Mission requires radical overhaul
Richard Randerson | 31 Dec 2009
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Early in 2009 I initiated a survey (Survey 2009) of the views of tikanga pakeha clergy and laity on the theology and strategy for mission as taught and practised today.
Some 96 persons, from every diocese, responded to the survey, the group including laity, deacons, priests and bishops, some older, some younger.
Responses to Survey 2009 indicate considerable disquiet with the current paradigm of mission as practised, but also broad evidence of green shoots appearing where individuals and ministry units are engaged in creative endeavours in mission.
The responses show that while there is rock solid agreement on the ACC (Anglican Consultative Council) mission statement, there is widespread recognition that as a Church we are not performing as well as we might in terms of delivery.
Three key obstacles to mission were identified :
· Inadequate training in theology and ministry skills
· Preoccupation with the one priest/one parish model of ministry at the expense of other ways of being Church
· An imbalance of leadership time and financial resources so that disproportionate emphasis is placed on the maintenance of the Church’s institutional life at the expense of its mission.
Summary results from Survey 2009 include :
ACC Mission Statement and Practice:
100% of respondents indicated a commitment to the ACC mandate as a holistic and integrated overview of mission.
When asked how well the Church performed across the spectrum of mission, respondents felt that time and effort was allocated 60% to faith discipleship and growth, 30% to works of social caring and justice, and 10% to care of creation. By a ratio of 7:1 respondents believed this was not a balanced response.
While not suggesting that a 33% split across the three categories was appropriate, the feeling was that more effort was required in the second and third categories. In environmental matters the Church has barely started.
Theology of Mission:
This question asked about the extent to which clergy and laity had been exposed to some study on the theology of mission in their training for ordination or as church-members.
Responses here ranged from little or none (25%), to some (52%), and much (23%). It has been difficult to discover what emphasis is placed on the theology of mission in theological colleges. In two places there is a course available, but it is optional.
Recent graduates report no requirements at all in this area, yet it is the foundation of the Church’s work.
Skills and Strategies in Ministry:
The discrepancy between commitment and practice re the ACC mission statement highlights the reality that a good theology of mission is of little value if not accompanied by appropriate training in skills and strategies for mission.
A question asking how readily available such training is revealed that 28% felt it was not very available, 61% said fairly available, and 11% very available.
Clergy reported that while there were some useful diocesan or regional programmes on offer, by and large they were dependent on their own reading, networking with others, and the internet.
Some found that community organisations offered more useful training in terms of community outreach.
Diocesan Leadership:
Asked about the balance between local initiative and diocesan leadership in mission as practised, respondents indicated 70% local and 30% diocesan.
A following question sought responses about where they felt the balance should ideally lie. 29% felt that greater local initiative was appropriate, while 71% felt more diocesan leadership was called for.
This does not mean increasing the workload of already over-burdened bishops, but it could mean that bishops do more to establish an expectation that ministry units will be accountable in terms of effectiveness across the whole spectrum of the ACC mandate.
Programmes run by diocesan ministry staff to equip local congregations with appropriate ministry strategies and skills would be an essential complement.
Chaplaincies:
Arising from my own experience in chaplaincy and non-parochial ministries, I asked a question about chaplaincies.
Almost 70% of respondents indicated that they had been involved with chaplaincy as clergy, or experienced it as laity.
Chaplaincy is exercised across a wide spectrum of community institutions such as hospitals, schools, universities, armed services, prison, police and in the workplace.
Chaplaincy is thus critical to ministry in the wider and non-churched community, but compared with parish ministry 69% of respondents felt chaplaincy was less valued by the Church as a whole, 26% felt it was valued the same, and 5% felt it was more valued.
By a ratio of 8:1 the view was expressed that the Church needs to place greater value and emphasis on chaplaincy alongside of, or in partnership with, parish ministry.
More Flexible Ministry Patterns?
