Of challenge and changeBy The Reverend David Burgess
I write this in the wake of the visit by the Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Revd John Pritchard, to the Wendover Deanery. He spent an entire day visiting churches, schools and other organisations in the local area – by my calculations it was a 14-hour day with 11 separate engagements.
One thing which he is clearly good at is engaging others to communicate what they think and feel about specific issues. For example, at the clergy lunch, he asked each of us to tell him briefly three things: something that brought us joy in our ministry, something we found a challenge, and something we would like to change. As I was sitting exactly opposite him at the table, at least I had a minute or two to collect my thoughts! What I ended up saying hadn’t been immediately obvious when he first asked, and I thought I would share my three points here.
One of the things that brings me joy in ministry is surprise. The surprise of a conversation about faith when the person you are talking to suddenly ‘gets’ the point, a light switches on, and that person moves on in their faith. I see that happen in everyday conversation and also in more formal situations such as a confirmation class or a bible study group. Let me say that the surprise isn’t that God works in people, but the joy is in the unexpectedness of the moment and in the reaction of those whose faith is strengthened.
If a real joy is in surprise, I find the biggest challenge is its opposite – cynicism. By that I don’t mean realism, which is a healthy awareness that life and people aren’t always fair or kind, and that sometimes we have to simply pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and get on with things. Cynicism is more than this. One dictionary definition describes it as “an attitude of scornful or jaded negativity, especially a general distrust of the integrity or professed motives of others”.
Cynicism is rife in our society and it is rife within the Church. Within both institutions it leads to complacency, and within the Church specifically it leads to an erosion of faith, a derisive attitude to hope, an absence of love, and – something I’m keenly aware of – a wilful reluctance to pray. When the Church complains of society’s cynical attitude towards it, we need to acknowledge that we are partly to blame ourselves.
Lastly, I’d like to see some changes in the way ministry works. Part of my job over the last year, while recovering from illness, has been to redefine a lot of what I do. Fortunately, the Prayer Book is clear. I pray for my parishioners, I lead worship and preach, and I undertake pastoral care. The difficulty arises with defining the 20th and 21st century additions to the job; there aren’t many external sources or references to clarify those aspects. If I were ever to have a sabbatical year, I would research and implement a revision of the ministerial role.
All those I’ve talked to who met the Bishop on that day have said that they appreciated his presence enormously. Personally I look forward with enthusiasm to his leadership of the Diocese over the coming years.