One of the things I love about the BBC sitcom 'Rev' is the way it makes me think about my own ministry. Adam Smallbone and I have some very similar 'crises of faith' - I empathise quite strongly with him at times. I am reminded of the finale from Series 1, where he seriously questions his calling, only to rediscover it as he is called upon to minister to someone in need: Oh, how true that is!
The recent third season has just come to an end, and has been perhaps the most emotionally- and theologically-charged television I've watched in a long time. Adam's struggle with temptation and the imminent and inevitable closure of his church building are constant thorns in my side and probably in those of many of my fellow clergy. After 24 years of circuit ('parish') ministry there are times when, like Adam, I have considered packing it all in.
But where else can I go?
There are two aspects to this question (at least). The church and its ministry is my life. I have given myself to it in what we in the Methodist Church refer to as a 'covenant relationship' where, in return for my service and services, the Conference with which I am in Full Connexion undertakes to provide me and my dependants with a house and an allowance to free me from undue financial concern. As someone who came into ministry in my 20s, I have very little materially to 'fall back on' and to some extent can at times feel almost trapped in my calling. Like Adam: no church, no house; and (despite what I and others might believe at times) no marketable skills. Where else can I go?
But, like Adam, there is also that nagging, persistent ache inside me, that tells me (when tongues are bitten; when egos are bruised; when tempers are frayed to breaking point; when hearts are broken; when tears are shed) that this is who I am, that this is where I should be and what I should be doing. Again, with Adam Smallbone, I find myself echoing: "You won't let me go, apparently."
These things have been on my mind in recent weeks as I have been considering the future course of my ministry. My current appointment will come to an end in September 2015, and the Methodist system provides an ample lead time for making decisions about new appointments. I have toyed with other avenues in which to exercise ministry, but keep finding myself tugged back to this humblest and most challenging of callings: to be someone who simply loves and serves (with) God's people.
Where else can I go?
Showing posts with label ministry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ministry. Show all posts
Thursday, 1 May 2014
Friday, 31 August 2012
20 years on...
Today marks the end of my first 20 years in Circuit ministry in the Methodist Church in Great Britain as a Presbyter. I say that last thing because I spent 2 years prior to being selected for ministry serving as a Lay Pastor to 2 congregations in Leicestershire. But this could very well be the mid-point of my active ministry: How has the experience been?
Following 3 years training in Bristol, the first 6 years were spent in post-industrial County Durham, in the town of Stanley. Well, I call it a town - that's how it seemed to me when I arrived there fresh from college - but I soon discovered that it was more of a collection of pit villages, each with their own particular identity and each lacking the one thing that gave them that identity - the pit. These had closed back in the 1970s, but their shadow still hung heavily in the air and in the hearts and lives of the people.
Methodism in County Durham is, to all intents and purposes, the established church: it was easier to start a Methodist Society as these communities were being built than it was to establish an Anglican parish. Consequently, if people didn't go to church there it was the Methodist Church they didn't go to - unless they needed a christening, a wedding (often after the second christening) or a funeral. So, my time there was largely spent on what were laughingly called 'occasional offices', making many contacts with the 'unchurched', but having very little time to develop those contacts as a fresh 'batch' came along with at times alarming regularity. I averaged 20 Weddings a year, around 60 christenings ('wet' and 'dry'), and roughly 80 funerals: many opportunities to 'sow the seed' of the gospel, but little time for harvest.
After 6 years, and having guided one of the churches through their centenary celebrations, I moved from Stanley to Wetherby in West Yorkshire - only about 10 miles from home - to take charge of 3 churches there. Sociologically a very different appointment, in that Wetherby is, in many areas, a lot more affluent a place, with the consequent challenges that that brings in ministry terms. Together we saw in the new millennium and explored new ways of worship and of doing and being church - explorations that did not come without issues, in-fighting and insensitivity - from me as well as them. I learned a lot about people and about ministry there, but not without considerable cost to my soul and my psyche at times.
The Wetherby years were also the time when I spent a lot of time engaged in Chaplaincy. Alongside the 3 churches I had care of, I was also the Free Churches chaplain at HMYOI Wetherby. This not only provided many opportunities to engage these young lads in conversations about important issues, but also to introduce them to stories that had been a part of my life almost from the beginning. There is a particular joy to being able to tell the story of the Prodigal Son to a 17 year-old lad for the first time and to see the recognition in his face as he reflects with you on its timeless qualities. In contrast to the work in the prison, I was also chaplain to 35 (Wetherby) Squadron of the Air Training Corps: a generally motivated bunch of young people, more or less the same age as the YOIs. No generation can be stereotyped: hopefully all generations can be given hope and purpose for their lives.
