From the Sounds of St. Francis.
The Christian life is sustained by texts and practices, ideas
and experiences. We learn to follow
Jesus by reading the Bible, listening to sermons and participating in classes. But we also grow through common worship,
observing the decisions that fellow believers make and reaching out our hands
to serve the poor.
When people answer God’s call to serve as leaders in the
church, we prepare them best by a combination of rigorous study and practical
experience, giving them opportunities to observe congregations close up and to
try their hands at the tasks of pastoral ministry. Priests are not made by
diplomas alone.
We’d be reluctant to
commit ourselves to the hands of a surgeon who’d only watched a video about the
operation. We wouldn’t want to commit an
important matter to the guidance of a lawyer who’d only encountered the problem
in question while preparing for her exams. Confidence and true knowledge comes
through practice, seeing how the concepts and tools of a discipline are applied
in real situations.
“Field education” goes back to beginnings of ministry in the
life of God’s people. The boy Samuel was
sent to live with Eli, the priest who tended the tabernacle at Shiloh to
prepare for his future vocation as a priestly leader (I Sam. 1). Elisha founded a “school of the prophets” who
could learn how to discern God’s will by praying with the master and watching
how he spoke the truth in challenging situations (II Ki. 2, 4).
Jesus brought his disciples with him as he healed and taught
the crowds, and the Gospels preserve several of the discourses and a lengthy
prayer he offered for them, bearing in mind the practical challenges they would
face in carrying on His work after the resurrection (e.g. Jn. 14-17). It’s
striking that when a new apostle needed to be chosen to replace Judas in the
days after Jesus’ ascension, the main selection criteria were experiential, “one
of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went
in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he
was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his
resurrection.” (Acts 1:21-22).
The use of seminaries to provide candidates with a
professional training for the ministry is a relatively recent development in
Anglican churches, going back only about two centuries. While churches of our Communion have
generally always insisted on an educated clergy, the majority of Anglican
priests over the course of history prepared for ministry by “reading for orders,”
studying the Scriptures and church doctrine while living and working alongside
an experienced cleric. Each year sees
more residential seminaries closing, and many experts talk of a future model
much more like the older one, in which mentoring and practical experience in
congregations play an even more central role.
At least for the next five months, Saint Francis will be
serving as a site for field education, as we welcome Taylor Devine, a senior at
Virginia Theological Seminary to work among us.
Those of you who have been members of the parish for many years will
know that there is a long tradition of work with seminarians here, with VTS
students serving here as recently as five years ago. The lay committee assembled by Nancy Hoke to
help guide the seminarian’s work even includes a few members with pastexperience in
this ministry
It has been a blessing for me to work with Taylor for about a
year and a half during my time as the interim rector at Saint Timothy's Church. I’ve actually been working with
seminarians and newly ordained clergy almost continually for the last seven
years of my ministry. Taylor is a very
gifted preacher and teacher. Her
academic training in social analysis and her perceptive nature make her a
really insightful observer of patterns in congregational life. She’s also very compassionate, and was valued
by parishioners at Saint Timothy’s for her skills as a pastoral caregiver. I know you will come to value and care for
her as I have.
Taylor will be with us about ten hours a week, and will assist
in leading worship each Sunday. She will
preach about once a month and share in teaching and pastoral care duties. Observing parish life is an important part of
her work, and she will attend some fellowship and youth activities as well as a
variety of meetings. Each week, she will
meet with me to relate what she is observing and experiencing to the ideas she
is learning in her classes at the seminary.
I’ll also be providing some training for her in leading worship and
other tasks related to pastoral ministry.
Being a field education site gives us, as a congregation, an
important stake in the future of the church.
When Taylor is ordained next summer, we will stand behind her, at least
in our prayers. This relationship gives us
an opportunity to share what we have found to be true, good and faithful with a
person who will shape the lives of many congregations over the course of what
we trust will be a long and fruitful ministry.
Taylor helps to keep us fresh and perhaps also to expand the
work we are able to do in Christ’s Name.
I’ve found that seminarians often notice things I have missed, and ask
perceptive questions that reveal new opportunities. As we think about reaching the millennial generation,
it’s helpful to have one among us as a leader who can speak directly from her
own experience as a committed Christian of that generation. I’ve also found it helpful to have a woman in
a position of authority in parish life who can offer care and speak into issues and situations where it’s more difficult for me to do this.
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