"We all know that as we move into the 21st century our models of being church and the provision of ordained ministry within that church must change. Richard Spence lives out one of those models already. From the "old" concept of the worker priest in the factories of France in the 1940s comes the 21st century model of the worker priest in the offices of downtown Wellington.
(Continues) As a vicar of a city parish I want to see the lay ministers of our congregation empowered to transform their world, in their workplaces, homes and communities. The ordination service calls the priest to 'lead the baptised as witnesses to Christ in the world' (NZPB p 901). Yet those of us in the full time vicar role can spend far too much time in our churches and not enough time out in the community. Worker priests help us bridge that gap. And the worker priest bridges the gap in a different way from a priest working in a parish who is also in the 'non stipendiary' group.
As a church I fear we have drifted into some of our "non stipendiary" models of ministry in order to keep providing priestly ministry at a lesser financial cost. Rather we need a proactive discernment which takes seriously the ministry of lay people in the workplace and which calls some to be priests there as well. Changing work patterns and expectations means this will have to be a call to continued discernment rather than a call to one kind of ministry. No one in "full time" church ministry can expect to remain a vicar for 40 years, just as no lay person expects to be in the same job for a lifetime. I imagine all the clergy of the future will be "worker priests" as they move in and out of "full time" ministry as opportunities arise and change. Crucial in these vocations remains the quality and level of academic learning and skill training. Neither of these standards should be lowered.
By the end of this century I am sure our model of being church will have radically changed, along with our world. One path into that future is the path walked by Richard and his companion worker priests."