Essentials
Encouragements from the Familiar
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- Written by: Peter Brain
Encouragements from the Familiar (or habit-forming praying brings joy to the mundane)
Some years ago, I remember reading the sage comment from George MacDonald: ‘nothing is so deadening to the minister as the habitual dealing with the outside of things.’ I took it on board as a timely warning and came up with a proposition: ‘that familiar things used rightly can become our best friends’. Let me suggest six familiar Prayer Book prayers, which if prayed regularly with a good heart, can keep us refreshed and joyful in local church ministry. They are not instant cure-alls, but have been one reason why so many pastors have been, and remain, faithful in this noblest of all tasks: the pastoring of men and women, boys and girls, in local churches, small and large, across our nation and beyond.
Habitual work, as with any vocation, be it parenting, spousing, farming, researching, labouring, teaching, administrating, health care, business, governing, policing and the trades require the establishment and practice of healthy habits. Ministry is no different in this regard, since as noted by Logan Pearsall Smith: ‘The test of a vocation is the love of the drudgery it involves’. Without good habits the mundane can easily divert us from our calling. However, habits that bring us into God’s presence can fill us with joy as we remember the big picture enterprise God has called us to. Habits that enable us to attend to the often mundane and unexpected demands, unnoticed and unappreciated, difficult as well as the easy are vital. By drawing us into fellowship with our Chief Shepherd we will have a better chance of avoiding the deadening effects of the ‘outside of things’. We will be kept from being defined by our role, helping us to be defined by our relationship with the Lord Jesus, as adopted children of our heavenly Father. These priceless prayers can keep us from falling into the ministerial hazards of comparing ourselves with other pastor’s, their gifts, churches, prominence or personalities, releasing us to be grateful to God, content to serve where He has called us to, loving and fully committed to the people of our church and quick to encourage our fellow pastors and leaders.
The prayers are all from the 1662 Prayer Book. For clarity I have used the AAPB 1978 version of each text. Some will be better known than others. Each is memorable, and I am very grateful to God and the pastors who led our services, and glad to testify that along with the Bible, have become part of my DNA as a believer since 1964 and a pastor since 1975. I share them with my fellow Anglican pastors and have no hesitation in commending them to fellow pastors from other denominations. They are entirely consistent with the Bible and have stood the test of time in encouraging and shaping pastors and believers through the ages. My only regret is that many of my fellow evangelicals may not have benefitted as much as they might have, given the demise of the full range of prayer book services. Pastors and their congregants may have been unwittingly robbed of this rich source of habitual encouragement at a time when, for various reasons, it has been difficult to stay on track as disciples and when local church ministry has never been harder.
They may help us face John Piper’s challenge: ‘that the first responsibility of the minister each day is to pray him/herself into happiness’. I am not suggesting that they should be prayed every morning (though we could do worse), nor that they are a silver bullet, but by keeping the big picture of ministry before us in prayer, the mundane and familiar become infused with large doses of God’s grace in our dual callings, as disciples and pastors.
My own conviction, borne out of experience and observation, is that these prayers, and others like them, refresh our minds, continue to captivate our hearts with love for our Saviour, ensuring our ministries are exercised ‘under God’, for His glory and for the people under our care (Gal 2:20, 1 Thess 2:8 and 1 Peter 5:1-4).
Habits are clearly commended in Scripture (Eph 6:17-20 with the four traditional means of bible, prayer, church and witnessing noted, 1 Tim 4:7b-8 with its emphasis on training and Gal 6:7-10 with its sowing metaphor outlined thus:
If you sow a thought, you reap a word.
If you sow a word, you reap an act.
If you sow an act, you reap a habit.
If you sow a habit, you reap a character.
If you sow a character, you reap a destiny.
1. Almighty God, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hidden: cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy name, through Christ our Lord. Amen. (Holy Communion AAPB)
This prayer, like the double-edged sword of Heb 4:12-13 (was it in Thomas Cranmer’s mind as he penned this prayer?) has awful consequences for those praying it trying to run from or hide sin from God. However, those who come humbly, find the remarkable assurance of Heb 4:14-16 filling their contrite heart with confidence before His throne of grace. This re-centering has many applications including:
Warnings to be heeded if we are lazy with our use of time, cherishing sin, thankless or cranky with those we are ministering with and to (Col 3:17,23; Psalm 66:18; Eph 4:3; Phil 2:1-5).
Encouragement to the weary pastor that God knows who and where we are (Ps 139, 121), our struggles and weaknesses (2 Cor 4:7-12;11:28-29;12:7-10), promising strength in our calling (1 Thess 5:24), and assurance that His Sovereign hand can always be trusted for good (Rom 5:3-5; 8:17 and 26-30).
Comfort to the pastor unsure of the congregation’s acceptance. God who knows our, and their hearts fills us with confidence that irrespective of our feelings or their attitudes toward us we are secure in His acceptance of us, as believers through justification by faith and as pastors, as dearly loved sheep and under-shepherds of His flock (Rom 5:1- 2. Jn 10:11-21; 1 Pet 5:4; Rev 2:2,9,13).
Challenge to live for the praise of God alone. His praise is never fickle or mere flattery. Knowing He is in our grandstand cheering for us, come what may, means we can relax, finding our comfort from Him.
