"Re-Inventing Clergy Continuing Education"
  G. Lloyd Rediger 

“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” These words from Peter Drucker, one of America’s management gurus, offer a very American way of responding to change and opportunity. His is a more dominating approach than most of us find appropriate to pastoring. It does, however, interject a note of realism for the future of clergy education. This essay will take that message into the contemporary process of continuing education for pastors in order to sort out some realities and offer insights for our training, skill development and re-tooling ... for the purpose of re-inventing our role.

Re-inventing has become a buzzword even though it is an oxymoron. To invent means to create something totally new. We have invented the concept of re-inventing in order to reassure ourselves that the church and its pastors need not disappear. On the other hand, its use reminds us that a sea change—paradigm shift—is now necessary in organized religion. Which leaves us with a dilemma: what to retain and what to discard from traditional forms. And it leaves us with stimulating and anxious questions about this looming transformation of the church. After all, we are supposed to lead this process.

Part of our healthy creative process is asking and answering the question “Why are we doing this?” We thereby question the adequacy of what we were doing previously, and we assume change is legitimate. But we are also asking enormous questions about the future—our future—my future. Do I need to change? If so, why? Further, “How do I change?” Think with me as we review our contemporary continuing education process and try to discern our future. For clergy continuing education should help guide us into the future.

How do you plan and evaluate your continuing education? Do you see any need to change this strategy? How do your clergy colleagues appear to manage their continuing education?

PERSPECTIVE

Though reality is seen through subjective lenses, the data and patterns of clergy life and roles suggest the following realities as windows through which we may view CE and try to discern the future of training for pastors.

1. First of all, there are no experts on the future. This re-inventing process is a combination of interpreting past patterns, guessing about the future, and sincerely trying to discern God’s purposes.

2. By inference from that first insight, our choices are: to become pawns in the guesswork of “experts;” to become or remain dependent upon the decisions of institutionalized religion; to be proactive in the future of pastoral ministries. All of the above?

Becoming proactive in our future sounds attractive, yet it is more radical than we may imagine. For our clergy role is steeped in the uses of the past; it is brokered by denominational offices; and it is shaped by congregational expectations. Though we often appreciate the freedom and flexibility of professional pastoring, our role is essentially determined for us. To be proactive means to act before others act, or before present action hardens into habit, protocol or negative consequences.

During this time of massive change, we have unusual opportunities to be proactive in our own behalf, and on behalf of the role. But we should not delude ourselves about consequences, positive and negative. The emphasis here, however, is on the consequences of not being proactive. For these are the consequences we are living with now.

3. Distractions and illusions will continue to complicate this process. Some external and some internal. One instructive though dangerous distraction is the media-driven designers of popular religion. Designers of religion try to determine and control the clergy role. They design fads, rituals and programs, with pricey continuing education courses for establishing their turf. Some of these are close enough to being helpful that they distract us from the need to discern (1 Cor. 2:11-16) God’s purposes in the future. Yet, as always, there are a few true prophets who offer visionary guidance for our proaction.

4. Yet another insight about contemporary clergy CE is its add-on approach. Clergy are offered courses on how to be a better preacher; how to computerize the church; how to cope with stress; how to improve stewardship; 8 1/2 ways to be a more effective leader; and so forth. These have their value but do little to reshape the future responsibly. They are essentially coping strategies, which is more reactive than proactive.

5. Mainline denominations have lost 30 to 40 percent of their membership since the 1960s, but popular belief in God remains high. Pollsters find high percentages of citizens who feel deep spiritual yearnings, and want moral guidance, yet fewer people attend church or seek advice from clergy. And while clerics argue over who may ordain or administer sacraments, or who is theologically correct, laity attend each other’s worship, intermarry, and study the Koran. There’s a message in there somewhere!

6. Organized religion still looks much the same as it has for generations—the churches on the corner, a pastor in the pulpit, familiar diatribes and causes. But something is changing ... radically. It may not be as sudden as Saul’s blinding encounter with God on the Damascus road (Acts 9), or Peter’s lunchtime vision (Acts 10), or the Jerusalem Council’s dismantling of orthodox theology (Acts 15), but somehow a similar paradigm shift is occurring with or without our leadership. Therefore, seminary and continuing education courses which emphasize the ancient and the traditional are not what we need most.

7. Authority, respect and awe of the sacred are in short supply. In approximately 40 percent of congregations incivility is tolerated, and pastors are abused and fired. Bandaid courses in managing “conflict” are offered. But clergy have not been taught the realities of spiritual warfare. We are not trained to manage traumatic abuse and protect ourselves. We are not trained to be tough-minded prophets, and therefore we are easily intimidated by powerbrokers and “clergy killers.”

8. Continuing education for lay leaders has suffered a similar fate. Therefore we often have lay leaders in the congregation who are biblically illiterate, behaviorally challenged, and spiritually undisciplined. And since the business model and popular media perspectives dominate society and therefore the church, it is difficult to find a congregation that truly witnesses to the Kingdom of God.

