Yesterday, I came to work at 7:30 a.m. and left about 6:00 p.m. On the way out of the parking lot, I received a message from a recent graduate. This associate minister is seeking to meet ordination requirements. This person's degree in Christian ministry did not include five courses that would have completed the educational requirements for our denomination as approved by a national and international board of ministry leaders and educators.
But, apparently, this associate minister's district credentials board/board of ministry thinks they know better than everyone else in this process of preparing people for Christian ministry. This associate minister is being asked to complete twice the number of courses than anticipated--about one more year's worth of study in district, pastor-led, multi-week courses, about 20-30 hours of class time in courses, all of which do not count toward another degree or credential. It's just a process to satisfy the whims of a district board that changes as pastors are voted on or off or move to new districts. Some will not be there to observe and celebrate this young minister's ordination. Personally, I find these nonsensical district imperatives to be greatly offensive. It denigrates the efforts I (and my colleagues) put in every day and over weekends to make students ready for the next step into ministry. I returned to campus last night at 7:30 p.m. for a meeting with students that lasted beyond the 9:00 p.m. conclusion lasting until about 11:00 p.m. Students are hungry for the informal experiences of learning from professors that they also respect as practitioners--people like me that are pushing them on to something greater than a paycheck or career toward a God-called vocation to equip His people for the work of ministry in this world. What this young, new associate pastor needs is not a registrar checking off a list of courses. The structure of the denomination allows districts to out-source this task to colleges, universities, and a seminary. What this associate pastor needs is not a taskmaster that watches over the shoulder to make sure the younger one is good enough, but not so good as to surpass the overseer. This young person entering ministry needs the readiness necessary for the work they will encounter and not another set of hoops to jump through like some circus poodle. What this associate pastor needs is a mentor to walk him or her into the struggles and summits of ministry. It's time for pastors in positions of district leadership to live up to their callings. As my denomination wonders why it cannot keep millennials in the pews or find enough pastors and ministers to fill its leadership positions, I think I can see a part of the reason why. EDIT: typos corrected. UPDATE: Thanks for the responses to this post as it is reposted on Facebook. One of the responses that looked toward the desire to be united as university and districts in the raising up of the next generation prompted this reply from me: "Every year I've been here [at MVNU], we've had students on various districts at various times go through this frustration [of being required to do more course work]. Some students will take a course of study that does not include all of the required courses, mainly to include a value added skill like a language or business courses. What happened here and at other times is the courses not taken are not the only ones required by the district. They add courses that are not necessary to complete the competency [required] for ordination. It diminishes the credibility of the board that deems a student not ready when many people [leaders] in their lives from university, local church, internship mentors, and colleagues know they are ready. It also diminishes the credibility of the university as if our intensive and difficult ministry preparation programs are not legitimate or inferior. It's frustrating, man, even sickening, especially receiving messages from students on days that I work myself to exhaustion on their behalf and on behalf of my denominational assignment as an ordained minister."
8 Comments
Scott
11/4/2015 02:07:15 pm
As I read your post, I was taken back to my time of "coming through the ranks" and preparing for ministry. I was glad for professors that pushed us along, and I was glad for a district board that helped to monitor me along. I can't speak for every denomination, nor every situation, or even every district board,but I'd like to think that there should be harmony between all of it. In our denomination, there is a prescribed course of study that is laid out by our denomination for ordination. Usually, a person going through one of our colleges, has the required courses to meet those demands. But not always. I believe it's up to the student to work with their board, (who, BTW, they should be meeting with all along the process) to be sure the classes they are taking meet a prescibed set of standards. I would like to think that we are working together in all of this, not against one another. A University and district boards are not mutually exclusive. They should be working in tandom. But I believe, the requirements for ordination, do not fall to the responsibility of the University, but to the district boards. It's unfortunate, if there are some that, while not fulfilling all of the requirements, find themselves lacking certain requirements, but I would hope those are caught long before there is graduation and hope of ordination. I would encourage all students to be working, and monitoring their course work to be sure it is meeting the standards that are set, not usually by district boards, but by a denomination as a whole. The district boards should be there to help support and encourage. I've served on several of these boards, and I've never had a board arbitrarily or maliciously assign work that was unnecessary. But I have been on that board, when someone has not completed the requirements, even after graduation, and we've asked them to complete an assignment or two. We too are held accountable for those we pass along. So I'd like to think that we are all working together towards the same goal, and I'd like to think that that student had been in contact with their boards to be sure that something could have been done long before this surprise. It's not easy, but we do want to encourage them along.
Reply
11/5/2015 10:08:02 pm
Matt, I know that blogs really are more experiential pieces of writing that reflect what people would ascertain as "op-ed" (opinion-editorial) pieces than straightforward journalism. However, you make a number of declarative statements about the state of relationships between districts, educational providers, and those in the ordination that seem to paint the entire denomination, and all districts (including those of the MVNU educational region) with a pretty broad brush.
Reply
Jeanne Orjala Serrao
11/6/2015 09:31:12 am
Thanks, Dean, for pointing out some perhaps careless statements written in frustration. One point I would like to clarify is that there are two issues here. One is the validated course of study for ordination and the other is the role of the district in ordaining a candidate.
Reply
5/2/2018 03:31:47 am
Goodness! It sounds awesome that University of Latvia is arranging the pizza party for it understudies. When I first read this point my mouth wound up watery in light of the fact that pizza is a well done and everybody likes it. So a debt of gratitude is in order for sharing this wonderful subject.
Reply
6/27/2018 04:48:54 am
You may have different types of feelings for some specific sector but you need to keep in mind that your thinking is important here.
Reply
6/30/2018 12:37:07 pm
Yeah i found this offensive too. But what is the solution now?? How we can get through from this frustration. Well no matter we should talk about these problems.
Reply
7/29/2018 01:53:56 am
many people wants to join in Open Mini-Conference on Library "Expertise, Competencies, and Careers" but sometime lack of proper information they can't join in the conference . your details information about Open Mini-Conference on Library "Expertise, Competencies, and Careers" really helpfull it help us good ideas.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Bio
teacher, writer, Archives
August 2022
Categories
All
|