2. Almighty and most merciful Father, we have strayed from your ways like lost sheep. We have left undone what we ought to have done, and we have done what we ought not to have done. We have followed our own ways and the desires of our own hearts. We have broken your holy laws. Yet, good Lord, have mercy on us; restore those who are penitent, according to your promises declared to mankind in Jesus Christ our Lord. And grant, merciful Father, for his sake, that we may live a godly and obedient life, to the glory of your holy name. Amen. (AAPB Morning prayer p20)
The general Confession is ever so realistic since it reminds us that we who gather, stand on unholy ground, together. We can only come to God through repentance and faith. This hearty reminder not only keeps us in tune with the teaching of the New Testament (1 John 1:8-2:2) but ought to fill our hearts with gratitude for God’s gracious pardon through Jesus Christ. Any sense of pride or one-up-man-ship evaporates as we meet together with hearts open, not only for God’s nourishment and correction, but ready for any and every opportunity to serve each other, whether we like them or not. The reality is that there is only one kind of person we are able to church with each week: and that is a fellow sinner! The same goes for them with us! This unflattering, but joyful truth, is borne out in that all the exhortations in the New Testament to forgive, to be patient, to esteem, to love, to serve, to encourage are written to believers. This prayer will keep our expectations grounded and realistic (church is more like a hospital for sinners than a sanctuary for saints!). To be sure we are treated by God as saints (61/62 times plural in the NT) but we are to earnestly seek to become more and more like our Saviour in obedience. The local church is a crucible where our Lord grows us as we patiently exercise grace laden responsive service to fellow sinners. Every time we meet, this prayer reminds us to thank God for His grace to everyone else who has gathered with us. Grace that reminds us: we stand together on holy ground through Christ.
3. Clothe your ministers with righteousness: and make your chosen people joyful. (Psalm 132:9). Lord, save your people: and bless your inheritance. (Psalm 28:9). These ‘versicles and responses’ come from Morning and Evening Prayer (AAPB p.27/32) and are two of six prayers from the Psalms that are full of encouragement and challenge for ministers. The minister is prayed for by the congregation, who in turn are reminded that they, along with their ministers, are ‘God’s chosen people’ and ‘inheritance’. Nothing is as ennobling for believers to be reminded of this high calling, or as challenging to ministers to be Godly and faithful in lifestyle and ministry. God’s chosen people will be (or at least ought to be) joyful when their minister knows they are justified (counted righteous) in God’s sight by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. This will keep ministers from relying upon the size of our church, popularity or abilities, which can only cause us to push our congregations to fulfil our own agendas or be impatient with them if they won’t or can’t.
It will also mean that the minister, like every other believer, should be seeking to live righteously in every aspect of their life. As pastors we are to be examples to our congregations and communities. Like Paul we want to be able to say to people: whatever you have … heard or seen in me-put it into practice (Phil 4:9). Our chief desire will be to watch our life and doctrine closely (1 Tim 4:16). Because we will be watched, we are wise to watch our lifestyle knowing that the God who watches us, welcomes us as justified sinners and adopted children. We therefore covet this prayer of His people. It goes without saying that God’s chosen people will rejoice when their minister preaches the great truth of ‘justification by faith alone, in Christ alone, by grace alone for the glory of God alone’. No doctrine is as full of encouragement to believers as this, nor as humbling to proud and self-reliant sinners. For these reasons here is a prayer for pastors to pray for each other since it will keep us on track, encourage the Lord’s inheritance, issue forth in good works, deliver joy to all who respond and perseverance in faithful preaching when people want to foolishly justify themselves before God.
4. O God, the author and lover of peace, in knowledge of whom stands our eternal life, whose service is perfect freedom; defend us your servants in all assaults of our enemies, that, surely trusting in your defence, we may not fear the power of any adversaries, through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (AAPB p.28).
There are many hazards of discipleship for all believers, not least for ministers of the gospel in the front-line ministry of local churches. There are assaults of enemies of the gospel and from the great deceiver himself. The chief of these is to take back what we once surrendered to Jesus when we were converted and then set apart for ministry. The reminder that the One who saved us for eternal life, did so for the purposes of installing and investing us for a lifetime of consecrated sacrificial service, is timely given post-covid pressures, hedonism and public opposition. The world and Satan conspire to cause us to see our privileged call as either drudgery, joyless duty or too demanding to maintain. My attraction to this prayer has been that simple but wonderful phrase ‘whose service is perfect freedom’. It has served to recall me to the heart of my Saviour and Lord whose pattern, in incarnation and atonement was initiative taking, sacrificial and other-person service. This He freely gave on behalf of his people (Acts 20:27-28, Jn 3:16, 10:11, Gal 2:20), calling us to replicate and imitate in our lives (Jn 12:23-26) and find blessing in our emulating obedience (Lk 9:24, 10:20, 11:27-8, 12:32-4,37,17:29-30). The freedom of being justified by faith is a freedom to serve the Saviour. It knows nothing of laziness, self-serving or holding back (as shown by Jesus), and comes with the assurances of (Mt.28:20, 1 Cor 15:58, 2 Tim 4:6-8, 2 Peter 1:10-11, 1 Jn 3:2-3). Freedom, spoken of by Jesus in Jn 8:31-32 comes as we hold to His teaching. Like all good prayers the truths that underpin the freedom of service have the power to keep us joyful through every challenge of our calling to be serving children and servants. This prayer has the power to deliver us from the seductive ‘individualised personal Trinity of my Holy Wants, my Holy Needs, and my Holy Feelings’ (Eugene Peterson: Eat This Book page 31) so prevalent in our day in our culture and so easily imbibed by us believers.
5. Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we your unworthy servants give humble and hearty thanks for all your goodness and loving kindness to us and to all men; we bless you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for your amazing love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace; and for the hope of glory. And, we pray, give us that due sense of all your mercies, that our hearts may be truly thankful and that we may declare your praise not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up ourselves to your service, and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be all honour and glory, now and forever. Amen (AAPB p35).
