Community Mission

We are currently in the middle of the latest Themed Study Week, this being one of the weeks where we get to choose out of a number of options.

I am doing a week on 'Community Mission', a fascinating topic which has already raised a number of questions for me, arising out of the experiences and stories of those who are facilitating the sessions.

The thing which is really becoming central for me is to reflect upon what my calling to be a priest is in this context. There are a number of factors that have caused this:

1. We were asked to do an exercise in which we write what we would like to see in our own obituary. The first question to help us reflect on this was, "What has been achieved?" I really struggled with this because I just don't think in terms of 'achievement'. My aim is basically to 'act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God'; if I can do this, and in some small ways contribute to the human flourishing which is God's intention for all his people, then I will be happy. 
2. One visitor was very honest with us about an experience he had with a parishioner, in which he was so focused on bringing about transformation within the local community that the parishioner voiced how she felt pastorally neglected. Having done a Long Essay on liberation theology recently, I am very enthusiastic about tackling structural sin, but at the expense of neglecting the pastoral needs of individuals? There's a balance there which is fine and full of tension.
3. Today, the question was asked about what a parish priest is called to be: chaplain to the congregation or to the community? On paper, the answer is simple: 'the cure of souls' is for the whole parish, not just the congregation. But when the congregation have the expectation (be it explicit or implicit) that the priest is there primarily for them, then how does one handle that?

Lots to reflect on, therefore! Tomorrow we will be visiting a project in Reading, to see for ourselves an example of 'community mission in action'. Then on Friday we will reflect on the whole week together. Should be interesting!

Work nearly done!

I finished writing my last Long Essay earlier today - this one was on what Liberation Theologians have to say about the Christian Doctrine of Sin. I discovered a lot of interesting things in the course of writing it, but perhaps the most interesting was what the feminist theologian Daphne Hampson had tosay.

She notes that most Protestant theology speaks of pride as the root of all sin, mainly due to humanity's desire to be autonomous - a desire which generally ends up in either ignoring God or trying to put oneself in the place of God. But for women, pride is actually an inadequate way of looking at sin.

This is because pretty much the whole of history has been patriarchal, in that society has been structured by men in the interests of keeping men in positions of power. Women, in contrast, have been oppressed - and still are (one only has to look at the continuing resistance by some to women in the episcopate to see the evidence of that). As such, defining sin in terms of pride for women is tantamount to asking them to continue self-abasement and self-sacrifice - something which is appropriate to those in power (men), but actually perpetuates the oppression of women.

What, then, is an appropriate way to view sin for women? The argument is that sin is basically colluding with this oppression by accepting the domination of men. Rather, women should look for salvation through becoming 'more grounded' in themselves, thereby attaining the status intended for them by their Creator. There is an element of responsibility here - women are called to claim the power that has been denied them.

I find all this very interesting, particularly with regard to what it means in pastoral terms, for me as a future leader in the Church. One implication is to consider how I, as an ordained priest, will be able to participate in the empowerment of the oppressed (which, obviously, includes other sections of society besides women). It is difficult for me in that, as a middle-class, Caucasian male, I am basically in the group of 'oppressors' whichever oppressed group is being considered (women, ethnic groups, the economically poor, etc). If any readers of the blog can speak from the perspective of one of these oppressed groups, I would be delighted to hear your thoughts!

In the meantime, my academic work is almost done! I need to do some tweaking to all four long essays, but the vast majority is done, which means I can look forward to Holy Week!