Seminaries Under Stress

An interesting article on Episcopal Seminaries.

The Ordination Process

by Beth Maynard

The idea that God might be asking you to explore a career in the ordained ministry can be scary.  Maybe you think you’re not sure enough yet to do anything about it.  Or maybe you don’t really know what’s involved in preparing to be a clergyperson.   This guide will try and give you a look inside the ordination process.

The Diaconate

by the Rev. D. Susanne Watson Epting

The history of the diaconate in the Episcopal Church is well documented in Ormonde Plater’s book entitled Many Servants.  Plater traces the evolution of the diaconate in The Episcopal Church from the mid 19th century, including missionary deacons who served from the 1840’s through the 1930’s, deaconesses who served from the mid 1860’s to the 1970’s (and beyond, though this form of diaconal ministry gave way to the diaconate as we know it now), the male perpetual deacons who were ordained between 1952 and 1970, and finally what he terms “modern deacons,” who have been ordained since 1970.   There are currently more than 2700 deacons in the Episcopal Church.  In the nearly twenty-five years since the ordination service for deacons was revised in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer,  The Episcopal Church has begun to live ever more completely into this description of the diaconate found in The Examination:

“My brother/sister, every Christian is called to follow Jesus Christ, serving God the Father, through the power of the Holy Spirit.  God now calls you to a special ministry of servanthood directly under your bishop.  In the name of Jesus Christ, you are to serve all people, particularly the poor, the weak, the sick, and the lonely.

Do Ordained People Have to Pray? Or: How Holy do I Have to be?

by Hickman Alexandre 

If you look at the “job description” of an ordained person. it is so easy to get bogged down in all the committee work and such that we can sometimes forget to pray. A big  part of what clergy do is to lead in worship and to give spiritual guidance and counseling.  That responsibility requires that you are a person of prayer beyond the public prayer life of the parish.  Now it doesn’t mean that one must spend the whole day praying; but there should be some time set aside every day for personal prayer and communication with God.  Many priests find it helpful to have a “rule of life,” a set pattern of scheduled prayer and reading of the scripture that one follows.  Something simple like reading the daily offices will help you to establish a pattern of prayer. It can also be helpful to take time out and go on a retreat, such as to a monastery, where a person can be renewed and refreshed.  Remember also that as leaders of the church, you are an example for others to follow.  The reality is that most clergy are not spiritual gurus or shamans, but have their own daily struggles as well.  Many clergy find it helpful to have a spiritual director, guide, or companion – someone who helps to guide them along the spiritual path.   Some dioceses may even require you to have a spiritual director as you enter the process. 

Ordination Process: Learning Radical Non-defensiveness

by Fr Nathan Humphrey, a curate at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, K Street, Washington D.C.

By cultivating the spiritual discipline of radical nondefensiveness, I believe God has given me the grace to put my focus and energies where they need to be:  on loving the other (in all his or her cantankerousness).

Perhaps the single most important lesson I learned about ministry happened when I was going through “The Process,” and it has influenced the way I interact with people to this day. This lesson was about being radically nondefensive.  I’m not always good at it, but I’ve tried to approach it not so much as a technique to be mastered as a spiritual discipline to be lived into, as I hope to grow in empathy and love toward everyone I meet. 

To illustrate what I mean by “radically nondefensive,” I will first describe how I learned this lesson, and then give a few examples of how I’ve applied it to my priestly ministry in varying contexts.
I was twenty-four years old when I entered the ordination process, which in those days was regarded as barely out of diapers for an aspiring priest.  My first meeting with the Commission on Ministry went well, but not well enough for me to move on to the next step in the dreaded Process.
“Don’t you think you’re too young to be a priest?” asked the Commission on Ministry (COM) member.  She continued, “I mean, don’t you think you haven’t got enough life experience…haven’t suffered enough?”