This prayer reminds us of the two main reasons why we ought to give thanks to God. The common grace gifts enjoyed by all people, summed up by ‘our creation, preservation and all the blessings of this life’ and the saving grace gift of ‘the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ’ furnish us with unlimited reasons to thank God. Forgetfulness of this command to ‘thank God’ (I Thess 5:18) is as crippling to the pastor’s joy and perseverance as the disobedience of thankless pagans in Rom 1:21-23. Hearty thanks should be the heartbeat of every believer. We who are pastors have further reasons to be thankful since God calls us to be among His people sharing our lives as well as the gospel (1 Thess 2:8). As we do we get to sit and pray with fellow believers who remain faithful in chronic sickness, bereavement, temptations, troubles, trials of every kind, opposition, depression, disappointments and the snares of riches. Seeing people turn up on Sundays for worship and fellowship, give us further evidence of God’s grace. Thankfulness does many things for us like: keeping us from the diabolical tendency of allowing our anxiety and disappointment over those who have not turned up to be felt by those who have! Thankfulness keeps us from the idolatry of satisfaction with gifts rather than with our generous Giver, by doubling our blessing as we share them with God. Thankfulness keeps us from the happiness killers of preciousness about money, time and housing.
Thankfulness helps us navigate difficulties well, as means of our growth and as opportunities to be living sermons showing that we really do believe the wonderful doctrine of Romans 8:28 and endorse God’s purpose of conforming us to the likeness of His Son (Rom 8:29).
6. Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness and put on the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came among us in great humility; that on the last day, when he comes again in his glorious majesty to judge the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen. Advent (AAPB p.180).
Our Lord’s gracious warning that in the last days ‘the love of many will grow cold…and that he/she who endures to the end will be saved’ (Matt 24:12) has been echoed by fellow ministers: ‘when Christ calls a man he bids him come and die’ (D Bonhoeffer), ‘if Jesus Christ be God and died for me, no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him’ (CT Studd) and ‘in the Christian life we do not stand still, we use our gifts and make progress or we lose what we have’ (Leon Morris). If thankfulness bids us to look up to God, then this prayer summons us to look forward, not to our dream church call, nor to retirement, but to the consummation when: elect from every nation…the great church victorious, shall be the church at rest. As we are taught in Scripture, the great Day of our Lord’s return in glorious majesty will be the time when the fruits of faithful living, loving preaching, Christlike example, sacrificial service, plodding pastoral care and winsome witnessing will be displayed before our very eyes gathered around the Throne of grace. We stand in awe that God’s great plan will come to fruition by His faithfulness, and in our small way, as our efforts play their part. Our Lord’s return in glory invests our work with honour and purpose. In this way we will be kept from giving up, seeking earthly recognition, neglecting evangelism or thinking (our) ministry of the gospel futile. This eternal perspective will give texts like 1 Cor 15:58, Matt 6:20, 24:31, 42-43; Eph 5:27 and 1 Tim 6:19 new currency. Riches given to sustain and bless us (Gal 6:9-10).
Peter Brain
Be Encouraged: They Like Your Preaching!
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- Written by: Mike Raiter & Tim Collison
Last year Essentials published my article, ‘Homiletical Health Check’, a survey of sermons in 20 churches from different denominations. In that article we heard the preachers speak. Now it’s time to hear the listeners. Essentials decided to conduct a follow-up survey, asking congregational members what they thought of the preaching in their churches. 47 churches were asked to participate; nine responded. Out of those nine churches 53 people filled in the survey. All the churches are evangelical, and just over one-half are Anglican. Nearly all the respondents live in urban areas, with most living along the eastern seaboard: 72% live in Melbourne, Sydney, or Brisbane.
The obvious weakness in the survey is the small data set. Nevertheless, the survey still works as a qualitative assessment of what value members of evangelical churches place on preaching. As such, there are valuable insights for people who preach regularly.
The survey asked 12 questions. We’ll briefly summarise the response to each question.
1: WHAT IS THE FOCAL POINT DURING YOUR SUNDAY GATHERING?
The focal point of most of these services is the sermon.
2: ON A SCALE OF 1 - 10, WITH 1 BEING THE LOWEST, AND 10 THE HIGHEST, HOW IMPORTANT IS PREACHING FOR YOU PERSONALLY?
91% of people surveyed answered the question between 8 and 10. And the lowest score chosen was 7. And those who chose 7 did so because they understood that the other parts of the service were also important to them.
3: WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THAT PARTICULAR RATING IN QUESTION TWO?
Those who responded to question two with a “10” all answered that preaching helps them to know the word of God better, and grow spiritually.
4: WHAT DIFFERENT TYPES OF SERMONS ARE THERE AT YOUR CHURCH?
The most common type is expositional. The next most common are evangelistic and thematic.
5: HOW FREQUENTLY IS A SERMON IN YOUR CHURCH GIVEN IN A MANNER THAT YOU CAN EITHER TAKE SOMETHING CONCRETE FROM IT, OR THE APPLICATION IS CLEAR?
The majority of respondents (46 out of 53) felt that out of every four sermons at least three had something applicable to their lives.
6: WHEN THERE IS APPLICATION HOW OFTEN IS IT EITHER: "TELL SOMEONE ABOUT JESUS", "READ YOUR BIBLE", "PRAY MORE FREQUENTLY" OR SOMETHING ALONG THOSE LINES.
60% of respondents felt there is an appropriate balance of application in the sermons. 32% felt the application was always one of those three applications.
7: HOW OFTEN DOES THE PREACHING AFFIRM OR ENCOURAGE THE CONGREGATION FOR THEIR FAITHFULNESS AS CHRISTIANS?
81% of respondents felt that the preaching regularly affirms the congregation for their faithfulness as Christians.
8: WHAT'S THE TYPICAL LENGTH OF SERMONS AT YOUR CHURCH?
About one-third of respondents hear sermons which are between 21-25 minutes long. About another one third are hearing sermons up to 40 minutes long. That means about one-third are hearing sermons between 16-20 minutes, or up to an hour in length.
