Fr. Dale Matson
As the vocations officer
for the Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin, I wrote an article in 2010 called “The
Right Stuff and Holy Orders” http://sanjoaquinsoundings.blogspot.com/2010/11/right-stuff-and-holy-orders.html
In the article, I stated,
“An important consideration in the discernment process, is the call of God to
the individual and the confirmation of this within the parish.” The diocesan commission
on ministry is gathered by the bishop to also assist the individual in discernment.
It is really a sorting process that determines what order of ministry God is
calling an individual into. Are they called to remain in the lay order? Are
they called to the vocational diaconate or the priesthood via the transitional
diaconate? Hopefully the candidate and commission agree with what constitutes the
call of God. Hopefully, if someone is not called by God to holy orders, they
will self-select out sooner rather than later. Hopefully, those on the
commission will be seen as advocates and not obstacles.
Of course the process can
be frustrating for the aspirant/postulant/candidate and perhaps the imperfect and
labor intensive process is an additional test of the genuineness of the call.
It reminds me of the dementia assessments I performed at the Medical College of
Wisconsin. If the person could endure the assessment process itself, it was the
best indicator that they were healthy.
The discernment process
is not intended as a hazing or a series of hoops and hurdles but often that is
the impression of those in the discernment process. In my experiences with
candidates, there have been some disappointments because of the
sorting/discernment.
For example, there are
individuals who have served faithfully as ministers in Protestant churches who
wish to be ordained as a priest. This may be because of an elderly priest
needing help in an Anglican parish or a paid position that has become available
to a clergyperson with no church. I do not think either of these reasons is
sufficient in and of itself to signal a call from God as a priest. What is
missing even in the “Examination” (BCP 531) of a priest is a sufficient understanding
of the apostolic, sacrificial and sacerdotal aspect of the priesthood. I
believe Donald Cozzens The Changing Face Of The Priesthood (2,000) overemphasizes
the role of “Tender of the Word” at the expense of the traditional Alter
Christus aspect of the priest. If an individual is not drawn by God to the
Altar, they may be a great preacher or deacon but they are not a priest. What
follows are thoughts and suggestions for the future.
There is another option
in the discernment process that may be considered but it requires a ‘letting go’
of traditional sorting. There are those young men who are not meant by God for
the priesthood who have a call to serve. They need a profession and a vocation.
They cannot be non-stipendiary vocational deacons. They must make a living for
their families and need to serve God. There are many young men in this
situation. They have leadership skills and a necessary faith. For those young
men, another option is service in another denomination as a pastor. It is only
right that we as Anglicans be willing to give them up for the good of the
universal church. It is also important that we examine why the “rector” model
of priest is somehow the litmus test for priest. For example, don’t we have
chaplain priests? It would also be useful to reexamine the training model for priests.
I question the necessity for most priests to be prepared in a brick and mortar
setting. What about a mentorship/apprenticeship model that would not require
the huge expenditure of resources and time, only to discern that the commission
and candidate lost the degrees of freedom to decide correctly, along the way.
There is a certain irony
in the selection process. Sometimes young men are only too willing to hear the
voice of God in others urging them forward when their own hearts don’t have the
same ears to hear. Sometimes the urging of the church is as self-serving and
subjective as the self-appointed postulant that does not understand why the
church is not behind his aspirations.
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