All this and More - So You Want to be a Parish Priest

I was going through some old files a while ago and came across a document; Ministry Description, Priest/Rector.  This was a job description of what is expected for a parish priest in the Anglican Church which was provided for me when I became a full-time parish priest some years ago. 

There is a very old joke about clergy only having to work an hour once a week i.e. Sundays.  This job description buried that canard.  Here is a summary which, I hope, will give you a general idea of all the things expected of someone who assumes the role of parish priest.  There are ten areas of responsibilities giving a summary of each one.

1.    Pastoral Ministry – pastoral care/visitation of the sick; marriage, baptism and confirmation preparation, pastoral counselling.

2.    Worship – preparation for worship services including sermons, hymn selection, children’s focus, maintain prayer lists, bulletin preparation; lead worship in long term care facilities.

3.    Parish Education – provide for families preparing for baptism, confirmation, funerals; provide seasonal education programs e.g. Lenten and Advent; lead bible study.

4.    Parish Administration – participate in preparation of parish budgets; manage parish office, lead council meetings; chair vestry meetings.

5.    Encourage Lay Leadership – identify, train, equip and commission lay leaders within the parish.

6.    Spiritual Guidance – provide spiritual counselling to individuals and groups,

7.    Ministry Beyond the Parish – involvement in Diocesan meeting and groups; attend Synod (annual Diocesan meeting).

8.    Community Involvement – attend community clergy meetings; lead/participate in ecumenical community services; serve as Legion Chaplain.

9.    Continuing Education – attend clergy conferences; participate in Diocesan clergy days; undertake continuing education.

10.   Spiritual Development – annual retreats; meet with Spiritual Director; maintain regular prayer life; regular study of scripture.

The call to priesthood is sometimes summarized under the categories of priest, pastor and prophet.  However, as you can see for this it involves a lot more than fits into those three categories.  The challenge, as I see it, is that the parish priest is called to be all things for his/her parish.  This is particularly true in small and medium sized parishes where there is only one priest.  It would be an executional person who could do all these things well, or perhaps, even adequately.   

If there are larger parishes which have a clergy team there can be clergy that have strengths in certain areas and other areas can be undertaken by other members of the team.  Most Anglican parishes are small to medium sized in Canada.  This puts the responsibility of all these areas on one person. 

Even Jesus had a group of twelve and more to undertake his ministry.  Perhaps there needs to be a recognition and acknowledgement that one person cannot do all these things well.  As a result, some areas are going to suffer.

The next time you are tempted to criticize your priest/minister, bear in mind he or she is only human and can’t perform miracles.  Praying for them is always a good idea as is seeing where you can assist in the life of a parish/congregation. 

Songs from the Tower

Recently, I have been singing and playing many of the Leonard Cohen songs that are in my repertoire.  This has brought home to me how many of the lines/phrases are truly wonderful and memorable.  Unlike many lyrics by other composers, many of Leonard’s are poetry which stand on their own, and which resonate with me, as I know it does with so many other people.  I thought I would share some of my favourite lyrics with you.

I have just been starting to learn to play Tower of Song.  There are a couple of the lyrics which are on my list:

Well, my friends are gone and my hair is grey
I ache in the places where I used to play
And I'm crazy for love but I'm not coming on
I'm just paying my rent every day in the Tower of Song

This may not be the best known of Leonard’s lyrics, but it came to mind recently as I was contemplating my stage of life.  Many friends are no longer in my life and my hair is gray – what’s left of it, and I certainly ache in places that I no longer play.  I’m not sure I’m crazy for love thank God and perhaps my rent is overdue in the Tower of Song – where I have spent countless hours of the life.

Another verse for this Tower may surprize those who don’t think a lot of Leonard’s vocal abilities:

I was born like this, I had no choice
I was born with the gift of a golden voice
And twenty-seven angels from the Great Beyond
They tied me to this table right here in the Tower of Song

Yes, Leonard’s singing is an acquired taste – it does grow on you.  On the live performance on his last tour, this verse was met with thunderous approval.  For me his voice is exactly what it should be for his songs.  They go together – hand in glove – a cliché but I don’t know a better description.

Turning to something in a different vein, there is the song Passing Through, which opens with someone watching Jesus on a cross on Calvary:

I saw Jesus on the cross on a hill called Calvary
"Do you hate mankind for what they done to you?"
He said, "Talk of love not hate, things to do, it's getting late
I've so little time and I'm only passin' through."

Leonard was not, as far as I know, a Christian being Jewish and studying Buddhism for many years.  However, he was able to draw on Christianity as a source for his lyrics as he did for so many sources of inspiration.  For me, this sums up the message of Jesus Christ and the meaning of the cross.  We should talk of love and not hate.  It is what the world needs now – love sweet love, to borrow from a song by a different composer.  We are all only passing through and it is getting late.

The next song, Coming Back to You, says a great deal about the challenges of relationships which many people have experienced:

Maybe I'm still hurting
I can't turn the other cheek
But you know that I still love you
It's just that I can't speak
I looked for you in everyone
And they called me on that too
I lived alone but I was only
Coming back to you

The last song I want to reflect on today, has, undoubtedly the most poignant and wise line of all; Leonard’s song, Anthem:

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in

I suspect, without checking with AI, that this is probably the lyric from Leonard that is most quoted.  It says so much about the human condition and the struggle and challenges that people have in becoming more fully human.  These four lines sums it up perfectly.