9: ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH THE LENGTH OF THE SERMONS? ARE THEY: TOO SHORT, TOO LONG OR ABOUT RIGHT?
89% of respondents felt that they were satisfied with the length of the sermons at their church. This was regardless of whether the sermons were 16 minutes long, or longer than an hour.
10: WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT THE PREACHING AT YOUR CHURCH?
The most consistent comment is that people appreciate preaching which is based on the Bible (36%), is clearly and engagingly delivered, and which they can apply to their lives. People also mentioned that they appreciate well researched sermons.
11: WHAT PARTS OF THE PREACHING AT YOUR CHURCH MIGHT NEED MORE ATTENTION?
The majority said ‘nothing’ (30 %). Those who did comment would like more depth to the sermons, better application, and would like more variety in delivery and style.
12: ARE THERE ANY PARTICULAR COMMENTS YOU WOULD LIKE TO MAKE IN RELATION TO THE PREACHING AT YOUR CHURCH?
Here’s a sample of the comments:
- “They are Bible-centric, relevant to the sermon series theme, well researched and delivered.”
- “We are blessed with three ministers…with various styles of preaching and all keep us on our toes as they deliver God’s message”.
- “It’s consistently very good.”
- “I look forward to it”.
- “I like longer sermons that go deeper.”
- “We are truly blessed by the standard of preaching”.
There were many other similar comments.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS
Again, we need to bear in mind that this is a small sample. Perhaps preachers who are less confident about their preaching or were concerned about what their people might say, decided not to distribute the survey. Or, perhaps, in the busyness of church life it just was too far down the priority list. But a few things stand out.
People value good preaching. One of my (Mike’s) observations over many years is that a good sermon covers a multitude of – not sins - but perhaps deficiencies in other areas. The pastor may not be the best administrator, or a great counsellor, or even a less committed visitor of the people, but if a spiritually tasty and nutritious meal is served up on Sunday then people will thank God for the ministry.
People are receiving solid application. When I ask preachers where they struggle, the most common response is in application. On the one hand, the survey suggests that people feel the Biblical expositions they hear are well applied to their lives. On the other hand, a number also feel that application needs to be a constant focus in the sermons.
People are happy with the length of the sermon.
While ‘how long should a sermon be?’ is a hot debate amongst preachers, if this survey is anything to go by, it’s less of an issue for the people. Most have been trained to listen to a sermon of a certain length and are content with that. The key issue isn’t length but faithfulness to the Bible and good application.
People appreciate sermons that ‘go deep’ and are well-researched. If I can put this in my own words, most people can discern when a sermon has been thoroughly prepared and not just hurriedly written the night before. And they like new insights, perhaps into the text or how the Bible speaks into our contemporary situation. In short, they appreciate sermons that are intellectually stimulating.
Well done! The last lesson to take home from this survey is that many (most?) evangelical preachers are serving God’s people well in their preaching, and so honouring the God who has set them apart for this work. The people really appreciate it (even if they don’t always tell you). Let this be a stimulus to us, not to sit back on any laurels, but continue to grow as preachers to the glory of God and the edification of the saints.
Michael Raiter is the Director of the Centre for Biblical Preaching. Tim Collison is Assistant Minister St Marks’ Camberwell and Secretary of EFAC Australia
Book Review: The Anxious Generation
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- Written by: Mark Short
Jonathan Haidt: The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness
JONATHAN HAIDT
Penguin/Allen Lane 2024
REVIEWED BY MARK SHORT
American social psychologist Jonathan Haidt is best known for exploring the factors which contribute to the tensions and complexities of modern life. In The Righteous Mind he considered how moral disagreements arise not simply from contested facts but from diverse intuitions that go to the very nature of morality itself. In The Coddling of the American Mind (co-written with Greg Lukianoff) he lamented the rise of political polarisation and cancel in US universities.
His new book documents the alarming rise in mental illness amongst teenagers and young adults since 2010, especially females. Haidt contends that the blame lies with the deleterious impact of social media, with a secondary explanation being the continuation of overlyprotective parenting which has unnecessarily limited young people’s interaction with the physical world. “My central claim in this book is that these two trends – overprotection in the real world and underprotection in the virtual world – are the major reasons why children born after 1995 have become the anxious generation” p9 So why 2010? The internet and to some extent social media had been present before that date. However Haidt points to a number of innovations around that date which increased both the attractiveness of social media and its potential to be used as a means of social comparison. These included the introduction of the ‘like’ and ‘retweet’ buttons and the addition of a front-facing camera to smartphones, which is ideal for taking ‘selfies’. And why has the impact being worse on boys than girls?
Haidt points to girls’ higher vulnerability to social comparison and relational aggression, both of which are magnified by social media. For boys, the impacts tend to be different, and are seen in a tendency to withdraw from in-person engagement in favour of online gaming and pornography.
Since its release Haidt’s book has received much publicity and generally positive reviews. Where there has been pushback critics have argued that Haidt has confused correlation (increased use of social media coincided with deterioration in teen mental health) with causation (social media is responsible for the deterioration). Haidt is aware of this critique and responds by pointing to some experimental data and to the absence of any plausible explanation as to why mental health declined this much at this time.
There is of course a long history of blaming technological change for the problems of youth. It happened with Y and the internet; perhaps with the printing press as well. Nevertheless there is something about technology that simultaneously expresses our vocation as divine image bearers and our fallen-ness as sinful rebels. In his book The Life We’re Looking For Andy Crouch compares the promise of technology to the lure of alchemy – the aspiration for powers that would allow us to take the place of God. So the smartphone offers the promise of omnipresence and omniscience, but extracts a heavy price for this supposed privilege.