And so, in 2004, to Sheffield. For the last 8 years I have been minister of Wesley Hall, Crookes, a large Methodist Chapel with a relatively small congregation, sitting in the shadow of one of the largest Anglican churches in the country (St Thomas' Crookes). In that time we have together sought to catch a vision for our place in that community, and to develop Wesley Hall as a focus for many activities in the Crookes area. From there we reach out to young families through the Toddler Group, to the elderly with the Lunch Club, and to young lads through Boy's Brigade. Our buildings are used by MENCAP to house offices, by choirs and opera groups, for Tae Kwon Do and Zumba classes. We struggle with what to do with a building that is Grade 2-listed and showing increasing signs of being 104 years-old, but increasingly rely on God's strength to get us through.
Alongside Wesley Hall, my only consistent 'charge' over the 8 year, I have cared for congregations at Stanwood for 6 years, Rivelin Glen & Stannington for 5 years, Walkley for 2 years and Dungworth for 1 year. Each have had their own opportunities and challenges, yet remain cheerful. For the last 2 years Wesley Hall & Walkley have functioned as one church, sharing a church council but retaining their separate buildings and worshipping communities. We are still working out the implications of this for both communities, but it has been good to share in mission, worship and fellowship over the past 2 years.
So, 20 years of outreach, mission, ministry, worship, frustration, sadness and joy; sharing Christ with God's people within and outside the church building and the church community. And after 20 years, if I'm honest, I don't really think I'd rather be anywhere else (though I would be lying if I said I'm not tempted on an almost daily basis to pack it all in!) Only God really knows where the next 20 years will take me - I hope, by God's grace, to still be active then
Following 3 years training in Bristol, the first 6 years were spent in post-industrial County Durham, in the town of Stanley. Well, I call it a town - that's how it seemed to me when I arrived there fresh from college - but I soon discovered that it was more of a collection of pit villages, each with their own particular identity and each lacking the one thing that gave them that identity - the pit. These had closed back in the 1970s, but their shadow still hung heavily in the air and in the hearts and lives of the people.
Methodism in County Durham is, to all intents and purposes, the established church: it was easier to start a Methodist Society as these communities were being built than it was to establish an Anglican parish. Consequently, if people didn't go to church there it was the Methodist Church they didn't go to - unless they needed a christening, a wedding (often after the second christening) or a funeral. So, my time there was largely spent on what were laughingly called 'occasional offices', making many contacts with the 'unchurched', but having very little time to develop those contacts as a fresh 'batch' came along with at times alarming regularity. I averaged 20 Weddings a year, around 60 christenings ('wet' and 'dry'), and roughly 80 funerals: many opportunities to 'sow the seed' of the gospel, but little time for harvest.
After 6 years, and having guided one of the churches through their centenary celebrations, I moved from Stanley to Wetherby in West Yorkshire - only about 10 miles from home - to take charge of 3 churches there. Sociologically a very different appointment, in that Wetherby is, in many areas, a lot more affluent a place, with the consequent challenges that that brings in ministry terms. Together we saw in the new millennium and explored new ways of worship and of doing and being church - explorations that did not come without issues, in-fighting and insensitivity - from me as well as them. I learned a lot about people and about ministry there, but not without considerable cost to my soul and my psyche at times.
The Wetherby years were also the time when I spent a lot of time engaged in Chaplaincy. Alongside the 3 churches I had care of, I was also the Free Churches chaplain at HMYOI Wetherby. This not only provided many opportunities to engage these young lads in conversations about important issues, but also to introduce them to stories that had been a part of my life almost from the beginning. There is a particular joy to being able to tell the story of the Prodigal Son to a 17 year-old lad for the first time and to see the recognition in his face as he reflects with you on its timeless qualities. In contrast to the work in the prison, I was also chaplain to 35 (Wetherby) Squadron of the Air Training Corps: a generally motivated bunch of young people, more or less the same age as the YOIs. No generation can be stereotyped: hopefully all generations can be given hope and purpose for their lives.
