Appraising Ministry - Part the first

I have always been keen on ways of raising my game and developing new skills and am equally troubled by those who are opposed to the various 'Ministry Development Reviews' (MDR) now on offer within the Church of England and by those who see them as something which enables, nay encourages, a 'train up - train out' mentality.

A recent conversation with someone who has at some stage been on the wrong end of OFSTED (so much so that they are now no longer in education) left me concerned because they not only felt that they could not face the prospect of an MDR but were willing to withdraw rather than endure or engage with the process. Another conversation left me in no doubt that the possession of the freehold was seen as the means by which the drawbridge could be raised and freedom from the whole 'intolerable interference' (their words, not mine) is assured.

Drawing upon my own experience I found the whole process to be extremely time-consuming and yet quite fun and yet, as another colleague has it, the end result appears to be, "A ticked box and nothing positive, enabling or encouraging! We do it to enable someone up the food chain to say they've done the deed. The whole thing is an exercise in futility and dissipation!" The continued by pointing out that having been invited and having effectively declined they were told that this was a mandatory requirement under their 'terms of service' (and they are of course correct as Regulation 18 of the Ecclesiastical Offices (Terms of Service) Regulations 2009 confirms).

What these reviews should be doing is to help the reviewed assess their ministry in terms of:

Success - which might be communicated to other as good practice and used to underpin the oft woeful diocesan provision,

Failure - those areas where stock needs to be taken and training, support, encouragement and resources (only kidding!) can be initiated,

Hopes - The things we'd love to do; the dreams and aspirations we have and, having identified them, offering support (and the means of making them real),

Fears - The things that cause those who minister to become fearful and impotent. Ministry should be about more than Parish Share and BoPs (Bums On Pews) and yet, for many, this is a daily debilitating reality.

Training Needs - What does the focus of the review need to make them a safer person, a more effective minister, a happier and contented person? We need to find this and then work at supplying the means to resolve the need/s we've identified.

Potential - Can the person who is the focus of the review offer more to more who could in turn reach more and make the Church grow? The answer is 'probably' and yet my conversations indicate that the review appears to be an end in itself - it's only goal is to exist (box ticked) rather than enable - how very sad!

So here we are - Communion is twenty minutes away (the church is set up already) and so I'll leave you with this opening shot in the whole 'appraising ministry' discussion.

Hope you're less depressed and confused than me over the whole thing - still there's more to come so don't give up yet!

Interesting Theology

There are times when people come up with 'interesting' bits of theological thinking which result in crowd pleasing acts which, at best, leaves me with some degree of discomfort or uncertainty.

There are times when I struggle with aspects of theology for one of many of the reasons listed below:

Sometimes because I can't quite see how the position was reached without a bit of a twinkle and a wink of the eye because it's so blinking off the wall.

Sometimes because it is obviously designed to be a bit of a wind-up.

Sometime its probably just because I'm a little bit thick!

Sometimes it's a struggle because the construction is just tough to accept because what it (rightly or wrongly) comes up with is difficult to apply to ourselves or others.

'Theology is our attempt to explain, understand and live with the stuff that's in the Bible.' 

Well that's what a man I admired at the time (and still do long after his demise) once told me in a tutorial. He continued, 'It's our attempt to make sense of what's before us and the potential for inspiration and brilliance is tempered by our ability to deliver the absurd as something of value!'

And this is where I often find myself challenged on a daily basis as I encounter brilliance, weirdness, excellence and heresy as we (you, them and me) seek to understand and explain what is before us. 

Sometimes it's the standard fare of the theological student that surfaces as we debate the Virgin birth, the resurrection and all that Bible stuff. Sometimes it's the weird and wonderful esoterica of the Christian faith and explanations that quench the author's disquiet and cause the reader (well this reader anyway) great angst. Finally, we have the discussions relating to how the world (that usually means 'non-Christians') see us and the many ways in which we engage (or perhaps don't engage) with stuff - often billed under the joint labels of 'rights' and 'equality' - and it is here that the most vitriolic and contentious battles are to be found.

The problem is that whilst many of us are rather reluctant to express our personal doubts publicly for  fear of conflict should we express our views, our failure to acknowledge and engage with this in a measured and balanced public arena is where I think we find ourselves falling down and failing those we seek to pastor. If we are to afraid to voice our concerned, the difficulties we have with theology and praxis that emerges then we create a culture of fear that leaves us a goal down before we begin. The problem is (and there's always a problem somewhere) that when those 'difficulties' appear, failing to acknowledge and address them is to puts aside debate and invite something quite unproductive and displeasing below the surface.

A colleague recently took me to task for 'always engaging' with the difficult stuff. As they did they offered my their mantra: "If you don't engage with it it doesn't exist and if it doesn't exist then it isn't a problem."

But if it exists for others, surely we have a duty to consider, understand and be willing to discuss what is real for others and bring some light into their, and our, understanding.

If this is wrong, then I'm confused.