What is to be done about all this? Haidt makes a number of recommendations to legislators, parents and schools including raising the age of access to social media to 16 and developing schools that are both phone-free and conducive to unstructured unsupervised play. There is much wisdom here.
Of particular interest is a chapter called ‘Spiritual Elevation and Degradation’ where Haidt, who selfdescribes as a secular Jew, explores the potential of spiritual practices to elevate human well-being. These practices include shared embodied rituals, stillness and finding awe and nature. Haidt even references Pascal’s God-Shaped Hole, although he locates its origins in biological and cultural evolution rather than any divine design. “There is a hole, an emptiness in us all, that we strive to fill. If it doesn’t get filled with something noble and elevated, modern society will quickly pump it full of garbage. That has been true since the beginning of the age of mass media, but the garbage pump got 100 times more powerful in the 2010s.” p216
One must ask whether these spiritual practices and the promise they offer can ultimately be sustained in the absence of a commitment to divine design. Digital technology after all is thoroughly designed to enlist us as online consumers in the world of late modern capitalism.
Any resistance must begin with the conviction that we are created to know and be known rather than consume. As the Psalmist’s ancient wisdom reminds us “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” (Psalm 139:13-14. NIV)
Bishop Mark Short is Bishop of Canberra and Goulburn.
Book:review: Salvific Intentionality in 1 Corinthians
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- Written by: Chris Porter
Salvific Intentionality in 1 Corinthians: How Paul Cultivates the Missional Imagination of the Corinthian Community
SCOTT GOODE author and publisher
REVIEWED BY CHRIS PORTER
It is often noted that for all the emphasis which the Apostle Paul places upon evangelism in the book of Acts and the narration of his own endeavours, he seems to not have the same expectations for the audiences of his epistles. In this short and accessible volume Scott Goode draws on this apparent “riddle” of evangelistic outreach in the Pauline epistles, and places it centre stage. Taking his cues from a close reading of 1 Corinthians he helpfully examines the missional hermeneutics within the letter, and ties these with the social identity of the Corinthian church under the broad banner of “salvific intentionality.” Here he reads salvation as directed towards “two distinct, yet related, directions,” (6) first, a vertical salvation “action of God towards humanity through the eschatological Christ event (7), and second, a horizontal aspect of “convey[ing] salvific influence towards one another and outsiders” (8). It is the interplay of these two aspects which Goode explores throughout the work.
In the first chapter Goode examines the challenge of moral formation within 1 Corinthians 5:1–8 and sets it within the context of the social identity—including theological aspects—of the Corinthian church. This chapter sets up the complexity of social and theological relations for the nascent church, and Goode provides a reasonably detailed and cogent examination of the challenges therein. While it could always be expanded, this foundational work sets him up well for the investigation at hand. The second chapter works from the social identity constructs at hand and examines the challenge inherent within mixed marriages in 7:12–16.
Here Goode argues that the believing partner may have significant salvific impact on an unbelieving partner through a “theological vision to strengthen their marital commitment” (36). But Goode is not blind to the challenges of imbalanced relationships, and cultural power imbalances inherent within first century patriarchal social settings. Rather, it is his attention to the mess present within these expressed social identities that demonstrates the compelling nature of the salvific intentionality he identifies as “worked out in the concrete social reality of first-century marriage, particularly for women” (43).
The third chapter, through the lengthy exposition on 8:1– 11:1, significantly expands on the prior vignette by throwing the doors open to the street, and considering how ethics of accommodation can generate missional opportunities for the believing community with their pagan neighbours. Goode carefully—and helpfully— navigates a fine line in his treatment of the “weak” and “strong” passages, taking seriously the nature of sectarian impulses towards fleeing from idol-food, while equally recognising Paul’s salvific commitment within his accommodation ethic that “seeks the salvific welfare of others” (56). Ultimately concluding that “the mission of the believing community cannot be limited to those of insider identity only. The mission of Christ has incorporated the Corinthians, although they were once outsiders” (69). The verticality of salvation has temporal impact in the horizontal space.
The fourth chapter considers the nature of worship within the community (14:20–25), and Paul’s assumption that outsiders may be present within the gatherings of the Corinthian church, and this should govern the activities of the church. From a detailed discussion of tongues in 1 Cor 14, against the background of Isaiah, Goode then considers how this would spill over into the socioreligious nature of worship settings, suggesting that speech modes in the community should be “directed towards the salvific welfare of outsiders” (97).
Finally, Goode turns his attention to the nature of missional identity and salvific intentionality “then and now” (98). Although the argument that church communities should be oriented towards a missional identity—even as missional communities—has been regularly made, Goode helpfully highlights the messiness of such a missional identity. This “untidy sociotheological profile” (99) that he reads throughout the first Corinthian epistle emphasises the wrestling of the Corinthian’s with their own Christian identity. It is this wrestling that Goode seeks to apply as a salve to the modern church, highlighting that the Corinthian social identity is not so different from our present embodiment. Of critical note here is his section on “soft difference in ecclesial boundaries” proposing that “Paul imagines the community in Corinth not simply as a place of purity but one of ‘spiritual formation’” (111). Here Goode aptly observes that this untidy reality challenges contemporary expressions of community, and his diagnosis of requiring a “socially open community” to “serve the salvific welfare of outsiders as well as insiders” (112-3) is a message that is sorely needed.
While Goode originally penned this work as an evolution of his MTh dissertation, he is to be well commended for his balance of academic rigour and pastoral readability. The book is firmly anchored within a scholarly foundation in social identity theory and missional hermeneutics yet is eminently readable and his insights spring easily from the page to the parish. This is recommended reading for anyone considering how to balance the challenge of an inward looking congregation for the edification of the comfortable with an outward salvifically intentional church on God’s mission field.