9. There are four dominant types of religious adherents now: the maintenance-of-tradition types, the charismatic new community church adherents, the crusaders, and the disciples of positive- thinking/self-help theology. These may dominate a congregation or be mixed together in a congregation. Not many pastors have been trained to lead more than one type of adherents. Yet laity often demand a pastor of their persuasion.

10. The Gospel and “true religion” are about wholeness, justice, reverence, healing, and celebration (W.O.W. congregations—check my column on “Healthy Congregations,” the Clergy Journal, March 1996). This is what most of us want to be about in our pastoral ministry. Yet our training and continuing education do not provide guidance for healing, or for building healthy congregations. This will have to be part of the re-inventing we do, of our own role, and of the community of faith.

11. This is the “information age,” therefore leaders must have relevant information. Obviously information is not the only resource for pastoral leadership. But if we do not speak with the insights from relevant information, we will not be offering a living faith. The ability to interpret information for living reverent lives is one of our most needed roles. Therefore we need continuing education in interpreting as well as understanding new information.

12. The three key words of pastoral ministry are relationships, relationships, relationships. We have learned about relating to God in traditional ways in our seminary training, but most of us have had inadequate training for the actual process of relating to God, or to persons. Training in intimacy, spiritual guidance, and sensitive leadership relationships is sparse. And there is still a glaring weakness in colleagiality. Our competitive, distrustful, stardom ways of relating to colleagues has left us without needed support networks and the synergy necessary for leading the church to wholeness. Systems theory which is so popular now is helping us understand some aspects of interpersonal relationships. Systems theory, however, was devised by secular gurus and therapists and therefore has inadequate insights for ministry and spiritual guidance. In order for systems theory to be adequate for pastoral relationships we must add the incarnational elements of Buber’s “I-Thou” perspective, and the transformational dynamic of Christ in us—the imago dei redeemed.

13. We now have a term from the late Rabbi Ed Freidman which pinpoints the final window on clergy continuing education which will be listed here. Among other valuable insights, he taught the value of the “non-anxious presence” in pastoral leadership. I feel we must add a word to this term—the word is “representative.” For it is the non-anxious representative presence which distinguishes an effective pastor. We are non-anxious because we represent God and the church, more than ourselves. With spiritual disciplines in place we are empowered to represent something far greater than ourselves. Most of us have had little training in such a role, and we must still search hard to find any.

BASICS

With the above perspectives to shed light on contemporary clergy CE, we can note the basics which we should look for when planning our continuing education strategy—short term and long term. You probably are aware of and use some of these basic guidelines, even as I do, when selecting continuing education or sabbatical options.

A. Check who is devising and teaching the course you are considering. The criteria is: are they capable of offering what I need?

B. Take an honest inventory of your professional skills and personal growth needs. A career development center can be very helpful with this, along with personal counseling by a pastoral counselor who understands your quest and your realities.

C. Factor in both short term and long term goals. For most of us must accept some present limitations without losing a growth perspective.

D. Add a newness and growth factor to your CE strategy. In fact, if you haven’t studied a totally new subject or issue for awhile, choose and pursue one. This adds a creative stimulus which standard clergy courses don’t provide. Research on clergy CE indicates that a high percentage of us tend to take courses on familiar subjects, or on skills in which we are already competent. An adventurous and courageous attitude are prerequisites if we want growth instead of maintenance.

E. Building a growth factor into life is not dependent only upon the CE courses available. Once we break free from traditional expectations we can build our own CE strategies from many resources. A good reading program can be an exciting CE project. Personally, I select a different reading theme at the beginning of each year. For example, my yearly reading themes for the last four years have been: new theories in science, human biochemistry and genetics, healing, and total fitness (physical, mental, and spiritual). A credible CE strategy can be built around various educational TV series. Exploring another profession in depth can be stimulating and informative. I have found it enormously generative to become closely acquainted with a police chief, lawyer, surgeon, engineer, and a research chemist, and become as involved as possible in a sustained dialogue about their work. Many other growth options await those willing to explore.

For those who appreciate a systematic and collegial approach to clergy CE and growth, I know of no finer model than the Academy of Parish Clergy. If you do not know of this stimulating and competent model, you may write Academy of Parish Clergy, P.O. Box 96, Wade, NC 28395- 0096. Their motto is “Sharing the Practice.” All members lay out a strategy of study and growth and are accountable to each other for its completion.

F. Fantasy and imagination are wonderful allies in creative exploration of clergy CE. Some of us are more comfortable with the enjoyment of healthy fantasy, daydreaming, playing “what if,” and just plain playfulness. These dynamics can lead to “re-imaging,” “re-visioning,” “re-inventing,” and other creative ventures now being popularized. Taking courses and lessons in artistry of various kinds are mandatory. For we cannot be whole persons or professionals using only half of our brain.

