Theology Forum To Local Shared Ministry Group

Contents:

1. Assignment

2. Method

3. Ministerial Roles

4. Denominational Standpoints

5. Underlying Theological Positions

6. Conclusions 

1. The Assignment.

The Theology Forum was originally asked to consider the ecumenical theology of Local Shared Ministry on behalf of the LSM Group by the Mission Partnership Executive on 4 December 2007. At a subsequent meeting between Tim Norwood and John Punshon the broad outlines of the project were discussed. It was noted that: 

(a) Local Shared Ministry schemes will all have their own character and will probably be made up of individuals/churches from different traditions. One size will not fit all, since we are likely to see a wide variety of different combinations if the idea takes off. 

(b) It would be helpful to have a written document which might enable members of each tradition represented in the Mission Partnership to reach an understanding of how ministry is understood among the other participating denominations. 

(c) Such a document would probably be both theoretical and practical, i.e. contain some account of the general theology of ministry each denomination operates with, and also an outline of how this takes organizational form in church structures.  

(d) The Theology Forum was not asked to attempt to harmonise these. 

(e) What was envisaged was a fairly simple vade mecum which could be read by ordinary members of churches thinking of entering into an LSM scheme and which would  give them some idea of the operating ideas about ministry held by the other participating churches. 

2. Method 

The theology Forum undertook what amounted to a canvass of the opinions of each of the denominations participating in the Mission Partnership, entertaining speakers from the Baptist, Methodist and United Reformed Church traditions and utilising  documentary advice from Anglican and Roman Catholic sources. In each case we asked how the different churches understood both ministry and authority, since we were looking for the links between the two in the different church traditions under review. 

We also looked at the viewpoints of some of the independent church traditions which are part of the wider picture, and whose views are often to be found within the local local congregations of the Mission Partnership. 

We therefore decided against trying to introduce a purely theological analysis at the beginning of our report. In view of our experience of the contemporary ecumenical movement, we decided that this was something best left to the end of our enquiry.  So we adopted a different approach to the problem and  attempted to move from practice to theory. At the back of our minds was the question of how far the day-to-day life of an LSM church might be influenced or controlled by denominational factors extrinsic to its particular vision. 

3. Ministerial Roles 

We devised a list of ministerial roles as a guide to the functioning of a church unit in order to see how far doctrinal (i.e. specifically denominational) considerations might need to be considered when devising an LSM scheme for any given congregation. It should be noted that this section is concerned with roles and not persons. The reference to ‘minister’ in the list designates a function and not a status.  (The list, which is not exhaustive, is given in the Appendix.) 

(a) Matters where individual ministerial leadership is advantageous but not essential depending on the gifts of any given congregation, and where LSM might significantly enrich the potential for lay ministry.  

1. Planning and conducting services of public worship

2. Encouraging prayer and discussion groups, retreats and seminars, providing religious instruction

3. Provision of pastoral care in various contexts

4. Provision of personal support to people in crises, such as illness,

            bereavement and family breakdown

5. Visiting the sick and elderly to counsel and comfort them and their families

      6. Strategic planning for the congregation

7. Mediation and conciliation in disputes. 

(b) Other matters for which a minister is usually trained but which may not have a specific denominational significance 

1. Reference to community support services, psychologists or doctors

2. Developing relationships and networks within the local community

3. Maintaining ecumenical and interfaith relations

4. Leadership training within the congregation 

(c)  Functions usually carried out by ordained persons but which do not seem to require ordination, though some properly recognised training might be important, even essential: 

1. Preaching

2. Teaching

      3. Maintaining relationships with denominational authorities. 

(d) Matters where the status of the minister is significant. We considered there were three functions which required a duly recognised, but not necessarily ordained, minister in all circumstances, and in which proper theological understanding is essential in any proposed LSM group. 

1. Presiding over sacraments (ordinances)

2. Conduct of public ceremonies – marriages, funerals etc.

3. Keeping records as required by civil or church law 

4. Denominational Standpoints 

It has to be said that each of the denominations with which we are acquainted contains a variety of opinion about what the principles of the denomination are or should be. Most of us  are familiar with the kind of caveats we would use ourselves when asked about our own church, so this summary should not be regarded as authoritative because we may with goodwill have misunderstood what was said to us. Nevertheless, we think we are on the right track. These summaries are ours and those whom we heard or read are in no way responsible for them. 

(a) Baptists 

We were encouraged to see the Baptists as a movement rather than a church, part of the evangelical and congregational stream flowing from Reformation times. The Baptist church is primarily seen as the local congregation and secondarily as part of the wider Baptist family. This gathered congregation is a voluntary association and there is no central body that can make authoritative pronouncements or decisions on its behalf, though English Baptists have a short ‘Declaration of Principle’. 