Rev Dr Chris Porter is Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at Trinity College Theological School.
On Solid Ground – training church leaders in the developing world
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- Written by: Tim Swan
This past Easter, over 16,000 people gathered across 142 churches in Toliara, Madagascar. However, three-quarters of those churches didn't have a trained pastor to preach. The Scriptures remind us how important it is to ensure the gospel is passed on truthfully. Hebrews 2 begins, “We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.”
This is a real danger in some developing countries, where the gospel is growing most rapidly.
Rev Berthier Lainirina, Principal of St Patrick’s Theological College in Madagascar, shared the incredible story of church growth in his home country when he visited Australia last September. He exclaimed, “Over 2000 new believers were baptised in one week!"
His country is one of the poorest in the world, with political instability and limited access to education and medical care. When a terrible drought hit the southern region in 2020-21, many families starved to death. "The government couldn’t do anything. As a church, we said, ‘we need to do something!’" said Berthier.
Berthier reached out to me for help, and through the generosity of Anglican Aid supporters, we sent funds to enable local churches in Madagascar to distribute food. But the story didn't finish there! By demonstrating the love of Jesus through practical care, thousands came to Christ and joined the church. Forty new churches were planted in Toliara in six months!
This rapid growth means there’s an urgent need for biblically faithful church leaders who are equipped to disciple new Christians, so their faith will be built on solid ground.
TRAINING CHURCH LEADERS IN MADAGASCAR
Berthier explained that while serving in the context of poverty, he sees many Christians tempted to fill their needs in ungodly ways. Some of the biggest ministry challenges are the deception of the prosperity gospel, and the temptation of syncretism (when people consult diviners and witch doctors for health concerns). Church leaders must be able to articulate the truth of the gospel clearly, to steer new followers of Jesus away from these practices. Berthier knows that pastors and ministry leaders must be equipped with a strong foundation grounded firmly in the Word – and he is spreading this message across the six dioceses of Madagascar.
One student, Rakoto Vincent, was supported through Anglican Aid to study at St Patrick’s and graduated with a Certificate of Theology. He told us: “Doctrine is the subject that I understand well because it is the base of Christian teaching. I'm able to discern false teaching to protect my faith. My Bible understanding is growing. It helps me to prepare sermons.”
IN AFRICA AND BEYOND
With the help of Anglican Aid, people from all over Madagascar are being trained to be faithful pastors, Sunday school leaders, youth leaders, and more. And this story is being replicated across many countries in Africa and beyond. Anglican Aid is partnering with church leaders in South Sudan, Tanzania, DR Congo, and Seychelles to equip them to teach the Bible well.
The impact of this training cannot be understated. Archbishop Justin Badi, in conflict-torn South Sudan, told me recently, “We talk of violence, we talk of wars… it is a symptom and demonstration of how shallow the gospel is in the hearts and minds of our people. So, my priority will actually be making and teaching disciples to disarm hearts and minds from violence and hatred.” Badi believes in the transformative power of the gospel to end the hatred fuelled war in his country.
In Seychelles, Diploma of Theology graduate Jude Marie told us of the profound impact his training will have on youths, who are frequently ensnared by the drug trade route running through his country. "On a physical level, the government is taking care of this, but on a spiritual level, we're going to be there when the people say, ‘OK, I'm going to drop the heroin, what do I do next?’ You've sown a seed in me, if I can sew a similar seed in another person's life, that will replicate. God multiplies.”
Bishop Stanley Hotay in Mt Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, told us that they’ve planted over 465 new churches, and asked for our help. “We need help to support the education and the sound knowledge of the Bible to our students and many pastors and evangelists.”
Too many people in places like Mt Kilimanjaro have to go to a church where the pastor hasn't received any training and doesn’t know how to teach the Bible to their congregation. If we can invest in giving them good Bible training for two or three years at a local Bible college, they will be prepared to share and defend the gospel in their communities for a lifetime.
Canon Tim Swan is the CEO of Anglican Aid.
A Users Guide to Coaching/ Supervision
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- Written by: Richard Trist
“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another” (Proverbs 27:17).
Intentional time spent reflecting on past actions for more effective future actions is vital for gospel ministry. Deep learning occurs when we are able to regularly slow down and consider in fresh ways issues that have impacted us. To do this with another trusted person can enable us to see past personal blind spots and lead to new possibilities.
In the light of dioceses across Australia rolling out programs of professional supervision or coaching/supervision[i] for clergy and lay workers, what are we to make of such programs? What benefits might emerge from them? How can we make them work for us and our own ministry situation?
WHAT IS PROFESSIONAL SUPERVISION?
In many occupations the term supervision is synonymous with line-management. However, in the so-called helping professions the term is used to speak of a consultative relationship between an external supervisor and a worker, where the supervisee consults with their supervisor who is neither their trainer nor manager. This is not what someone has called “snooper-vision” but rather an intentional time for reflection on work practice for the purpose of pastoral support and better ministry outcomes for the worker and for the people they serve.Accountability is not to a boss such as a Bishop or Board of Management, but rather to the ethical framework in which the work or ministry is being undertaken (eg Faithfulness in Service).
