Goodbye Clergy? Welcome Mission Officers?

 Goodbye Clergy?

Not sure about you but this is a season of overload In the church. Everyone jokes with the minister that Christmas must be your busy time. Actually no! The busy time is now. The start to a new Church year falling in line with the summer holidays. Strange how our Churches have grown so old In age and yet it is still the school year that determines the shape of our year. Maybe that is true across institutions.

Of course that suits me as a mum of two teenagers. As I said tongue in cheek to a colleague -I'm older than I look! But I find this time of year exciting and overwhelming almost in equal measure.

Already Christmas(!) dates have been added to the diary-indeed Easter 2023 assemblies are booked in. Meetings for Kirk session are set.

And requests for restarting community based work alongside chaplaincy arrive. Then there are the Presbytery meetings along with the National Committee I sit on and have so far had very little to do (shhh).  Social justice issues like' warm banks’ - Lord have mercy - promoting support through the food bank CAP (Christians Against Poverty)  are in full swing as we engage with the real people caught up in the economic situation.

And to top it off we have Presbytery Mission Planning. Across the land and on my doorstep ministers hurt and grieve, congregations wonder how to move forward and the overarching message is ‘get on with it’. Kind of feels like when my mum would say ‘because I said so!’, something as a parent I have never said 😉. Where is the pastoral email? When you feel like Presbytery has betrayed you and all the platitudes in the world don't help, where is the voice saying 'come unto me and rest! probably because we cut those people too. Do more with less. Yet for many of us we already were.

Ministry of any Church is not just Sunday mornings. It is school chaplaincy-monthly assemblies, cakes on Inservice Days, class support and in the staff room across multiple schools. It's Care Home worship services. It's funerals or weddings. It's pastoral visits through crisis. It's emails, admin and research. It's developing policies such as the new one on whistleblowing. It's launching new ventures like Drama clubs or developing ministry to teenagers or older people. It’s dementia support groups, coffee drop ins for the isolated, managing hall lets and dealing with the squabbles and bureaucracy. It’s social events like

ceilidhs and quiz nights. It’s fundraising. It’s community building. It’s involving the whole people of God no matter how time consuming.  It’s discipleship - investing in faith building and releasing people to follow God’s call for them. It’s sharing the good news of the Gospel in relevant ways - and trust me that’s not as straightforward as it used to be.  It’s engaging with community leaders, challenging politicians, and recognising that church folks are no more immune to trouble than anyone else.

Ministry of any Church includes Sunday worship. Writing inspirational material, choosing hymns, filming, editing-preparing for screen and in the building, week by week, year by year.

Don't get me wrong. I am not complaining.

But if we are building mission in the church we need to comprehend what ministry is.

Previously we called our contributions to the main fund ministry and  mission. I suspect that is actually more accurate than Giving to Grow. The cynic in me wonders what we want to 'grow'! Naughty girl.

Is ministry a form of mission? Of course.  But let’s be real.  If mission is to be truly engaged with we will need to redefine what ‘ministry’ is and who can legitimately do it. I cannot be School Chaplain to 6 primary schools and one secondary.  I will not even be able to lead worship every week.  We will need to use worship leaders more readily.  Funerals and pastoral care will need to look beyond the one sporting the dog collar.  And yes none of this is rocket science.  But unless we redefine ministry we will never be able to embrace the cuts and thrive. Indeed training for ministry will need to change to include how to build local teams, recruit and how to step back and let others do it.  For me, what the cuts prove beyond all reasonable doubt is that the Church does not believe ‘clergy’ are the answer to mission.  Perhaps the very nature of church is about to swing - maybe by the time I retire clergy will no longer be the paid role but mission officers will be? Is that a bad thing? I pray I will have the grace to change, adapt and embrace my calling to spread the `good news’. That’s what I went into ministry to do and if that means doing it differently -   bring it on.  The dog collar suffocates me anyway…

Pray through the change and remember God can do a new thing, even with the Church of Scotland!

And Clergy colleagues - we are not alone. And there is nothing, absolutely he-haw that can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ.