There is therefore congregational autonomy exercised through the Members Meeting. Practice varies, but a strong sense of tradition among Baptists serves as a harmonising function. Baptists appoint deacons and elders but their activities and responsibilities are determined solely by the Members Meeting. The Meeting may call and ordain anyone to be its pastor, though national acceptance is necessary to move from that congregation. Ordination is seen as a functional qualification and not a sacramental one. In general, the Baptist churches have an open table, and the frequency of communion is  a matter for local decision. One can be a member without having undergone believers baptism.

(b) United Reformed 

The founding document of the United Reformed Church, (1972) envisages Christ’s ministry as being continued today in and through the Church, the whole people of God. It specifies various forms of ministry including worship, prayer, preaching, Christian witness, pastoral care and discipleship, exercised  according to the gifts and opportunities given to each individual Christian. The document goes on to say that Christ gives particular gifts for particular ministries and calls some of his servants to exercise them in offices duly recognised within the Church. It mentions word, sacrament and the caring oversight by which his people grow in faith and love, this oversight being the special concern of eIders and ministers. Elders and ministers are formally ordained when the Church recognises their vocation, accepts their commitment and appoints them to their particular ministry.

In practice the local Church Meeting recognises the gifts of those members suitable for eldership, and elects them by ballot. Ministerial candidates, however, having been approved  by their own church, must be recommended to wider church bodies for endorsement, and  undergo lengthy full- time training. The final qualification is the call to one’s first pastorate at which point ordination is conferred. Nevertheless, URC decisionmaking is on a conciliar and not a hierarchical model and in practice no distinction is drawn between clerical and lay status.

(c) Methodists 

In Methodism, a high proportion of members take an active part in church life, nurtured by the small groups, once called the ‘class-meeting’. The individual congregation is the focus of church life. There are opportunities for service as class-leaders, Stewards and local preachers. Emblematic of the importance of the local congregation is the Covenant Service, which provides an opprtunity for annual recommitment on the part of each member. The individual congregation is served by the circuit system and travelling preachers. However, the local church is never independent, the Methodist Church being connexional, rather than a congregationally ordered Church. The Methodist Conference is the authoritative body under God. 

Methodists hold the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers, but recognise special ministries for reasons of order. The Standing Orders (1974) state: “The Methodist Church holds the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers and consequently believes that no priesthood exists which belongs to a particular order or class of people, but in the exercise of its corporate life and worship special qualifications for the discharge of special duties are required and thus the principle of representative selection is recognised… For the sake of church order and not because of any priestly virtue inherent in the office the ministers of the Methodist Church are set apart by ordination to the ministry of the word and sacraments...”  Nowadays there are two forms of ordination, Presbyter and Deacon. Presbyters preach, baptise, lead worship and preside at the communion, while Deacons, though ordained, assist. The Conference is the governing body of the denomination, and ordination takes place during its annual sessions.  

(d) Anglicans 

Most congregations are involved in an inherited form of ministry ranging from the independent free churches through congregational and connexional forms of government to the Episcopal pattern of the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches. Underlying these patterns are historical experiences and doctrinal controversies that still have a echo in our church life today. In practice, though, these differences are often more theoretical than real. Congregations are likely to be organized round a minister and a small number of committed lay people, often selected for their willingness to serve and the time they can give to that service. The impact of any wider organization will only be felt at certain intervals, for instance, at changes of minister. 

It is probably fair to say that there is no single Anglican understanding of ministry. It has varied too much over time and between schools of thought. And of course much of what the Church of England understands about the nature of ministry has been held in common with other denominations. For example, that every Christian has a ministry is most certainly to be found in the Formularies. (Indeed, in the Anglican understanding of baptism, new life in Christ is a life of ministry and service, inherited by everyone who goes through the water).

However, as the Ordinal states, “'the Church of England maintains the historic threefold ministry of bishops, priests and deacons”. There are Anglicans who maintain this witness for practical or historical reasons, but others for whom these orders are essential to the Church. The general reference of the word ‘minister’ is to the ordained clergy, whose functions are virtually identical with those of other denominations, to preach, absolve, baptize, preside at the communion, and provide leadership in prayer and worship, apart form the usual administrative and pastoral duties.  

