Priests in Secular Employment

Literature Review on Topic 2: Ecclesial Issues

That the priesthood of all believers has never meant the priesthood of each independent believer but rather of the whole community unified in Christ the high priest is a view asserted by Oden (ref 101) among many others. Acknowledging the whole people of God as a priesthood Alexander (ref 144) asserts that priests exist in relationship to the whole church from within and have no life of their own apart from the church. How this works is something that various authors have explored (ref 031) (ref 150) in an attempt to clarify. Priests do have their own integrity but such integrity is based upon a clarity of function from within the church. Clericalism -- confusion between the status of individuals and a theological understanding of their calling -- is condemned by Thompsett (ref 026) for disabling relationships by devaluing laity exaggerating clerical status and encouraging withdrawal into a narrowly defined parochial context. Nevertheless a priestly role and a suitably circumscribed ordained ministry is valid says Oden and ordination does separate the priest from the faithful layperson.

The concept of priest is elusive however. Ordination as sacramental intensification of the baptismal character correct though this view is (ref 144) doesn't help much to distinguish a priestly ministry from other ministries. And the New Testament knows nothing of individuals in the Church called priests as Booth (ref 096) and others remind us. In Harvey's view (ref 147) the presbyterial role is a theological vacuum into which have fallen the ministries of sacerdos pastor minister of the word authority figure. According to both Booth and Oden (ref 101) the historical church's conception of ordination has changed in history and should continue to change. The church's conflicts sufferings and limitations have provided it with a variety of experience as it has struggled through the different stages of its historical development.

The New Zealand ordinal of 1989 (ref 023) is uncompromising in its commitment to the priesthood of all the baptised great emphasis being placed upon the communal and societal nature of ministry. The ministry of all Christians is asserted by virtue of their baptism; some members of the baptised community are seen as being called and empowered to fulfil an ordained ministry and to enable the total mission of the Church. In the ordinal these are called to build up Christ's congregation to strengthen the baptised and to lead them as witnesses to Christ in the world. The priestly tasks are specified: to share people's joys and sorrows encourage the faithful recall those who fall away heal and help the sick. Above all they are to proclaim God's word and take their part in Christ's prophetic work to declare forgiveness through Jesus Christ to baptise to preside at the Eucharist and to administer Christ's holy sacraments. All clergy at ordination make the commitment to work in partnership with their sisters and brothers in Christ's service but Davis suggests (ref 141) that there is still some way to go before these understandings become general throughout Aotearoa New Zealand.

There is ample evidence of PSEs at all stages of the Church's development according to Vaughan (ref 012) -- and in this he is supported by a former Archbishop of Canterbury (ref 131) . PSEs aligned themselves with Paul and his associates and the rabbis who all made work the location where mental and spiritual endeavours encountered the material world in fruitful exchange. In this they distinguished themselves from the monks who used work as a means of separating themselves from the world. The characteristic task of the PSE's ministry within the Church is seen by Johnson (ref 099) as being to go out from the church explore return to tell the Church about it. Furthermore if as Bickers contends (ref 086) a pastor's primary role is to challenge encourage and train church members to do the work of ministry for which God has gifted them then the bivocational pastor has a unique opportunity to model that type of ministry to his church. The PSE identifies with work people experiences the same contention takes blame carries anxieties is among those needing forgiveness and releases him/herself with compassion as well as the institution organisation or system. In so doing the PSE shows the people that their workplace has within it an authorised presence of the Church. PSEs expect to find God active in these affairs judging redeeming reconciling (ref 012) -- every bit as much as they know God to be active within the Christian community which has called them to be ordained ministers.

In relation to other ministries within the Christian community Alexander proposes (ref 144) some guidelines that would enable a PSE to find a proper role and praxis particularly in relation to the Laity and the Diaconate. The PSE's role is that of any priest -- in Booth's account (ref 096) to know the story and be a wise counsellor gathering the Church and keeping it true to its calling. How a PSE's ministry differs from that of a Deacon in Secular Employment is something that Alexander explores while he vigorously attacks the proposition that orders of ministry are rungs on a ladder. Some see the crisis of identity of the priesthood as a crisis of identity for the Christian community (ref 064) . A fear has been expressed that the presence of PSEs may have the effect of reducing lay ministries within the local church (ref 064) (ref 079) though it is not laypeople who are articulating that fear. The fear among priests that what they do could be done better by a man or woman in the pews has been attributed (ref 049) to undue emphasis on rules and functions and lack of proper understanding of priestly vocation and lay vocation.