Love Sarah 

Standing on a Cliff Edge - Ministry 2022/2023

Where to Start?

There is something joyous and intimidating about returning to work after the summer holidays.  In ministry I always find this time exciting and overwhelming. It is the time of year when the schedule for the coming church year starts to build - you know when Christmas starts to break through the summer scenes, meetings upon meetings for the coming year, worship planning, diary filling (including adding in the school holidays!), wondering how on earth to include CPD or Study Leave and…I could go on.  It is like standing at the top of a cliff and wondering if you will fall off or abseil down both of which are terrifying to me.  I have worked on 2 out of 3 fears that I can face head on - rollercoasters, marathon (still a work in progress) and abseiling.  Still not sure about that last one. 

Anyway, I digress. As someone pondering leadership in the Church, especially how it is in the 21st Century it strikes me that we are in the same boat as many other institutions and employment situations.  And that saddens me.  We dress up our responsibilities in religious jargon and hide behind ‘biblical’ stances.  It saddens me because we are called to be different but we aren’t.  If you haven’t read Walter Brueggeman on the Sabbath please do.  We are called to embrace rest as a gift from God.  Unlike the idols of the day or the Kings and Pharaohs who are similar to many employers nowadays expecting more than their pound of flesh, God instituted a day of rest for all - animals, the poorly paid and the wealthy.  And we certainly espouse it as a good way to live but even God’s people can’t find the time to take Sabbath.  

What worries me most moving forward is the reliance on goodwill and conformity.  Some seem to think we should just do as we are told and walk over the cliff edge, trusting Jesus to catch us. Others are keen for us to take a leap of faith - just make sure the run up is long enough, that you have the requisite training and the risk assessments are done! Others are looking for a more controlled descent - perhaps even enjoying the view on the way down.  We will all end up in the promised land just some of us might have more scars than others…

As I ponder my responsibilities as a minister I know that how I live my life speaks volumes.  And I refuse to lose my sanity in what lies ahead.  Jesus faced the joys and tribulations by taking time to pray, to retreat, spending time with family and friends, attending weddings and more.  Whatever the future holds for ministry, for ministers, for congregations, for me, I want to be like Jesus. Yes, don’t we all?  Yet how easy we lose sight of him in the demands of ministry (or family, or employment, or…).  The pressure will be on to perform, to conform, and fall into place.  Some of it will be well meant, some of it will be manipulation, and some of it will be wrong.  Whilst we continue to measure by secular values we will be overworked and under appreciated - like many other professions I could mention.  

And with these thoughts reverberating in my head I went into my quiet time with God.  

My key words for starting this ‘new year, new session’ are

Patience - ‘I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope…For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is greater power to redeem.’ Psalm 130:5&7

Growth - I am still a work in progress and that is ok - Philippians 1:1-11. (Study leave is happening!)

Mission/Purpose- Make his deeds known among the peoples, see that they remember his name is exalted. 

Trust - God wants me to loosen my grip! (Control issues!) 

These were the words that came to me as I prayed through a variety of prayer apps.  What these will look like in the coming weeks well that’s the exciting part… 

But if I am willing to engage with God first and his Church second, then just maybe I’ll abseil down the cliff face.  For sure I won’t be a lemming falling off and I ain’t designed to take a run and jump off.  Maybe if I get the trust part sorted, you never know.  

However, you navigate this coming time as we head into the next church year in this season of transition and change, know that God goes with you. As you reflect on your life, remember you minister too in your homes, workplaces, communities, churches…so post your summer (holiday) what does your upcoming year look like? What words has God got for you?  Whether you are teetering on the edge, falling or taking a controlled descent God is more than able hold you and centre you.  For no matter what we do, how we behave, whether we trust the Holy One or wander off we are held in love. 

Here’s to ministry in 2022/2023 - with God all things are possible! With man they are impossible! 

Now where is the diary app…

Back next week! Or find us at Moncreiff Parish Church, East Kilbride on Facebook, Youtube and Web.  

God bless you

Love Sarah