(d) Roman Catholics 

The Catholic Church is the progenitor of the whole of western Christendom and enjoys a longer continuous history than any of the other member church in the Mission Partnership, (though these churches would also lay claim to certain parts of the tradition). In the Catholic Church there has traditionally been only one leader of each Church community, usually the Bishop, who may delegate some of his leadership functions without relinquishing his position. The high point of his leadership is his leading of the assembled local church in the Eucharist. It has been put to us that Patristic teaching can be summarised in this way:  the Church makes the Eucharist and the Eucharist makes the Church. Hence, leadership resides in the one who presides at the Eucharist. 

In the Roman Catholic tradition the 'local church' is always understood as the diocese, and this raises the question of whether any small, or geographically restricted Christian community would have the resources or the ability to maintain itself or even grow. Moreover, in the absence, or weakness, of a clearly defined structure or distribution of authority, there will be a tendency for decisions to be taken on a personal rather than a business basis. So the question of ‘locality’ may be more problematic than it seems, and involve theological questions that go beyond the purely practical. 

5. Underlying Theological Positions 

As explained earlier, we have not undertaken an examination of the meaning of authority and ministry from first principles. We are neither equipped to do so nor convinced that this would be helpful. We have therefore considered practicalities rather than principles for three reasons. (a) In present circumstances there is great interest in alternatives to what is generally called the ‘institutional church’ and we see LSM as one of the responses to this mood. (b) We discern within the institutional church considerable convergence in values if not doctrine, such that denominational boundaries, while real, neverthless have a lower priority (in the minds of many) than in the past. (c) Though we are united in our understanding that all authority comes from God, we have to recognise that among our constituent bodies, this authority is felt, understood and experienced in different ways. 

There seems to be fairly wide agreement on the nature of ministry within the church, as one would expect, since this is the calling of all followers of Jesus Christ. Ministry has certain forms or modes, a consideration of which can be instructive. Internally, the faith of the Christian community is built up by means of word, sacrament and pastoral care. Externally, Christians and individual churches are engaged in good works of many kinds. In an earlier section we listed a number of ministerial functions, most of which are carried out, in one way or another, in every church. 

The denominations are unanimous that among these functions, there are a number which require more than the performance of a role, and must be accompanied by

(a) vocation (b) recognition and (c) ordination. Usually there is a fourth requirement, and that is, (d) training. The list we devised was intended to chart the modes of ministry so that any given church, church member, or proposed LSM congregation could trace its own line among what we saw as the ministerial functions to take account of its particular understanding of the place ordained service plays in their understanding of ecclesiology, and what does not require this status. Thus, when a new congregation comes into being, it will need a very clear consensus about this. (We have been very clearly reminded of the advantages of structure and organisation in church life, and the real internal challenges small bodies somtimes face. The price of autonomy can be isolation.) 

While there is a considerable measure of agreement about these matters, denominations do things differently. Only the Baptists seem to operate a purely congregational system, and even among them, the Baptist Union operates as a forum for the denomination. Both the United Reformed Church and the Methodist Church operate as what we might loosely call a ‘connexional’ form of church government which changes its nature over time as new challenges present themselves. The exact form in which the individual church relates to the denomination varies, but we discern a common principle of voluntary association and accepting the guidance of the corporate wisdom of the denominational tradition. 

The two episcopal churches which belong to the Mission Partnership are in a different position, however. In both cases we were impressed with the significance given to the office of bishop in these churches and the diocesan system which underpins the office. While one might be able to argue that in connectional churches, and even, in practice, among the Baptists, there is some kind of corporateepiskope, one would really be avoiding the dimension of the role of the bishop as a personal representative and servant of the church – the personification of ministry, as it were. 

The question of authority is linked with ministry, but is more complex than is sometimes realised. We have noted the ministerial functions where we believe questions of authority may be involved, but believe that important though they are, in practice they are not a significant part of everyday church life. But since there will be disagreements over practical and theoretical questions, some means must be provided for the resolution of them. This, by definition, means an appeal to authority, and an LSM congregation needs to be clear at its inception as to what authority it accepts and how that authority can be formally recognised and accessed  

An authority can be defined as a person, organisation or doctrine which is:  

(a) generally more powerful, knowledgeable or experienced than we are, and is

(b) in a position to prescribe how we ought to conduct ourselves or what we ought to believe, and is

(c) in a position either to oblige us to conform to it, or persuade us to accept it on the basis of our own reasoning or consent. 

On this basis we might divide authorities into strong and weak forms. It is our position that these are controversial matters and that clarity over them is essential when a new group, possibly with more than one sponsor comes into being. We consider that imprecise appeals to authorities like ‘scripture’ or ‘tradition’ are meaningless without some specific interpretation that can be held to justify a particular item of doctrine or practice. Different churches strike this balance in different places, of course. 