And so, in 2004, to Sheffield. For the last 8 years I have been minister of Wesley Hall, Crookes, a large Methodist Chapel with a relatively small congregation, sitting in the shadow of one of the largest Anglican churches in the country (St Thomas' Crookes). In that time we have together sought to catch a vision for our place in that community, and to develop Wesley Hall as a focus for many activities in the Crookes area. From there we reach out to young families through the Toddler Group, to the elderly with the Lunch Club, and to young lads through Boy's Brigade. Our buildings are used by MENCAP to house offices, by choirs and opera groups, for Tae Kwon Do and Zumba classes. We struggle with what to do with a building that is Grade 2-listed and showing increasing signs of being 104 years-old, but increasingly rely on God's strength to get us through.
Alongside Wesley Hall, my only consistent 'charge' over the 8 year, I have cared for congregations at Stanwood for 6 years, Rivelin Glen & Stannington for 5 years, Walkley for 2 years and Dungworth for 1 year. Each have had their own opportunities and challenges, yet remain cheerful. For the last 2 years Wesley Hall & Walkley have functioned as one church, sharing a church council but retaining their separate buildings and worshipping communities. We are still working out the implications of this for both communities, but it has been good to share in mission, worship and fellowship over the past 2 years.
So, 20 years of outreach, mission, ministry, worship, frustration, sadness and joy; sharing Christ with God's people within and outside the church building and the church community. And after 20 years, if I'm honest, I don't really think I'd rather be anywhere else (though I would be lying if I said I'm not tempted on an almost daily basis to pack it all in!) Only God really knows where the next 20 years will take me - I hope, by God's grace, to still be active then
Monday, 24 October 2011
Fruitful Field - some initial thoughts
'Fruitful Field' is a paper produced by the Methodist Church's Ministries Committee, looking at the future shape of training in all its aspects within the Methodist Church. Essentially a consultation document, the paper outlines the provision that has been and is being made by the Methodist Church, and looks at possible future directions.
The first thing that struck me about the paper was that it read more as a management document that a theological reflection, which isn't to say that there is no theological reflection within it, nor that a management document is per se a bad thing. But it did grate a bit to read of such 'jargon' concepts as 'hubs' and 'pathways', which seem to be mindless bureau-speak rather than the terminology of normal, everyday thought and conversation.
Once I'd cleared this hurdle, I looked for some concrete proposals in the report, but my search proved in vain. There are proposals towards the end of the report, but I'm yet to be convinced that they are 'concrete', though that may be the intention of the document at this stage. The report states:
It's the third proposal that I have the most concern about. The training that is offered currently, particularly in institutional settings, has a necessary and welcome diversity to it, based not only on the content and context of the training being offered but also on the geographical location of the institution. The implication of this proposal would be that the work of Cliff College - a centre of specific lay training in evangelism and related disciplines - would be separated from the site in Derbyshire and located, along with that of Presbyteral & Diaconal formation, in some other place yet to be determined.
As a former student of Cliff - twice-over: as a 'certificate' student in the 1980s and as a Postgraduate student in the early 2000s - I may be seen to have something of a vested interest, but those who have been associated with Cliff know the importance of the College as a place of learning, discipleship and pilgrimage for many thousands of people over its 100+-year history. The work is so closely associated with the location that it would, I believe, change the whole nature of the establishment to separate the two.
What particularly worries me about the report and the final proposal is an underlying concern that this is driven as much by the financial constraints that the Methodist Church finds itself in as by the (I believe genuine) desire to provide the best training possible for the Methodist people. Establishing 'a single connexional hub on one site' would free up much valuable real estate across the Connexion, as has already been done through the closure of Wesley College Bristol. I hope that this is just my cynical mind at work, and not the primary factor in bringing these proposals.
The first thing that struck me about the paper was that it read more as a management document that a theological reflection, which isn't to say that there is no theological reflection within it, nor that a management document is per se a bad thing. But it did grate a bit to read of such 'jargon' concepts as 'hubs' and 'pathways', which seem to be mindless bureau-speak rather than the terminology of normal, everyday thought and conversation.
Once I'd cleared this hurdle, I looked for some concrete proposals in the report, but my search proved in vain. There are proposals towards the end of the report, but I'm yet to be convinced that they are 'concrete', though that may be the intention of the document at this stage. The report states:
- We should seek to establish high quality, flexible connexional pathways, which can be delivered in a number of different communities and contexts, and which meet the needs of a discipleship movement shaped for mission and the needs of the ministries of the whole people of God.
- We should seek to establish a single connexional network of skilled and knowledgeable staff, including both regional staff (coordinated and resourced within regional teams) and tutorial staff based in a learning hub.