I could go on delving into the depths of that deep well that Lenord has shared with the world.  I invite you to drink from that well as often as you are willing and able.

Thank you, Leonard, for all your songs from that Tower you inhabited so well.  As he predicted, we are hearing from him long after he has gone to take his place with Hank Wiliams in that Tower of Song. I will give Leonard the last word, as he deserves:

Now I bid you farewell, I don't know when I'll be back
They're moving us tomorrow to that tower down the track
But you'll be hearing from me baby, long after I'm gone
I'll be speaking to you sweetly from a window in the Tower of Song.

 

Out of the Mouths of Babes

This edition might have been a review of the movie Babe, which Lorna and I watched recently.  However, I have been thinking about what children – especially young ones - can give to the world.  This came to mind when I recalled what I have determined was a wise thing I said a long time ago when I was five or six years ago.  I was with my mother in the family car, and we stopped at a store where, I guess she had to pick up a few things – I’m not sure what.  As she left, she said to me, “I will only be a minute.”  I replied without thinking, “is that one of your minutes or one of my minutes?”  I don’t remember what she replied but it did sum up my perspective on what time meant for each of us.  I don’t remember but I think it was closer to one of my minutes than hers – at least that time.

Children – especially little one – see the world in ways that adults have forgotten.  They see aspects of their world with fresh eyes.  One way is that they have a strong sense of fairness.  They know instinctively when things are not fair – or at least don’t seem to be fair from their perspective.  They may not see the larger perspective, but they still have an innate sense that the world should be fair. 

Jesus knew that children can have a way of seeing the world which has been lost by people when they ‘grow up’.  First, they represent how we should reflect the values of the Kingdom of God, "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:3). 

He realized that children were among those who were often excluded.  People did not realize that we are mistaken when that happens, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." (Matthew 19:14, Mark 10:14, and Luke 18:16).  Rather than excluding them, they should be welcomed and received as we would receive Jesus,” "Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me." (Matthew 18:5). 

Finally, Jesus warns against the mistreatment of children.  It is our duty as individuals and society to protect them, "If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea ( Matthew 18:6, Mark 9:42, Luke 17:2). 

As is often the case, Jesus reminds us that all are welcome in the Kingdom.  Those excluded by society – those on the margins, as well as children, can reflect more of the Kingdom than those of us who have received their reward in this world.  Remember that Jesus chose to be in this world first as a child – a helpless baby in fact.  That says it all.

Perhaps we should all attempt to reawake our inner child from time to time.  It could get us closer to God’s intention for us.

If You Got it – a Truck Brought It

We have successfully made our annual trek to our cottage in Prince Edward Island.  Travelling by car the 1800 km brought home the paradox of dealing with transport trucks on today's highways.  There were, at various stages of the journey, many trucks which somewhat reluctantly shared the road with us.  The paradox comes in that dealing with trucks while driving a smaller vehicle – that is most vehicles, is not generally a positive experience.  However, trucks and the cargo they carry are essential to the modern economy. 

Reflecting on our experience of sharing the roads with trucks, I mounted the way-back- machine and to my former life when I worked in truckin8 policy for the Ontario Ministry of Transportation.  A part of the job was to help educate the public on the value of trucking to our economy.  One of the slogans that was developed by the Ontario Trucking Association to help promote the importance of trucking was, ‘IF You Got it, a Truck Brought it.’  In effect, this statement summarized the reality that the things we use in today’s economy, at some point in its life, are moved by truck.  There may be some very minor variations to this but for the vast majority of things this is the truth.  This was true more than thirty years ago and it is even more so today.

The number of transport trucks that we encountered on our journey east gave a lie to the moribund picture of the Canadian economy which is apparently in ‘a technical recession’.  The number of trucks moving on hwy 401 and the TransCanada hwy was a sign of economic activity.  The goods that they carry could not practically get to their destination any other way.  Most manufacturers and other businesses no longer have rail connection as they once did.  That’s the positive.  However, looking at it from the side of motorists sharing the road with large trucks is not that positive.  Large trucks are not as mobile and maneuverable as cars and similar sized vehicles.   That means they take longer to accelerate and longer to stop – so it is wise to give them some space.  In addition, it can be annoying if a truck attempts to pass another truck which is going slightly slower, it may take a long time to do that manoeuvre while other vehicles are lining up behind the passing truck.  Trucks can also block road signs from the view of motorists – again annoying and requires planning if you are looking for a particular exit on a highway.  If you are really lucky -or rather unlucky – you might get caught in a situation where you are surrounded by large trucks with no way to escape – trucks in front of you; trucks behind you and, yes, trucks beside you in the passing lane. 

There are things that any motorist can do to adjust their driving to accommodate trucks.  The most important thing is to not let your emotions run you when you encounter a truck doing something to get in your way.  They are much larger and will win in any encounter with a car.  Of course, the government needs to do its part to ensure the trucking industry is operating properly within the laws, rules such as hours of service, and other regulations.  There was the recent account in the media about truck driver training schools scamming the system and not training students properly.  We all need to do our part in trying to ensure roads are as safe as possible.

So, the next time you are frustrated by the inconvenience or challenge of sharing the road with a truck, remember the part they play in our economy – if you got it a truck brought it.  Safe travels on your journey.