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.