G. This emphasis on newness, creativity, and growth should not keep us from CE efforts to increase competence in skills crucial to pastoral ministry. I am saddened and even embarrassed occasionally when I visit congregations where liturgy, scripture reading, and sacraments are offered carelessly. My Presbyterian heritage makes me especially pleased when I see baptisms, weddings, and sermons done with reverence and excellence. It is incongruous to complain about loss of respect and criticism when we are offering God and the parish less than our best. One of the simplest remedies is to learn or re-learn the mechanics of sacred pastoral functions, so that our respect for our calling is obvious.

H. It is apparent from the increase in burnout, malfeasance, and traumatic abuse pastors may now encounter that greater emphasis is needed for physical, mental, and spiritual fitness. Weak, lazy and laid back pastors will not be effective or healthy in contemporary ministry. We do ourselves a great favor by devoting part of our CE to learning better ways to be totally fit.

I. There is a simple check list (ABC’s) which many of us have learned to use as we evaluate our CE opportunities.

1. A = Awareness. Does this opportunity raise my consciousness and offer new insights?

2. B = Basics. Does this opportunity provide necessary information, models, and “how-to” instructions?

3. C = Congruence. Is this opportunity congruent with my calling and my personal/professional growth needs? This compatibility factor needs to be considered carefully, lest inappropriate congregational expectations be substituted for responsible stewardship of pastoral talents and needs. For example, taking a course in furnace repair is not clergy continuing education! We assume here that a responsible pastor will take into account the needs and suggestions of thoughtful congregants, denominational officials, and mentors. But part of the emphasis in this essay is on responsible self-awareness and creative self-management, under God.

MODEL-BUILDING

Finally, after reviewing the contemporary realities of pastoral ministry, and the checklist for valid clergy CE, it can be helpful to explore various models of ageless and futurist clergy roles. Two radical model possibilities are presented briefly here to encourage some extraordinary re-inventing of our role.

MODEL A The shaman is the oldest continuing profession in the world. As such it would be foolish to dismiss or ignore it when trying to re-envision the clergy role. In its weirdest expressions it seems too bizarre and superstitious for consideration in contemporary society. However, when we consider it in its generic form, it can be instructive. Mircea Eliade, Joseph Campbell and other notable scholars have detailed the unique characteristics of shamans and exotic practitioners of religion. But they also show us the powerful appeal this model has even today in some parts of the world. I am not suggesting that pastors are shamans, nor that we emulate them. I am saying that the generic shamanistic role speaks to eternal human yearnings, and in some ways resembles spiritual leaders in the Bible. My point is that the contemporary role of pastor has become so encrusted with piousness, managership, and cultural religion that we have difficulty functioning in the role most needed—healing/spiritual guide.

Institutionalized religion needs loyal, dependant functionaries. But human beings need spiritual leaders and guides. For the human spirit yearns for union-communion with God, with God’s creation, and with other believers. The prescription which authentic spiritual leaders have is our representative presence which points the way to spiritual healing and nurture, and administers sacraments and symbols which make spiritual faith realistic.

As an exercise, take some time to imagine yourself in the role of a shaman. In this generic role your most important activity would be healing practices. You would also show people how to find forgiveness and favor with God and how to worship God. And you would preside at individual-family-communal rites of passage. To do this effectively you would have to suffer pain and illness, perhaps disfigurement of your body, in order to be viewed as authentic. You would need to undergo strict training by a mentoring shaman. You would need to learn ritual behavior and incantations. And you would have to wear unique garb and live a life isolated from normal practices. Sounds vaguely familiar, doesn’t it?

How is this role of shaman instructive for re-inventing clergy continuing education?

MODEL B The space chaplain is the second model I suggest for helping us break loose from traditional presumptions about our role and the education we need to pastor responsibly and prophetically.

As an exercise, imagine yourself functioning a chaplain in a space ship or space capsule. Can you visualize the inside of the space capsule? Can you see your “chapel” or symbolic location? Can you see your garb and quarters? What would space travelers need from you? How would you provide this? What training would you need in order to serve effectively and stay fit yourself?

How is this role of space chaplain instructive for re-inventing clergy continuing education?

In this essay I am intentionally encouraging us as called colleagues in pastoral ministry to open ourselves as fully as possible to God’s future. Our perceived world is changing so radically that we will become anachronisms unless we make some radical changes such as those which gave birth to a new community of faith and pastoring in the Book of Acts. We should not change irresponsibly, or just for the sake of change, for God’s Holy Spirit is present to guide us.

It seems apparent that our training and continuing education needs at least as much input from our collegial dialogue and prayers, as from scholarship and tradition. This is why I offer the two radical models for consideration. For radical models combined with spiritual discernment offer promise for re-inventing our future.

Understand as well that I am deeply aware that most of us function in essentially traditional settings which need some traditional pastoring from us, as well as visionary spiritual leadership. We dare not abdicate present responsibilities in pursuit of self-serving delusions. We serve faithfully, however, when we point parishioners toward the God of the future as well as the God of the past.

Published in the Clergy Journal, February 2002