In a chapter entitled 'Bivocational ministry may be for your Church' Bickers (ref 086) lists advantages and disadvantages of having a bivocational pastor. A telling critique however is that of Keizer himself a worker-priest (ref 050) . Defending the 'old model' of ministry on the grounds that it does achieve some good things in an imperfect world Keizer observes that a small church 'liberated' from the burden of paying a full-time minister can become liberated from any financial motivation to reach out to youth to children to the elderly and come to think that they need only minister to the members of their own clique.

The research undertaken by Brushwyler (ref 036) led him to conclude that bi-vocational clergy wanted to be connected with their denominational structures and personnel particularly at the associational and middle judicatory levels. PSEs theselves agree: they point out (ref 033) that many of them are highly regarded in their communities and congregations yet are viewed by their colleagues in the clerical order as suspect or of questionable value. Lack of support by judicatory leaders was in Brushwyler's contention not intentional but rather the result of their failure to think bi-vocationally. His opinion was that greater care needs to be taken to ensure that bi-vocational ministries were fully included in the search and call process and that successful bi-vocational models needed to be visibly celebrated.

Brushwyler's recommendations show what the PSE has to gain from improved collegialtiy with other clergy. Yet neither Brushwyler nor any other writer encountered described any specific contribution that the PSE can bring to such a collegium. This is an important omission for the PSE will not be welcomed if s/he comes to the group with empty hands. This matter will be further developed in the chapter on Deployment.

Writings out of England reveal a fundamental underlying proposition: a national church for all the people of the nation. Such a proposition limits the usefulness of English experience for the New Zealand context where from the 1840s citizens have had a free choice of religions -- or of no religion at all. Active participation in a church is a private option of the individual. (ref 088) Nevertheless Anglican commitment to the territorial-parochial system is observable here and reports of tension between PSEs and the the parochial system (ref 013) sound a warning for us.

From commitment to the parochial system it is a short step to the concept of locally referenced ministries which are explored in a Tikanga Pakeha publication (ref 095) . A person in Local Ministry is 'locally referenced' where the primary question is that person's local credibility. However a PSE on the basis of training and experience may be 'centrally referenced' and have a degree of mobility not accorded to the locally referenced person. In Lobinger and Zulehner's scheme of Pauline and Corinthian priests (ref 092) there is no place for the centrally referenced PSE. However if a conventionally qualified PSE moves to a new context they can present their credentials to the bishop; if thought suitable and a PSE ministry exists they would expect to be licensed. A locally referenced person would not entertain the same expectation.

A study of the French experiment with worker-priests from 1943 to 1954 from an ecclesial viewpoint (ref 012) (ref 014) (ref 015) (ref 034) (ref 035) (ref 061) showed up the radical effects a worker-priesthood can have on the concept of church priest and ministry. Traditional French theology that seeks to 'interest' people into the sacraments and the life of the Church gave place to worker-priests who found themselves being 'evangelised by the poor'. In this the scheme was at odds with the propositions underlying a global papacy which was waging its own war against world communism -- it was Rome not Paris that shut them down. On the other hand Anglicanism's significantly decentralised governance should be better placed to encourage the growth of a priesthood in secular employment.

For PSEs in the New Zealand context Gilberd (ref 079) identifies several relationship issues that need to be resolved : representative and missionary nature of presbyterate vs its sacramental/pastoral nature; the relationship of priests to natural human communities; priests working in partnership with many others. In Gilberd's opinion NZ church structures need to be more flexible if models of ministry like PSE are to flourish.

Head reference for 012 013 014 015 023 026 031 033 034 035 036 049 050 061 064 077 079 086 088 092 095 096 099 101 131 141 144 147 150