There are many places today where parishes with comparatively small congregations work alongside each other with very little contact and much duplication of effort in things like study groups, joint mission planning, wedding, baptismal and confirmation preparation, parish administration, while owning parish buildings and land worth millions of dollars which are often under-utilised.
There is much capacity for clergy and laity to create team ministries that work across traditional parish boundaries to provide more effective ministry and make better utilisation of human and financial resources.
In response to a question re such a concept, 46% said they thought it was essential, 40% said it was worth exploring, and 14% thought it was not practical. The latter group were largely from rural parishes where distances often preclude local co-operation.
A point several made was that maintaining a local centre of worship with an identifiable priest is quite compatible with larger team ministries.
Ministry of Laity:
Any respectable theology on the ministry of the laity would see such ministry as being exercised primarily in the community beyond the gathered Church. Laity are witnesses to the faith and agents of transformation in the workplace and every form of social life. Survey 2009 showed a 96% reading in favour of the essential nature of this ministry.
But when asked as to how much emphasis the Church placed on such ministry, 48% responded little or none, 38% said some, while 14% said much. A further question as to whether respondents had offered or been offered a training programme in this area, 37% said never, 46% occasionally, and 17% often.
In today’s Church ministry of the laity is heavily weighted in terms of their role in the life of the local church, whether it be in terms of worship leading, pastoral care or parish administration.
Thank God for the commitment and skills of such manifold and diverse ministries, but when lay ministry in the local church displaces the central role of laity in the community and workplace we have departed fundamentally from our theology.
Partnerships between Parishes and Central Church Social Service Agencies:
Society is indebted for the vast and sacrificial work undertaken by the Church through agencies such as city missions, social service centres, aged care and others.
Yet very often such work is centralised and remote from local congregations. While the central agency is very much involved with community need, many parishes have little or no connection.
There are some excellent examples of central agencies working in partnerships with parishes in service delivery. In Auckland, for example, there are now more than 25 parishes that work locally in aged care in partnership with the Selwyn Foundation.
This expands the ministry of the central agency, while creating a bridge for parishes with their own communities.
Creating such partnerships takes time and careful negotiation, but 76% of Survey 2009 respondents believed such partnerships should definitely be developed further, while 21% said it was worth exploring.
Ecclesiastical Superstructure:
Anyone, clergy or lay, who has been part of the Church for very long comes to realise just how much time and money are absorbed in committee work in areas such as theology, liturgy, finance and governance.
Not only bishops but laity and clergy, senior and junior, can find much of their time absorbed in such w
ork. Some of it is essential, but it can often be a diversion from the Church’s essential task and raison d’etre in mission. What consideration is ever given to the practical difference to mission any of these meetings actually make?
A question along these lines revealed that 11% of respondents felt the balance between superstructure and mission was about right, 44% believed a much better balance with mission was required, while 45% believed a radical review of the Church’s structures was called for, thus allowing the Church to be lighter on its feet and focussing more on essential ministry tasks at the grassroots.
The Current Paradigm:
A final question focussed on how effective respondents felt the current Church paradigm was in terms of in mission. 7% rated it as adequate, 33% as needing new ideas, and 60% as requiring major refocus. In terms of how urgent the need was for change, 84% regarded it as urgent or very urgent.
Grass Roots Ventures for the Future:
While there are huge concerns about a 21st century Church which operates with a largely 1950s paradigm of mission, there are many creative signs of change. Survey 2009 invited respondents to provide snapshot outlines of creative ‘green shoots’ ministries they were engaged in.
Around 115 such outlines were submitted covering the spectrum of the ACC mission statement from worship and faith development to community outreach and justice, and care for the environment. A complete summary of the figures above will be published in April 2010.
Also included will be personal insights from respondents, a three-part study on the theology of mission, and the 115 ‘green shoots’ ministry projects.
The publication is designed as a resource for ministry units in the conduct of mission in a vastly changed church and societal setting.
Richard Randerson is the former Dean and Assistant Bishop of Aucklandrandersonjr@paradise.net.nz
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