As professional supervision becomes more of a norm for Christian ministers, there is a need for clarity as to how it is different from other activities such as counselling, spiritual direction, mentoring and coaching. The following table may help to clarify these differences. 2 Each of these different modes of support are important and useful. It is likely that we will all utilise them in different seasons of our ministry careers. [ii]
|
Counselling |
Spiritual Direction |
Mentoring |
Coaching |
Professional |
Focus |
The person’s well-being; their emotional and psychological state.
|
The faith journey; relationship with God.
|
Issues of formation and development of career |
The development of skills needed in the workplace.
|
The overall development of a person’s work or ministry; becoming a more effective practitioner through reflection on practice.
|
Process
|
Undertaken by a qualified person whose approach is controlled by the ethical codes of a professional body.
|
Usually undertaken by someone trained in sensing the work of the Spirit in a person’s life.
|
The passing on of knowledge and experience to a mentee; usually undertaken by an older and more experienced person.
|
The use of support and challenge to deliver performance improvement; not necessarily undertaken by a person with the same occupational background.
|
Undertaken by a qualified person who pays attention to issues that arise from the supervisee’s workplace. The concerns of the institution and the ministry recipients are always kept in view.
|
Approach
|
A professional relationship; short or long-term depending upon the person’s needs; regular meetings.
|
Usually more informal; a long term and on-going relationship.
|
Usually, an informal relationship which is ongoing.
|
A short-term activity with structured meetings; usually contracted.
|
A professional relationship with an annual contract where ethical and legal accountabilities are made clear
|
THE BENEFIT OF PROFESSIONAL SUPERVISION
The benefit of professional supervision lies in its ability to bring clarity and focus upon the complex nature of parish or chaplaincy ministry. Authors Jane Leach and Michael Paterson utilise a three-legged stool model to explain its three tasks:
1. The formative task – an educative aspect where the supervisor helps the supervisee come to a clearer knowledge of the issues they are facing leading to equipping and resourcing.
2. The restorative task – a supportive function which understands the challenges of the supervisee’s work and provides a place for the “recharging” of emotional and spiritual energy.
3. The normative task – assisting the supervisee to attend to issues of wellbeing, boundaries, and professional expectations.[iii]
In a pilot study of clergy in the Diocese of Sydney, over 90% agreed that professional supervision (either one-toone or in a group) was helpful for their ministry and personal well-being, leading to a greater ability to be reflective and self-aware. 75% of participants indicated that it developed their ability to be resilient. [iv]
Although initially mandated by dioceses as a result of the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse[v], the adoption of supervision is having a far-reaching impact for the good of the church, leading to growth, learning, support and healthier ministers and ministries.
PREPARING FOR SUPERVISION
It is important to remember that a supervision session is always for the benefit of the supervisee not the supervisor! It is important to spend time prior to a session thinking about what you want to talk about. This includes anything that arises from actual experiences which is affecting the quality of our ministry. Examples could be our role in a particular situation, our current priorities, issues of time management and boundaries, new ideas and insights, people we are finding it hard to work with, changes that are happening within our system, general pressures or needs.
The following may be helpful prompts:
- I am feeling [tired, miserable, elated, inspired, challenged, worried] ...
- This concern keeps pushing into my mind…
- I seem to keep putting off...
- I want help to clarify where I stand on this issue…
- I feel torn between these priorities…
- When [this] happens, it seems to be a pattern repeating itself...
- I want to stop something like [this] happening again...
- I want to get something like [this] to happen more often...
FINDING A GOOD SUPERVISOR
The key issue in finding a good supervisor is to find someone who is not only well trained, but someone we can trust. Someone with whom we are willing to speak about the ups and downs of ministry. A person who will enable us to grow and to learn.
Supervision used to be the sole domain of clinical practitioners such as psychologists or those trained in CPE, but more and more people with pastoral and church experience are undertaking this work. It has a rich theological and pastoral undergirding and many theological colleges including Ridley College, Moore College, and St Marks National Theological Centre offer training in this field.
Look out for trusted people on your diocesan lists, or check out the following:
- Red Sheep Supervision – a ministry that equips ministry leaders from different organisations and denominations.
- Pastoral Supervision Alliance – a collective of supervisors mostly from Sydney and Melbourne.
- Partners in Ministry – offers consulting, training, as well as coaching and supervision.
- Envisager Supervision – provides professional reflective supervision, coaching, and consulting services to teachers, school leaders, school chaplains, and pastors.
When you find someone contact them to arrange an initial meeting. Such meetings usually involve a discussion about the areas of your ministry that you are keen to explore, the ethical framework that will undergird the conversations, and mutual expectations such as frequency of meetings (four to eight times a year), mode of meeting (face to face or zoom), fees, etc. This will lead to a contract/agreement that will likely be sent into the diocese to inform them of the arrangement. Having done this you are set and ready to go.
IN CONCLUSION
Despite being yet another thing to add to our busy diaries, my hope is that we will find professional supervision as not just something we ‘have-to-do’. Rather may it be a space for refreshment, restoration and the re-forming of ourselves to enable us to fulfil the great calling God has
given us “…to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ...and become mature attaining to the whole measure of the fulness of Christ “(Eph 4:12-13).
Richard Trist is the Chaplain to the Anglican Institute and Adjunct Lecturer in Professional Pastoral Supervision at Ridley College. He runs his own supervision practice as well as being a member of the Pastoral Supervision Alliance and Chair of the Pastoral Supervision Network. He enjoys occasional preaching at his local church in West Brunswick, and trying to work out what semi-retirement really means!
Footnotes
[i] In the Diocese of Melbourne there has been a temporary blending of its successful coaching program to enable a faster roll out of professional supervision – hence the term coaching/supervision.
[ii] Adapted from a table in the St Marks National Theological Centre Graduate Certificate in Professional Supervision Students Manual.
[iii] See Pastoral Supervision: A Handbook (Second Ed), pp 20-23.
