The New Covenant and Competence in Ministry:Part 1

The Minister as a Reflective New CovenantPractitioner

1 ABSTRACT

This is the first in a series of three papers that willpropose an approach to Christian ministry that conceivesit as a New Covenant activity that is essentially relatedto the development of spirituality, character and virtueand as the activity of reflective New Covenantpractitioners working within a multidisciplinaryenvironment whose functions are essentially integrative,communicative and educative. A framework will be proposedto enable the identification and specification of suchoutcomes in a manner that is Scripturally grounded andfocuses on their attainment.

The second paper will ground the proposal within atheology of the New Covenant through an analysis of itsstatement in Hebrews 8:10-12. The third paper willaddress the methodology by which such outcomes called forin the first paper and expanded in the second couldcompetently be developed: it will also recommend anddescribe the project of defining, developing andimplementing these outcomes that could follow.

2 INTRODUCTION

To help us get a better picture of what it means for the church tobe a disciplined community, we ought to learn how to lay a brick.

(Hauerwas, 1991: 93)

It has been argued that ministers require the competenceto guide the development of the competencies ofcharacter, virtue and hence of morality in the recipientsof their ministries. This applies to all aspects ofChristian ministry including both services provided to

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believers by believers and the actions of believers,inspired and guided by their faith, to those beyond thefaith.

It is therefore argued that there is a need for a way tostate the aims of ministry that directly addresses suchcompetence related issues. Commenting on the competenciesrequired of discipleship Hauerwas (1991) compared it withlearning to lay bricks and argued that discipleship, likebricklaying, requires systematically developed andassessable competence. In the paper from which the abovequotation is taken, Hauerwas (1991) argues strongly thatthis incorporates the development of character that isessential to discipleship or Christian living (see alsoHauerwas, 1975, 1981, 2001). Consonant with this is theadvocacy of the development of character and virtue bywriters such as MacIntyre (1980, 1999, 2002) and Wright(2010).

Such issues are rarely if ever systematically addressedin the literature on ministry. Writing on ministry tendsto address its broad conceptualisation and place in thechurch, analyse its history, relate it to the formationof Christian community and/or advocate various kinds ofpraxis. Whilst such writing can provide invaluablefoundational thinking and backgrounding, there seems tobe a gap in the provision of guidance for theidentification, conceptualisation and contextualisationof what constitutes competence in ministry, and theeffective development and deployment of ministers withsuch competence.

It is not surprising then that distress has beenexpressed about the “disintegration of the centralguiding images of ministry and the consequentfragmentation of ministerial practice” (Poling andMiller, 1985: 19, see also Percy, 2004). It is hoped thatthe sort of framework being proposed here will contributeto the development of practically and theologically soundapproaches to ministry that addresses the gap and

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contributes to an integrated conceptualisation ofministry.

This paper is the first of three and will outline aconception of ministry as the activity of reflective NewCovenant practitioners working within a multidisciplinaryenvironment whose functions are essentially integrative,communicative and educative. The second paper will groundthe proposal within a theology of the New Covenantthrough an expansion of analysis of its statement inHebrews 8:10-12 beyond that in this paper. This willpresent ministry as being a practice related to thepromotion and development of positive characterattributes that reflect the values underpinning the lawand five domains of action related to understanding(mind), alignment (heart), spirituality (relationshipwith God), relationality (relationship with fellows) andcommunity. The third paper will address the methodologyby which such outcomes called for in the first paper andexpanded in the second could competently be developed: itwill also recommend and describe the project of defining,developing and implementing these outcomes that couldfollow.

3 TRADITIONAL AND CURRENT APPROACHES TO MINISTRY

Traditional and current approaches to ministry tend to bepractitioner rather than recipient centred. In addition,the intended life outcomes of ministry are either notaddressed or inadequately conceptualised. It is arguedthese approaches are generally unable to definetheologically valid objectives for recipients withsufficient clarity to enable reliability in the both theidentification and attainment of outcomes. This will bedemonstrated in what follows by briefly reviewing theconceptualisation of ministry historically, theologicallyand within more recent praxis-centred approaches. Thepurpose of this brief review will be to illustrate thegap that the proposal in this paper seeks to address.

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3.1 Historical

The great diversity of approaches to ministry both withinand across Christian denominations and movements andthroughout Christian history makes any attempt at reviewa daunting task. Regardless of this diversity, however,there seems to be agreement about four historical stagesof unequal length in the conceptualisation of ministrywithin the history of the church. These are roughly theapostolic and post-apostolic period, the period in whichministry became sacerdotalised (and/or institutionalised)and the current period. Each of these will now beconsidered briefly in turn.

