This “Teaching Pastorate Model” may sound like a new idea, but it is essentially the church's original paradigm:
“The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ” (Eph 4:11-13, a text that figures prominently in our diocesan vision.)
What if every parish nurtured the development of its own ministerial training Institute that could equip parishioners with all of the kinds of formative experiences that seminaries aim to provide? Or maybe a better question is: why would not aim for such a goal? One reason why we might not is that this kind of model might also increase tensions in the desire for a more congregationalist structure. It certainly would call for an extraordinary degree of trust, and openness to making mistakes. As the author says: “...perhaps the effort to grow [in Christ], no matter how misguided, uniquely opens us up to the possibility and potential of the Holy Spirit.” The key I think is in the parentheses.
This “Teaching Pastorate Model” may sound like a new idea, but it is essentially the church's original paradigm:
ReplyDelete“The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ” (Eph 4:11-13, a text that figures prominently in our diocesan vision.)
What if every parish nurtured the development of its own ministerial training Institute that could equip parishioners with all of the kinds of formative experiences that seminaries aim to provide? Or maybe a better question is: why would not aim for such a goal? One reason why we might not is that this kind of model might also increase tensions in the desire for a more congregationalist structure. It certainly would call for an extraordinary degree of trust, and openness to making mistakes. As the author says: “...perhaps the effort to grow [in Christ], no matter how misguided, uniquely opens us up to the possibility and potential of the Holy Spirit.” The key I think is in the parentheses.