(no subject)

There were recently adverts for Pagan clergy for the prisons; to qualify, one had to be a Figure Of Good Standing In The Community. I think about this a lot.

( Read more... )

(no subject)

What does "being clergy" mean to me?

 

 

( Read more... )

(no subject)

I think I have the advantages of self-awareness - perhaps too much self-awareness - about the moral weight of claiming authority. 

Perhaps this drives my desire to claim it "correctly", to have a clear pathway by which such a thing can be earned, so that I can reassure myself that I am doing it by the book, for the right reasons, and have stages at which I can "fail" if I am not worthy. A check on power.

And a desire for those around me to similarly have a meaningful check. So if I were to enter into this as a lay member, I could see some form of reassuring badge or certificate or initiatory stage which would confirm these things in another person.

As if that was enough, as if it could ever be enough, and work the way I wish it could

(even though numerous Christian groups have proved again, and again, and again, that this kind of formal process is meaningless and easy to cheat, and even acts as a cover for abuses of all kinds)

(no subject)

Like:

I've been thinking recently I'd quite like to set up shop as an exorcist.

( Read more... )

(no subject)

"Faith and desire is, however, no guarantee of ordination. Would-be candidates have first to convince a parish priest that they have the makings of a priest, then pass the scrutiny of a director of ordinands during months of interviews, before enduring a two-day selection conference where a committee endeavours to distinguish between pious enthusiasm and genuine vocation. Undischarged bankrupts are not considered, nor are hopefuls under 18 or over 57, in order to ensure adequate maturity and to justify the enormous training costs with the prospect of a reasonably long ministry.

Many who wish for ordination are deemed unsuitable whether in character, faith or ability; many more are advised to go away and prove themselves before being recommended for holy orders. Those that pass muster embark on a theological degree or diploma course – a non-residential course for married candidates over the age of the 35, residential study in one of the diminishing number of seminaries for those under 30, or the option of either for older single ordinands.

Pike was told to spend six months working in a parish before he could be recommended for training. “I had never done any pastoral work before,” he says. “I went to a deprived parish in Leicester on an estate surrounded by dual carriageways. Quite a few professionals visited it as social workers, speech therapists etc, but the clergy and pastoral assistants were the only professionals who lived there, and I realised that one of the privileges of being a priest is that you are accepted as part of the community – whatever kind of community it is – and there is an instinctively generous welcome into people’s lives.”

After three years studying theology at Mirfield College in Yorkshire, he was ordained at 26 and sent to be curate on an estate in the town of Hartlepool. While at Mirfield Pike had taken a BA in theology at Leeds University, but he says it was the discipline of communal life at the college that got him through the first daunting years of ministry, and he is disturbed by the increasing reliance on non-residential training and threats to traditional colleges."

Something like this. Something I can believe in. I would like a process like this.

The things that stand out to me are:

• An external wise force saying "yes, I agree that you are right for this"
• A training program of some sort
• Gaps in communities which one is welcomed into to fill

And of course, trust - trust that the external body ARE wise, and not swung by bribes, pretty faces, or favours; training programs which are meaningful, colleges which aren't cult abuse waiting to happen; and communities who would welcome a Village Witch into the fabric of their existence, an organising body who would give you a wage for your work.

I found some stuff on a Christian vocation, and it's talking about what we would call "discernment", but I can't see much there which would put a meaningful check on personal ego, or on intra-community bollocks, and I especially like when it says: "if the Vocations Director suggests we hold back for a bit, or if the Bishop decides not to accept us for priesthood at this point, this is not a rejection or a negative thing – it is the way that God is leading us to something else..." also you didn't put out when asked"

(no subject)

To end this on a more positive note: I have put out feelers to three local groups who are in my zone, and am at least going to dip my toes in this month. There's no harm in taking that initial step.

( Read more... )