There is now a general consensus among many scholars thatthere was a great diversity of approaches to ministry asearly as the apostolic and immediate post-apostolicperiod. This diversity is described in terms of two polesof ministry and related to the communities within whichthey served. The two poles most commonly identified arethe charismatic ministries of often itinerant apostle,prophets and teachers in contrast with the morestructured ministries of elders, presbyters and deacons:these are often presented as being in conflict. Thecommunities in which these ministries served are seen asbeing diverse in polity and culture and range from theegalitarian nature of the Johannine communities, thecharismatic nature of the Matthaean communities and theconcern for continuity and hence structure expressed inthe Pastoral Epistles. For a fuller discussion of thedivergent nature of ministry in the apostolic and post-apostolic period and the consequences of this in modernecclesiology see Bernier, (2003, chs. 1-2), Brown (1984),Dulles (1974), and Schillebeeckx (1981, ch.1).

The sacerdotal and/or institutional period of ministry isseen as occupying the greater part of the past twomillennia. It is during this time that the ministrybecame increasingly sacerdotalised and sacralised. It isduring this period that the concept of absoluteordination and the perception of ministry that produced a

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distinction between laity and clergy and became embeddedwithin the life and polity of almost every branch ofChristianity (often despite repeated and eveninstitutional disavowals that such could be the case)(Bernier, 2003, chs. 3-8; Schillebeeckx, 1981, ch.1).

The current period may be considered to be a time or re-appraisal of ministry and its nature. This is reflectedin a number of trends, not the least among which are thelengthy discussions within the post-Vatican II Catholicdialogues and other phenomena such as the dialogue aroundwhat is coming to be called the emerging church.(Bernier, 2003, chs. 3-8, Gibbs & Bolger 2005;Schillebeeckx, 1981, ch.1). It is during this period thatinterest in the notion of praxis as related to ministryhas arisen (Andersen, 1997, 2001; van der Ven, 1996,1998).

It may be concluded that throughout the first two ofthese periods the focus has been either on the legitimacyand form of ministry (its authentication and/or itsauthorisation) or on its empowerment (the nature andextent of its power and authority). The third period hasseen a shift from these focuses to that of the process ofministry. This is evident in the current interest in thenotion of praxis. Despite the importance of much of whathas been established and defined in all these periods,what is absent is the expression of any consistent orclear view of the outcomes in the lives of the recipientsof ministry toward which ministry is working.

3.2 Theological

A good example of a basically protestant evangelical viewof ministry may be found in Theological Foundations for Ministryedited by Anderson (1979). Whilst the author acknowledgesin the preface (p. v) that it is not intended as anencyclopaedic review of evangelical approaches toministry, it brings together key thoughts on ministry ofeminent theologians. These included Barth, Bonhoeffer,Ellacuria, Kung, Miskotte, Thielecke, James Torrance,

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Thomas Torrance and Whitehouse. It may be seen thereforeas representative of a wide body of significanttheological opinion.

With an admirable focus on establishing Christocentricfoundations of ministry that are consistent with theReformation and responsive to the challenges of Cartesianand Kantian philosophical challenges, it is divided intofour sections as follows. After a series of papersrelated to a theology for the church in ministry, itprovided papers organised into sections entitles “JesusMinistry to the Father on Behalf of the World”, Jesus’Ministry in the Spirit for the Sake of the Church” and“The Church’s Ministry to the World on Behalf of Jesus”.Whilst the last of these three sections is the mostpractical and contains important, even critical, insightsabout the incarnational, kerygmatic and diaconial aspectsof ministry, it nevertheless falls short of making anyclear statement about the life outcomes toward whichkerygmatic and diaconial activities might be aimed in anyincarnational activity or against which might beevaluated.

Within the Roman Catholic context O’Meara (1999) arguesfor an approach to ministry that incorporates much postVatican II thinking. O’Meara’s Theology of Ministry wasfirst published in 1983 and revised in 1999. It has beenfor much of this time a standard text for seminaries andlay ministry programs (Marrin, 2000). Commencing withconsiderations related to culture, grace, Spirit, freedomand charism, O’Meara goes on to list the characteristicsof ministry as

doing something for the advent and presence of the kingdom of God

in public

on behalf of a Christian community

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as a gift received in faith, baptism and ordinationand as

an activity with its own limits and identityexisting within a diversity of ministerial actions.

(1999: 141).

Based on these characteristics he proposes the followingcarefully framed definition of ministry as

… the public activity of a baptized follower ofJesus Christ flowing from the Spirit’s charismand an individual personality on behalf of aChristian community to proclaim, serve andrealize the kingdom of God

(1999: 150).

