. I am too hyper to be like him, but should try harder. Or maybe the “trying harder” is the problem.

A long time ago my colleague. Dr. H. recommended Eugene Peterson’s book Working the Angles. It was several years before I actually read the book, but it was (and is) and eye-opener. Here is Peterson writing in 1987, a time midway between Sittler’s essay and today.

The pastors of America have metamorphosed into a company of shopkeepers, and the shops they keep are churches. They are preoccupied with shopkeeper’s concerns–how to keep the customers happy, how to lure the customers away from the competitors down the street, how to package the goods so the customers will lay out more money. . . . The pastor’s responsibility is to keep the community attentive to God. It is this responsibility that is being abandoned in spades. . . . Three pastoral acts are so basic, so critical, that they determine the shape of everything else. The acts are praying, reading Scripture, and giving spiritual direction. Besides being basic, these three acts are quiet. . . . In the clamorous world of pastoral work, nobody yells at us to engage in these works.

Absolutely right. I don’t recall any church official or congregational leader that ever asked whether I was praying, reading Scripture, or giving spiritual direction. But the ultimate place to lay blame is not on others, but on self. Why should anyone else concern themselves with what I myself don’t set as a priority. Well, I’m taking charge again. I’m back to morning prayer each day, and reading the Rule of Benedict. But that is barely a start. St. Paul’s instructions to the Thessalonians wasn’t “pray when you get a chance,” but “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Well, I need something worthwhile to work on for the rest of my life.

May the Lord bless you on your journey and greet you on your arrival.

Wayne






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FINDING PASTORS

On of the duties of a pastor in the Lutheran Church is to "seek out and encourage qualified persons to prepare for the ministry of the gospel." Boy, can this ever cause sleepless nights, and I'm not even very good at doing it. Some people familiar with Christianity might wonder why anyone would have to "seek out" persons for the ministry. Aren't people "called" to the ministry by God. Well, yes, but how does that call come. The Bible is filled with dramatic stories of persons called to serve God: Moses and the burning bush, Samuel and the voice in the night, Isaiah and the vision in the Temple, Paul and the appearance of Jesus on the Damascus road. Yet most clergy I have known never have that sort of experience. Many of them were sought out by others and encouraged to pursue the ministry. As I have discussed in another blog, I didn't even have that. I had to try to figure things out for myself.

Figuring out what a "qualified person" might be is hard. In my denomination (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) there is a whole processes for figuring out who is qualified, but the beginning point is often a local parish pastor like myself. So what do I look for? First, an expression of faith. That doesn't mean a blind acceptance of doctrine without question. To be sure, the better pastors are ones who have struggled with believing. What I look for is a person who takes their faith seriously, that is finds in their faith a source of their values and purpose in life. Without this element there is no reason even to think about ministry as a possibility.

The other personal characteristics I look for in a person vary somewhat, but have to be their to some degree. A person needs to have the intellectual prowess to complete seminary training. By the time they are finished, they'll have to know systematic theology, historical theology, biblical studies, and the practical fields of pastoral care, Christian education, worship, and preaching. A person also needs a level of emotional stability and maturity to be a pastor. They need a willingness to work hard, often in difficult situations (including difficult people). A sense of humor wouldn't hurt, either. If you take yourself too seriously, you'll be overcome. I like to tell prospective candidates for the ministry that most churches would turn down St. Peter or St. Paul as a pastor because they weren't enough like beloved old Pastor Hackemeier who ministered for 39 years in the same church.

In 30 years of ministry I have only come across one person I actively sought out to consider ministry as a calling. I don't know how that will work out yet. Time will tell. I have, however, encouraged a number of people who have already come to consider the ministry. I didn't seek them out, but somehow they came across my path so I did everything I could to support and encourage them. I have also come across a few people who I wasn't quite sure about. They were people who were considering the ministry, but I felt some unease about the possibility of them actually becoming clergy. Because of my uncertainty, I felt it was necessary to encourage them to go ahead with the discernment process so that they could have the insight of other people in determining their call. In most cases they were never ordained, most of them never getting even as far as starting seminary. My instincts proved to be right, but I think you have to err on the side of grace so you don't discourage one who may turn out to have the necessary gifts and calling. Sometimes a person who at 20 doesn't seem to have it together enough to be a pastor matures over the course of years so that maybe by 30 or 40 they are ready. You don't want to close off that possibility.

There have been two types of situations, however, where I actively discouraged people from pursuing ministry. In the first type of situation, the person has severe emotional or psychiatric problems that would make it impossible for them to function in the ministry. It is one of the sad things in life that some mental disorders express themselves in religious terms. People sometimes have psychotic episodes in which they believe God is speaking to them. So it is important to try to listen to a person and observe their behavior to determine as best as possible the root of a person's desire. Several times I have talked with women convinced that God was calling them to be missionaries in far off lands. They want to leave for the mission field as soon as possible without their husband and small children. Suggesting to them that caring for their children might be God's true call for that time in their life is often met with stony disbelief.

The other circumstance that I have found troubling has been when someone wants to be a pastor without having to go to seminary to study. They believe they should be ordained with no training. Sometimes they even have the church picked out that they are convinced they should be assigned to. I am a firm believer that a four-year bachelor's degree followed by four years of seminary training is essential. In recent years I have become uneasy with the increasing number of people being trained for ordained ministry by some alternate method that doesn't require so much work. I am not sure that's a good way to solve the clergy shortage.

Of course that is part of the reason we clergy are charged seeking our and encouraging persons to prepare for the ministry of the Gospel. As St. Paul wrote to the Romans: "'Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.' But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him?" So I'll keep seeking and encouraging. It's part of my journey.

May the Lord God bless you on your way and greet you on your arrival.

Wayne