At Deanery Chapter we counted up the incumbents of local parishes who have left full-time ministry over recent years, and spent some time musing why this seemed so common. It was slightly surprising to me that several of my colleagues talked about money worries and especially those of clergy with families not being able to manage without a great deal of help - parishioners supplying secondhand white goods, charities paying for holidays, and so on. I can't recall anyone who actually quit the clerical life - though not the clerical state, that's a more radical and problematic step to take - mentioning this as a factor, though it may feed into the stress which definitely is. Most of the time the cause seemed to be something less definable, to do with a sense of purpose and support. In fact, as we spoke, we became unsure whether clergy were very different from other professions, teachers, nurses, even the armed forces, in the proportion who took the decision to leave after a certain time. Perhaps we are operating on a model of lifelong service, expressed in that old belief that ordination imprints a permanent character, which is less relavent now than hitherto.
One thing we were agreed on was the feeling that our diocese doesn't feel like a collaborative venture in which our ministries are supported by a pastoral centre, but like a managed one in which we are supposed to deliver locally a central agenda. Funny how our discussions almost always seem to orbit in around the same point: there must be something in it. I feel the diocese's hand sits rather light on Swanvale Halt, but, as you know, the confirmation service last week was the first time I'd been in the bishop's presence in about three years.
No comments:
Post a Comment