In the remainder of the book O’Meara goes on to discussthe issues of diversity, the sources and the spiritualityof ministry. Most closely aligned to the incarnational,kerygmatic and diaconial aspects of ministry discussedabove, O’Meara’s approach also falls short of making anyclear statement about the life outcomes toward which thepublic activity of a baptized follower of Jesus Christ flowing from the Spirit’scharism on behalf of a Christian community to proclaim might bedirected or against which they might be evaluated.

3.3 Praxis Centred

Given the process of re-appraisal that characterises muchof the thinking about ministry in the current period andtendency toward the practical in both of representativeillustrations from the protestant evangelical and RomanCatholic viewpoints it is not surprising that recentyears have seen a growing chorus of interest in praxisoriented approaches to ministry. Whilst calls for apraxis centred (or at least oriented) approach haveexisted for at least the last few decades (Duffy, 1983;Groome, 1976, 1977, 1980; Schillebeeckx 1981), recentyears have seen a growing chorus of calls for such an

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approach (Anderson, 1997, 2001; Bernier, 2003; Clement2007; Gerkin 1984; Groome, 1998; Poling & Miller, 1985;Rausch, 2003, van der Ven, 1996; 1998). The relation ofministry to praxis is not surprising given the perceptionof the relevance of praxis to pedagogical andcommunicative action in the literature in general (e.g.Carr & Kemmis, 1986; Freire, 1970, 1998; Gadamer, 1979;Gadotti, 1996; Horton & Freire, 1990; Habermas, 1971,1973, 1984, 1987, 1991; Lobkowicz, 1967; Usher, Bryant &Johnston, 1997).

As has already been stated, a common shortcoming of theseapproaches is that they do not define ministry outcomesin the lives of recipients with theological clarity orvalidity. This is particularly problematic as it isargued that all praxis requires a telos: that is, allpraxis requires a conceptualisation of the end towardswhich it in the process of developing, implementing andimproving the means. Without such a conceptualisation,efforts called praxis are at high risk of becomingaimless, ineffective and even counterproductive activitytraps.

Anderson (2001) focuses on the concept of Christopraxiswhich he defines within the context of the Browning(1991) model of practical theology as the continuingministry of Christ through the presence and power of theHoly Spirit (p. 29). Whilst this reaches further into thepractical realm with its illustrative chapters on theapplication of ministry to the contexts of the family,homosexuality, clergy burnout, forgiveness and suffering,it still does provide a clear statement or recommendationof the life outcomes toward which ministry in all suchsituations should be working.

Groome (1998), focusing in the ministry of Christianeducation, perhaps goes the closest to defining inpractical terms the outcomes for which all ministriesshould be working. Arguing that conation should be theoutcome of Christian education (and hence of ministry),he defines it roughly as an intentional effort toward

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Biblical wisdom in living. After consideringphilosophical sources which might inform valid conationhe discusses at length the dynamics of being appropriateto it and the processes of shared educative praxisthrough which conative capability might be developed inthe recipients of ministry. He then conducts lengthydiscussions on the history of ministry and theapplication of the concept of conation to the liturgicaland social aspects of ministry. The book is concludedwith a postscript on the spirituality of shared Christianpraxis.

Groome deals extensively with how conative objectivescould be attained but does not define what they might be.It might be argued that he attempted this in chapter 2entitled Epistemology Revisioned: In Search of Conation. Whilst thismay be a step in the direction of identifying conativeobjectives, a closer reading shows it to be a backgroundstudy identifying helpful epistemological conceptsrelated to conation as they have emerged throughout thehistory of philosophy.

Whilst Groome reaches even further into the practicalrealm than Anderson with his helpful development and useof the term conation, he still does not provide a clearstatement or recommendation of the life outcomes towardwhich ministry in all such situations should be working.In other words, the question remains: what are theconative objectives that could or should be identified asoutcomes of ministry activities?

4 FILLING THE GAPS

It is proposed that the gaps thus identified in theidentification of the objectives and outcomes of ministrymight be addressed by focusing on ministers as

God’s fellow New Covenant workers as declared in theNew Testament and

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reflective practitioners with broad functions thatrequire integrative, communicative and educativecompetence.

It is argued that this will both

enable the reliable identification of theologicallyvalid objectives of ministry and,

address the means by which these objectives might beachieved.

Perceiving ministers in relation to the New Covenantenables clear identification of essential objectives andoutcomes of ministry. It also enables consideration ofskills and competencies they will need to fulfil thefunctions needed to achieve the objectives thusidentified.

5 MINISTERS OF THE NEW COVENANT

Conceiving ministers as God’s fellow New Covenant workersrequires a focus on the development of the spirituality,character and virtue addressed by the covenant in therecipients of their ministries. This approach will beoutlined briefly in what follows. The second paper inthis series will discuss it in greater detail.

