I have been thinking at there seems to be so much emphasis placed on a minister's ability to lead worship. It's like that is the most important thing a minister can do. Now, don't get me wrong, I know it is the ministry of word and sacrament I am training for, so I am aware that the word is an important part of my role and I am happy with that. But there's so much more.
When I was at school, I was good friends with a minister who had a very good reputation for his preaching. He was very engaging, articulate, entertaining, willing to deal with difficult subjects etc, etc. I know he seemed to be one of the best preacher I had heard. But, once I got to know him through visiting my friend...well, what was preached in public and spoken about in private were quite different and I lost a lot of respect for him. He also did not see it as his role to do pastoral care at all. For me, that just showed little integrity of faith and life (though I wouldn't have thought of it quite that way back then).
The training seems to emphasise this too. Yes, we are to deal with all aspect of ministry (or as many as we can during the placements), but there are very specific targets set for the number of times we are to preach and take a whole service during each placement. There's no minimum numbers of pastoral encounters, leading meetings, funeral visits etc. Okay, so those are a bit harder to arrange, but I do have to wonder if there's no harm having a minimum of one or two per placement. That's not too onerous and should be doable. It means that supervisors and candidates would have to ensure it happened. The danger, I feel, with not having a specific target for non-preaching, is the emphasis is on preaching and the other aspects of ministry are not dealt with quite so pro-activity. Though, it may be I am slightly clouded by my own experience.
On a practical level, I know of many congregations where the minister is a brilliant pastor. They care very much and the congregation (and parish) know this. But they aren't brilliant when it comes to the preaching thing. I know the congregation will forgive that more readily than vice versa. I know I would (and have). I need to know my minister cares about the congregation, not that they are a great orator.
Does sort of put the willies up me knowing I seem to be good at preaching and leading worship. I pray I don't become a person who forgets the importance of the whole package (though, given I am thinking about this would indicate it wouldn't become an issue).
Just for your consideration... we are trained to lead worship, but we are also trained to 'create' worship. We don't always have to be the up-front person. That said, the weight of expectation lies heavy on the minister.
ReplyDeletePastoral care on placements can be a tricky one. Some people/communities need time to develop a relationship before effective pastoral care can happen. Otherwise it isn't much different to just being nice to people (and I'm not knocking that as a part of pastoral care) but I would suggest that 'true' pastoral care runs deeper. And that sometimes means that those within your congregation who have time to spend with people are often best placed to provide pastoral care. Few, if any, in a congregation are able to create and lead worship (but that's a whole other issue that is also coming to the fore).
That said, being exposed to the 'mechanics' of pastoral visiting is no bad thing. It can cause unforeseen issues when visiting hospitals, or care homes, or seeing someone suffering from a particular illness, depending on what one's own 'history' contains.
Remember as well that your time will eventually be spent juggling funerals, school chaplaincy, Sunday prep, presbytery committee work, session/board meetings, admin, and so on, and so on. Whilst it would be nice to reduce ministry to just leading worship and pastoral care, that's not the reality, and so compromises end up needing to be made on how your time is spent. Balancing expectations and abilities is an interesting activity.
Thanks John. I wasn't trying to be reductionist, more thinking about why so much emphasis on the one thing (from my experience anyway). I completely understand pastoral care is much, much more than being nice to people and needs to be where relationships have been built up.
ReplyDeleteAnd my list should have included all of the things you mentioned, I just find some of them, while practical and necessary,m just a little depressing...(I'm mainly thinking of committees and admin, but needs must).