Rev. Margaret Keip — Bend, OR — September 18, 2005
Preacher, pastor, priest and prophet are the old familiar roles that clergy play, but that doesn’t cover half of this ancient—and perhaps only remaining—“generalist” profession. The dilemma that a generalist profession poses in a complex world is one of pure impossibility. We all want in our clergy, whole integrated human beings who are expert in the particular realms that we each care most about. And each realm entails not only an ever growing body of awareness and skill in this burgeoning world of knowledge, but also hefty amounts of time, energy and devotion to do well. Each in itself is a ministry. I invite you to meet ten parish ministers with me — And know that my list of ten trusts that the religious education of children and youth is in skilled hands of its own.
If you have a pencil handy, try ranking each of these relative to their importance to you—say, from 0 to 3 (zero meaning you’d be fine with a minister lacking this, up to 3 for what you consider essential). Here we go . . .
An EXECUTIVE minister is savvy about systems, receiving and resolving problems with insight and care — a good manager of people and resources, at ease where the buck stops. This minister's church and staff coordinate well.
A CATALYST is a generator of ideas, with a creative imagination; one who embraces and promotes the diversity of interests and needs within the congregation by nurturing a wide variety of appealing programs and the lay leadership to sustain them.
A PREACHER is an eloquent and compelling pulpit presence, reveling in the poetry of language. Preachers treasure the power of the word, and illumine the human journey, moving, reuniting and inspiring a congregation.
A TEACHER reveres ideas, appeals to curious minds, delights in learning. His or her sermons and programs inform, enlighten, and blaze trails for listeners on their own paths toward truth and compassionate living.
A PRIEST is an artful designer of worship and ritual; creating ceremonies, weddings, memorial services, that heal, renew and inspire; illuminating the power and meaning of events in people's lives and uplifting the grace of being.
A PILLAR is a community builder, and a supportive presence in congregational life, active in civic causes and denominational activities; a "first citizen," widely respected, and often sought when something worthwhile needs sustaining leadership.
A PROPHET is a person of passion who speaks truth to power on behalf of social justice; an agent of change, motivated by deep convictions, enacted in public word and deed. This minister will be found where the action is.
A PASTOR is an insightful and resourceful caregiver and counselor in times of crisis. He or she pursues a highly personal ministry, much of it one‑on‑one, and provides an available and supportive presence in members' lives.
A PARTICIPANT is actively involved, hands‑on, in congregational life; participating as a member of the family, and leading in its nurturance; present at the heart of things and catching them when they fall through the cracks.
An EXEMPLAR is a person of integrity and compassion, who embodies what he believes and is self‑revealing in word and deed, using personal experience as a source of revelation. Members consider her a responsive friend, and a trustworthy mentor.
Years ago there was a checklist of qualifications that went the rounds of clergy wishing to apply to Search Committees. It contained multiple choice items like this one:
q Leaps tall buildings with a single bound
q Leaps short buildings only
q Leaps to conclusions
q Needs a running start
If you tried jotting values from 3 down to 0 beside those 10 dimensions of ministry and they add up to ten or more, the next minister you seek must be superhuman.
David Pohl, long retired now from his position as director of the Department of Ministry of the UUA, was speaking to clergy when he said these words. Try them on and see if they feel true for you, yourself, too:
Ministry...is a way of living. ...It is about being in love with people, with learning…with a faith that, for us, is both tough-minded and tender-hearted. It is about being real, not fake. ...It is about sharing hope and love and courage with those we are privileged to serve and lead.
Hope and love and courage may well be our deepest needs — needs we hold in common as human beings.
But the particularity of human beings means that we have differing gifts and strengths — and ineptitudes, as well. (If you did not you could be God all by yourself; and you would be lonely!) Various systems of personality typing recognize this faceted individuality that makes you and me each unique — the MBTI [Myers-Briggs Type Indicator], based on the work of Carl Jung, widely used in relational settings; and the far older Enneagram, offering classic insights for personal-growth work. More ancient still and far from forgotten, are both the Eastern and Western systems of astrology. All are earnest attempts to grasp what makes us different and unique; what creates and illumines character.
This uniqueness of each of us is a tenet at the heart of Judaism, and is deep in the heart of our own Western heritage. Martin Buber reflected it this way: There has never been anyone like you in the world—for if there had been someone like you, there would have been no need for you to be. Each of us is new to the world. And our primary task is to actualize our unprecedented potentialities; rather than repetition of something that another, even the greatest, has already achieved. As a rabbi of an earlier age said it most simply, “I think I shall try to become a little more myself.”
“I think I shall try to become a little more myself.” That’s richness enough to carry home with you this morning, this season, this year…yet it extends further into community, too.
Not only do individuals each have our own special character, but groups do, as well—created from the skills and strengths and particular focus of their unique mix of members. Suppose we revisited those silhouettes of ministry, imagining each one as the prime identity of a congregation, situated, say, right here in central Oregon.
