Priested 20 years ago today
Twenty years ago I was ordained an Anglican Priest by Archbishop Brian Davis in Feilding. 20 years!!!! I struggle to believe it has been that long. 20 years and never a vicar. Is that something to be proud of???? And I have only worn a clerical collar sic times in those years, and not for my priesting either (I did for my deaconing to keep mum happy) Is that something to be proud of?
Some reflections:
Leadership: It has been a gift to be a priest and yet to spend most Sundays in the congregation. I get a glimpse into both worlds. And the worlds are different. It still amazes me how many clergy think of their parish as “theirs” to do with as they see fit, and then get really surprised when laity get grumpy. We need to find models where lay and ordained are able to work much better together. We need new models of leadership really.
Catholic: One of the joys of going to international Franciscan things has been experiencing a more catholic approach to worship, in the sense of being more contemplative, and more reverential. To see priests kiss the altar and preside with deep humility and devotion I find moving. There is mystery involved here. We need to be still much stiller in the face of that mystery. But also the actions, which involved the whole body in worship, and remind us of the out of the ordinariness of what we do. In worship we encounter the Living God, God most holy, God most just, in whom there is only love. To bow, to cross yourself, to kneel, to pray with hands outstretched, all that reminds us of the mystery of what we are doing, and of the enormity of what we are doing. God is present among us in bread and wine. How then do we approach.
Prayer: When I was ordained I did not get the daily office. It seemed so dry and boring. I entered it wrongly though. I was looking for deep and profound thoughts. I was looking for big stuff. I had not reckoned on the slow sanding going on through the words of scripture, and the ancient texts. I had not reckoned on God slow but profoundly changing me from within in the stillness and silence. I had forgotten I am much more than my conscious mind. Prayer is about al of me, and is about God’s actions in me and in the world, not about my consciousness of God, not about my thoughts. It took me a long time to get that. It is quiet liberating really.
Our role: To be a priest is to have a particular role in the community of faith. That role is one of leadership, but not to be the big cheese, not to be the one with the vision, not to be the one on whom all rests. It is to work with the community to develop a vision; to create a sense of identity based on God’s call to mission; to create life giving worship and to ensure that people are cared for. We play a pivotal role, but it is just one role. I have always thought of the church as a circle not a pyramid, with the priest in the middle, not at the top.
Love: Another role is to love. St. Francis desired to know the depth of god’s love in the passion, so that he might love as deeply. For that he was given the stigmata. That too is the role of the priest. To love with the love of God it is much less about what we do, and much more about who we are. We are called to be anchored in love, so that others might be anchored in Love. You can be a highly efficient and successful pragmatic leader, and things may be going well from an organisational point of view, but if they do not love, and if they do not know love, then what is the point. The church becomes little more than and Rotary club. But when we love as God loved on the cross, people can be changed, and something happens. It is not always huge or world changing. But it is profound. Then people are changed by love. Some of the best priests I have known were not the most efficient, and not many great things happened. But people knew God’s love, and that love radiated. To be a priest is to love. That love is based on our prayer, that time we spend in that most frivolous of activities, being still in God. Being a priest is not so much about efficiency and management or leadership. It is about gathering people around God’s love, and helping those people join in God’s way of love in the world today. To also spend time in frivolous prayer, to also learn to love.
Wiffle waffle: Well that is very waffley, and probably doesn’t say much. In short, who I am in God is way more important than what I do and what I wear. 20 years of lessons, and so many more to learn. Amen.
Some reflections:
Leadership: It has been a gift to be a priest and yet to spend most Sundays in the congregation. I get a glimpse into both worlds. And the worlds are different. It still amazes me how many clergy think of their parish as “theirs” to do with as they see fit, and then get really surprised when laity get grumpy. We need to find models where lay and ordained are able to work much better together. We need new models of leadership really.
Catholic: One of the joys of going to international Franciscan things has been experiencing a more catholic approach to worship, in the sense of being more contemplative, and more reverential. To see priests kiss the altar and preside with deep humility and devotion I find moving. There is mystery involved here. We need to be still much stiller in the face of that mystery. But also the actions, which involved the whole body in worship, and remind us of the out of the ordinariness of what we do. In worship we encounter the Living God, God most holy, God most just, in whom there is only love. To bow, to cross yourself, to kneel, to pray with hands outstretched, all that reminds us of the mystery of what we are doing, and of the enormity of what we are doing. God is present among us in bread and wine. How then do we approach.
Prayer: When I was ordained I did not get the daily office. It seemed so dry and boring. I entered it wrongly though. I was looking for deep and profound thoughts. I was looking for big stuff. I had not reckoned on the slow sanding going on through the words of scripture, and the ancient texts. I had not reckoned on God slow but profoundly changing me from within in the stillness and silence. I had forgotten I am much more than my conscious mind. Prayer is about al of me, and is about God’s actions in me and in the world, not about my consciousness of God, not about my thoughts. It took me a long time to get that. It is quiet liberating really.
Our role: To be a priest is to have a particular role in the community of faith. That role is one of leadership, but not to be the big cheese, not to be the one with the vision, not to be the one on whom all rests. It is to work with the community to develop a vision; to create a sense of identity based on God’s call to mission; to create life giving worship and to ensure that people are cared for. We play a pivotal role, but it is just one role. I have always thought of the church as a circle not a pyramid, with the priest in the middle, not at the top.
Love: Another role is to love. St. Francis desired to know the depth of god’s love in the passion, so that he might love as deeply. For that he was given the stigmata. That too is the role of the priest. To love with the love of God it is much less about what we do, and much more about who we are. We are called to be anchored in love, so that others might be anchored in Love. You can be a highly efficient and successful pragmatic leader, and things may be going well from an organisational point of view, but if they do not love, and if they do not know love, then what is the point. The church becomes little more than and Rotary club. But when we love as God loved on the cross, people can be changed, and something happens. It is not always huge or world changing. But it is profound. Then people are changed by love. Some of the best priests I have known were not the most efficient, and not many great things happened. But people knew God’s love, and that love radiated. To be a priest is to love. That love is based on our prayer, that time we spend in that most frivolous of activities, being still in God. Being a priest is not so much about efficiency and management or leadership. It is about gathering people around God’s love, and helping those people join in God’s way of love in the world today. To also spend time in frivolous prayer, to also learn to love.
Wiffle waffle: Well that is very waffley, and probably doesn’t say much. In short, who I am in God is way more important than what I do and what I wear. 20 years of lessons, and so many more to learn. Amen.
Comments
Congratulations John. An elder statesman. A role model. Someone to look up to.
Thanks for all you are.
(Next meeting, my shout!)
Bosco
www.liturgy.co.nz