- We should seek to establish a single connexional hub on one site.
It's the third proposal that I have the most concern about. The training that is offered currently, particularly in institutional settings, has a necessary and welcome diversity to it, based not only on the content and context of the training being offered but also on the geographical location of the institution. The implication of this proposal would be that the work of Cliff College - a centre of specific lay training in evangelism and related disciplines - would be separated from the site in Derbyshire and located, along with that of Presbyteral & Diaconal formation, in some other place yet to be determined.
As a former student of Cliff - twice-over: as a 'certificate' student in the 1980s and as a Postgraduate student in the early 2000s - I may be seen to have something of a vested interest, but those who have been associated with Cliff know the importance of the College as a place of learning, discipleship and pilgrimage for many thousands of people over its 100+-year history. The work is so closely associated with the location that it would, I believe, change the whole nature of the establishment to separate the two.
What particularly worries me about the report and the final proposal is an underlying concern that this is driven as much by the financial constraints that the Methodist Church finds itself in as by the (I believe genuine) desire to provide the best training possible for the Methodist people. Establishing 'a single connexional hub on one site' would free up much valuable real estate across the Connexion, as has already been done through the closure of Wesley College Bristol. I hope that this is just my cynical mind at work, and not the primary factor in bringing these proposals.
Friday, 14 January 2011
'An ambitious young man...'
I've been a subscriber to 'Leadership' journal for a number of years now - more or less since I came into ministry back in the 90s. I find it a very useful and thought-provoking read, and it helps me to think through a number of aspects of leadership and ministry.
I'm currently reading the latest issue, which tackles the subject of 'Ambition'. Is this ever a good thing for Christian ministers? How do we cope with it? I have to confess that it is a matter that I've been aware of in myself, and that others have noticed at times in me. I was once accused (I think that's the right word) of being 'an ambitious young man' by a former District Chair (you can tell it was a while ago - he called me a 'young man'!), and at the time it really bothered me: after all, what was wrong with ambition, if you were ambitious for the Kingdom of God?
Within the sphere of work that I move in there's very little room for ambition. There's no real hierarchy within British Methodism (though there are those who think that there is): presbyters are presbyters, irrespective of whether they exercise that ministry as a Chair, a Superintendent, a Connexional officer or as a humble (or sometimes not so humble) circuit minister. There is no ladder, or greasy pole, to climb, so ambition would seem to be a fruitless exercise.
What matters to me, and I hope to all my ministerial colleagues (Lay, Presbyteral or Diaconal) is that I am in the right place, doing the right thing - which is looking for what God's doing and getting alongside: sharing in the Missio Dei. Anything else is ultimately fruitless and pointless. I used to hanker after Superintendency, but those opportunities never arose, or when they did were not right. At times I still do, though less so as time goes by. If it's right, when I finally move on from here, then it'll be right.
I am ambitious to be where God wants me to be, doing what God wants me to do, with the people God wants me to work alongside. I think that will suffice - I certainly hope it will.
I'm currently reading the latest issue, which tackles the subject of 'Ambition'. Is this ever a good thing for Christian ministers? How do we cope with it? I have to confess that it is a matter that I've been aware of in myself, and that others have noticed at times in me. I was once accused (I think that's the right word) of being 'an ambitious young man' by a former District Chair (you can tell it was a while ago - he called me a 'young man'!), and at the time it really bothered me: after all, what was wrong with ambition, if you were ambitious for the Kingdom of God?
Within the sphere of work that I move in there's very little room for ambition. There's no real hierarchy within British Methodism (though there are those who think that there is): presbyters are presbyters, irrespective of whether they exercise that ministry as a Chair, a Superintendent, a Connexional officer or as a humble (or sometimes not so humble) circuit minister. There is no ladder, or greasy pole, to climb, so ambition would seem to be a fruitless exercise.
What matters to me, and I hope to all my ministerial colleagues (Lay, Presbyteral or Diaconal) is that I am in the right place, doing the right thing - which is looking for what God's doing and getting alongside: sharing in the Missio Dei. Anything else is ultimately fruitless and pointless. I used to hanker after Superintendency, but those opportunities never arose, or when they did were not right. At times I still do, though less so as time goes by. If it's right, when I finally move on from here, then it'll be right.
I am ambitious to be where God wants me to be, doing what God wants me to do, with the people God wants me to work alongside. I think that will suffice - I certainly hope it will.
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