[iv] Southern Cross, Nov-Dec 2023, p.4
[v] 5 See https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/sites/default/files/final_report_-_recommendations.pdf
The Parish as a Social Group
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- Written by: Chris Porter
“What to do with the humble parish?” Why do we seem to be so entrenched within ideas of “my parish” or “their church?” Why do parishioners identify as more “members of the Parish of St Aethelredstone” rather than as “Anglican,” and why may they identify with their parish in opposition to say the Parish of St Cuthbertstonwick? [names changed to protect the guilty everywhere] Setting aside the ecclesiological and pastoral specifics of Anglican parishes, I want to consider here the sociological challenges of the parish, for these sociological challenges lie at the heart of a wide variety of present questions for our church. While the questions of parish boundaries, church mergers, church planting, minster models, evangelism, normativity, and diversity, all have theological, ecclesiological, and pastoral dimensions, their sociological aspects are often left uninterrogated. Therefore, here I want to consider these social aspects and how they may contribute to our understanding of parish life.
For all of the other services of the parish one of the most significant is the social group which is formed around the parish, one for which those within the parish—and those attending from outside—find their identity. Parishioners are not merely “Jane” or “John,” but “Jane member of Parish X.” The formation of these social identities around the parish structure are sociologically one of its greatest strengths—and I would also argue its greatest weakness.
Leaving aside specifically Christian aspects of the parish, and the appropriate benefits of public worship etc—as these will logically continue with or without parish boundaries—we may consider the great benefits of social groups to be also applicable to the social group of the parish. Individuals who identify with a social group are more likely to engage with the work of that group—in this case the work of the parish—which in turn is more likely to impact on their own personal identity and sense of belonging within the social group—the church.
Formally we can understand “social identity … as that part of the individuals’ self- concept which derives from their knowledge of their membership of a social group together with the value and emotional significance attached to that membership” (Tajfel, 1982: 2). As Christians we value this identity structure, especially as it is positively correlated with other social items such as belonging, behaviour change, self-value, etc. Indeed, as we can see with civil parishes, and other local social enterprises such as “Good-Karma” Facebook groups, this desire for social connection and engagement is also highly sought after and valued in our broader community.
However, it is this same desire for social engagement and identity which is perhaps also its greatest Achilles heel. For with strong identity structures, comes the challenge of what is technically termed as “positive distinctiveness.” That is the challenge for a social group to be sufficiently different from other competing social groups such that members feel attracted to and can identify with their specific social group over and above other groups. This is especially the case where those competing social groups are normatively and geographically close, and in these cases “positive distinctiveness” will often require exclusive claims about one’s own social group, and similarly denigrating claims regarding others nearby. For example, the members of the Parish of St Cuthbertstonwick may pride themselves on their liturgical style and support their own sense of belonging in that parish by referring the members of the Parish of St Aethelredstone as “Aethelredstoners” and generating negative appellations regarding their musical preferences.
This is further exacerbated in situations where near neighbours share the same normative belief and identity structures, as the demands of positive distinctiveness require sharper invective to create points of division. As Lewis Coser observed “A conflict is more passionate and more radical when it arises out of close relationships. The coexistence of union and opposition in such relations makes for the peculiar sharpness of the conflict. Enmity calls forth deeper and more violent reactions, the greater the involvement of the parties among whom it originates”
(1998, 71).
Is this a good argument then for the abolition of parish boundaries, to remove the competition for positive distinctiveness? While this may seem like a logical way of reducing these challenges and uniting the church around a single focus for distinctiveness, unfortunately it only leads to further competition. For as groups cease to have avenues for generating positive distinctiveness outside of the groups the natural place to derive distinctiveness is within the group. This is usually seen through internal perceptions that certain members are not sufficiently normative, or somehow abrogate what some members consider the “core” identity of the group, despite remaining within the group. Indeed, this can be clearly observed within the Good Karma Network phenomenon, as, a couple of years into the project, large numbers of these neighbourhood groups devolved into schismatic fractures over internal accusations of members not upholding the norms of the groups, and significant disagreement over what these norms are, and their relative importance. Similar examples are found in civil parishes— and especially their American counterpart, the Homeowner Association. Lest we think that the church is immune from such debates one need only look at the plethora of churches which have split over musical styles, modes of preaching, or a host of other disputed norms. Schisms and the exclusion of members as black sheep for not being normative enough are part and parcel of group existence.
So far this seems to be a fairly dismal view of parish life: conflict with or without boundaries. Are there any avenues out of this social quagmire? Perhaps somewhat ironically the same ecclesial inheritance that gave the Anglican church the parish structure has also provided a resource for addressing the impetus towards division for positive distinctiveness: episcopal structures. While evangelical Anglicanism tends toward a congregational—and parish— emphasis, the proven mechanism for defusing schism within groups is to direct social impetus towards finding social distinctiveness within larger groups, rather than the smaller immediate—local—group. Indeed, theologically, this is the purpose of the church universal.
How then can we leverage these oft-denigrated structures towards that bigger theological vision and social purpose? A significant part of this is the need for a distinctive vision for the larger structure to inhabit. What is the purpose of the episcopacy? What is a diocese for? But, as part of that vision for there to be positive distinctiveness of the whole, there must be a similar allowance of diversity within the subgroups which make up the superordinate, the parishes which constitute a diocese, the churches which contribute to the denomination—lest there be a devolution to solely finding distinctiveness in the local. Such that the Parishes of St Cuthbertstonwick and St Aethelredstone can engage in that same vision side by side. This vision setting and diversity of engagement can find a wide range of expressions and outcomes, and while it is well beyond the scope of this piece to provide a singular answer, we can find a series of biblical and historical examples for inspiration. Indeed, one example is given by Scott Goode’s examination of 1 Corinthians, where he finds Paul organising that nascent church around the framework of “Salvific Intentionality” that allows for both coherent missional imagination alongside diversity in the Corinthian community (review in this issue).
Ultimately the overriding question about the parish is not whether it stays or whether it goes, but rather what should we look to as a means to present an encompassing vision to unify the church around, with or without historical geographical and social boundaries?
Rev Dr Chris Porter is Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at Trinity College Theological School.