We consider it as important to understand how authority can be invoked as what it can be said to decree. 

6. Conclusions 

We were originally asked to think about the ecumenical theology of Local Shared Ministry, and found ourselves rephrasing this request in term of the ways in which an LSM church unit might understand its ministry and the source of its authority. Rather than provide a definition, we have found ourselves constructing a map of the territory in which a new group might find itself, say, starting up a new church community in one of the expansion areas of Milton Keynes.  

We have concluded that in practice there is considerable agreement over the nature of Christian ministry and the way to appreciate this unity is to look at ministry primarily in terms of ministerial functions rather than ministerial persons. In this way it might appear that the range of functions which require a specifically ordained person might be narrower than is commonly assumed. If this is so, a new LSM church unit might enjoy more freedom to experiment with forms of ministry and participation in ministry than might be the case in one of the LEPs or other ecumenical congregations in Milton Keynes. 

This raises one of the fundamental questions that has always faced the ecumenical experiment in MK. Should we be looking for common denominators among our constituent traditions, should we be valuing and giving effect to the varieties of church traditions we possess, or should we be seeking to break new ecumenical ground? It seems to us that this question arises prior to any theological assessment of an LSM  project. If  people are to come together in a new experimental form of church unit, we must presume that they come out of pre-existing traditions, and they need to be clear, as individuals and as a community, what their basic understanding is of what they are doing. If this is not done, there will be an unacknowledged default position somewhere which may emerge in some sort of crisis and exacerbate the tensions that brought the crisis about. (There is unlikely to be a crisis-free community, no matter how harmonious it usually is.) 

An LSM group, we imagine, will normally have a parent body. It is clear to us that all the denominations represented in the Mission  Partnership have a clear understanding of what they are doing when they ordain ministers. There is a distinction, however, between the free churches and the episcopal churches. This is partly a question of identity and assumptions about what the model of the church unit should be, where the gathered church system and the parochial system often operate on different assumptions,notably to do with what degree of autonomy the church unit should enjoy. 

We think that congregational autonomy on the Baptist pattern would be unsuitable in the case of a new LSM church. The Baptists have a long- established and well-used tradition, and that of itself provides considerable strength and precedent, which would by definition be missing in an LSM development. It appears to us that church organisation and ministerial functions are intimately connected here. In the case of the other free churches, it is the denomination that ordains and regulates ministry, but the source of the denomination’s authority lies in the support, advice and consent of the constituent church units. The exact terms on which this is done varies, but we consider that this is the most suitable model for LSM churches. The Methodists talk about the ‘connexion’ and we think that word best expressed what we wish to convey.  This is a practical not an historical point. Anglican churches in an LEP seem to us to have what we would call a ‘connexional’ link with the Church of England as an entity. 

There is another word, important to both the United Reformed and Methodist traditions, and that is ‘covenant’. In many individual churches it is the practice for members to enter into a covenant with one another annually, and personally, as a sign of their devotion and common discipleship. We see this as a necessary counterpart to a connexional relationship since it is an expression of the life of the local church. Such a practice might

provide an LSM congregation with a structural opportunity to keep the nature of its commitment under review and sustain its identity and self-understanding. 

We are very grateful for the invitation to look at these matters, and hope our observations will be helpful. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Appendix 
 

MINISTERIAL ROLES  

Ministers may perform some or all of the following duties:  

1.    Research and study
2.    Plan and conduct services of public worship
3.    Teach on spiritual and theological subjects
4.    Preach
5.    Preside over sacraments (ordinances)
6.    Conduct ceremonies, marriage funerals etc.
7. Provide leadership to the congregation, parish or church  community, as part of a team with lay people in roles such as elders
8.    Encourage local church endeavors

9.   Work on developing relationships and networks within the religious community

10. Supervise prayer and discussion groups, retreats and seminars, and provide religious instruction

11. Assist in co-ordinating volunteers and church community groups

12. Train leaders for church, community and youth leadership

13. Provide pastoral care in various contexts

14. Provide personal support to people in crises, such as illness,

            bereavement and family breakdown

15. Visit the sick and elderly to counsel and comfort them and their families

16. Engage in welfare and community services activities of  communities

17. Refer people to community support services, psychologists or doctors

18. Keep records as required by civil or church law

19. Establish new local churches

      20. Maintain relationships with denominational authorities, bishops, synods etc.

21. Mediate and conciliate in disputes

22. Lead mission and evangelism and train others for this

23. Strategic planning

24. The practice of prayer 

This list is not exhaustive!