An EXECUTIVE congregation feels strong, solid, reliable, competent; weathers crisis well; and manages diversity resiliently, with no sense of fear or threat. This church endures.
A CATALYTIC congregation feels active and dynamic, embracing lots of people, with lots going on. Announcements burst the seams of a whole insert in the order of service, and members are tempted to add more, on the spot disguised as joys and concerns (but they don’t).
Sunday morning services that illuminate members’ lives are the heartbeat of a PREACHING church. Visitors are drawn by its reputation, are inspired by what they hear, and return. Members proudly bring their friends.
A TEACHING congregation attracts interesting people from varied walks of life, folks who love to learn along with their children. Here diverse opinions are valued, and discussions are open and lively. Newcomers often encounter people they know.
Worship in a PRIESTLY church is interwoven with beauty; and conscientious care for the spirit is reflected in care for the space and the place. It provides “a home in the universe” for its members, and their loyalty runs deep and is durable, even when they may be absent a while.
A PILLAR congregation conscientiously serves its community, is solidly connected to its ecumenical neighbors and its larger denomination, and nurtures civic leaders for its city.
A PROPHETIC church is lively, and unafraid of controversy. It has earned a wide reputation for activism, and is known for being on the cutting edge of issues, a place where the future is happening.
A PASTORAL congregation takes interpersonal needs and concerns to heart. Members count on each other, care for each other, and know they are cared for in turn.
A PARTICIPATING congregation feels like "family." This is a “hands on” place, where it’s easy to get involved and get to know people, be accepted, and feel at home.
Integrity is the guiding principle of an EXEMPLARY congregation’s public and private life. Levels of openness, honesty and interpersonal trust are high, and conflict is managed with grace. It’s a church of “good people.”
Wouldn’t you dearly love the Fellowship to be all of these, in full measure! — And now give yourselves credit for all you are doing.— way more than any mortal in Jeanne’s position could provide, even “24/7”. No one of us is perfect. In fellowship we won’t be either. But we can do so much more together than alone.
A religious community addresses being, in all its dimensions. And it is good and true that we want it to. We come together to grow more whole, more fully human — to become more truly who we are and may become — to encounter the meaning of our being alive. — And to minister, then, is to serve this wholeness of being. I am fond of saying that to be a minister is to be human for a living.
Now, when we think of "a living" as wages, then "to be human for a living" refers only to the few us who are ordained. But doesn't a living mean much more than wages?
Consider: when are you most truly living? ... To the extent that you experience your own aliveness here, you are involved in religious community — engaged in the work and the play of wholeness and holiness.
Although we Unitarians and Universalists were the sparks that flew forward the farthest from blazing fire of the Protestant Reformation, we tend to smother Martin Luther's grand insight that all faithful people are priests when we limit minister to mean only clergy.
Each involved member of a faith community is engaged in ministry. Each of you. This is rich and hopeful, for the tasks are as vast and varied as human beings are. And when your aptitude is someone else’s ineptitude, what a gift you are!
So, I encourage you to consider the ways in which your life is a ministry, though you may be unused to perceiving it that way.
Consider those ten silhouettes of ministry; add in any more that come to mind (such as parenting children in the village it truly takes to raise them well). Translate these into your own daily life. Play with their implications. Don’t let the terminology exclude you. A preacher may be anyone who’s developed ease and joy in public voice; a priest, someone who savors ritual or the arts—musicians for example, and gardeners. Factor in your own skills, your joys, and your urgings to try something new. Catch a glimpse of what’s possible if we’re all in this together.
What do we want from ministry? Let me borrow words from a church consultant of another faith, whose folks sound just like us: “People want a wise counselor, an accomplished scholar, a family friend, a relaxed raconteur who ‘always has time,’ a crisis minister, a good preacher, an able liturgical leader, good planning, interesting teaching, good administration, an effective problem-solver, an eager visitor, sensitivity, leadership—and so on, no matter what the particular pastor is actually good at. Yet they are all legitimate needs.” [William Morris, Alban Institute Action Information, 1987]
Only by pooling our gifts is it ever possible that we might meet them.
This vision is called shared ministry. It’s on the growing edge of religious living; and it fits who we are. It incarnates our principles. Church, someone else has said, is where we get to practice what it means to be human. [Episcopal rector, Jim Adams]
Ministry, I believe, is the human task, and one that down deep is shared by all of us, using the gifts that are ours, the gifts that we are. Each of us minister to the world as each of us most fully live. “To minister is to be most freely and confidently who you are, to know that it is not enough — and that it will suffice.” [Gordon McKeeman]
Ministry, someone has said, is like standing on a raft, the only problem being that the logs are not tied together. And isn’t that like life? — Each of us learning to find our own “still point” of balance in the currents of existence; learning to trust ourselves — and how to swim when we fall, and trust the Deep. — Keeping the raft together by a human rope; learning to touch, to trust and to hold one another, in the “everlasting arms” of human community.
♫