5.1 God’s Fellow New Covenant Workers

This view of ministry is

grounded in the view of the minister as “God’sfellow worker” (2 Corinthians 6:1, 1 Thessalonians3:2),

guided by Paul’s description of himself and hisfellow workers as “ministers of the New Covenant (2Corinthians 3:6), and therefore

framed by the statement of the New Covenant found inHebrews 8:10-12.

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Ministry is therefore be conceptualised as working incooperation with God in the conduct of actions orinterventions designed to

facilitate the law or ways of God being o understood (“in their mind”), and

o valued (“on their hearts”) and

lead people into

o relationship with God (“I will be their God”)and

o Godly relationships with one another (“theyshall be my people”)

within the context of a polity which implies a flatdistribution and exercise of power (“None of them shallteach his neighbour…”).

5.2 Focussed on the Development of Spirituality, Character and Virtue

The grounding of ministry in the New Covenant establishesan essential, if not central, focus on the development ofspirituality, character and virtue in Christiandiscipleship and even on the craft of morality, all ofwhich are advocated by writers such as Hauerwas (1975,1981, 1991, 2001), MacIntyre (1980, 1999, 2002) andWright (2010) as well as in recent developments inpositive psychology (especially Petersen & Seligman,2004). It is argued that this provides the following twobenefits. First it provides a means by which anintegrating telos for ministerial praxis might beconceptualised and shared by those guided by it. Second,its New Covenant based emphasis on spirituality,character and virtue within the context of the highChristology of Hebrews 8 together provides a bulwarkagainst the equal and opposite problems of antinomianismand those conceptions of Christian life and ministry that

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reduce them to therapeutic, managerial and/or moralisticDeisms (cf Smith, 2011: 201).

6 THE MINISTER AS A REFLECTIVE PRACTITIONER

The grounding of ministry in the New Covenant by itselfit does not address means by which it can be implemented.That is, by itself, the New Covenant does not addressvital methodological issues such as

defining or prescribing the scope or nature ofministry practice in any context, or

identifying the specific knowledge, skill and/orcompetence required for its capable performance.

It is proposed therefore that minister also be seen asreflective practitioners, in a way that recognises thecentrality of integrative, communicative and educativecompetences in all their responsibilities. Understandingministry as reflective practice is central to theargument of van der Ven (1998) who argues that, aspractitioners, ministers must be able to fulfil theirfunctions within the religious domain and the ecclesialcontext at the levels of society, church and theindividual. He defined the religious domain as a complexdomain relating to other domains such as economics,politics, health and culture and requiring the carefulintegration of experiential, cognitive, emotional, moral,ritual and communitarian aspects. Within this context theminister’s work is seen as a reflective and iterativeprocess of raising and solving religious problems thatoften extend into the other domains (p. 97).

Whilst many aspect of reflective competence are deeplyrooted many of the rich traditions of contemplativeChristian spirituality, the conceptualisation ofministers as reflective practitioners has in recent yearsbeen enhanced by the helpful writing of Donald Schön(1984), whose praxis-oriented, life-long, and actionlearning approach has become almost “canonical” (Sim,2010: 2; see also Paver, 2006). It is at this point that

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Anderson’s (2001) concept of ministry as Christopraxisbecome particularly helpful by centring suchconsiderations on a sound Christological goal.

In what follows the integrative, communicative andeducative aspects of ministry will be briefly explored inturn. The third paper in this series will address themeans by which knowledge, skill and competence might bespecified.

6.1 Integrative

The nature of ministry and the broad scope of activitiesthat constitute it, means its practice is essentiallymultidisciplinary and integrative. For example the natureof the New Covenant and relating to God are theologicalissues, whilst consideration of the learning domainsarising from them would benefit from close considerationof educational disciplines including curriculum theory,human development and educational psychology. At the sametime the consideration of the minister as a reflectivepractitioner will draw upon extensive bodies of theoryassociated with theories of action and learning. Thisrelates well to Lonergan’s (1971: 366) call for theintegration of theology with scholarly and scientificstudies.

One well known approach that provides for a theologicallygrounded integration with other disciplines is known asthe Wesleyan quadrilateral. With its fourfold focus onScripture, tradition, reason and experience, this is seenproviding a methodological paradigm for reflectiveministry practice. Cosby (2001) writes

This approach gives priority to the Bible as theprimary source for determining theology andpractice, but relies heavily on tradition,reason, and experience as well. It also promotesinteraction with the spiritual, moral, andethical concerns expressed in the biblical texts.

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(p. 71 see also Bevins, 2006; Porter, 2004; Oden, 1994,1998;

Outler, 1985; Thorsen, 1990; Whitehead & Whitehead, 1980)

How each of the components of this approach might berelated to reflective practice are as follows.

6.1.1 Scripture

A key focus of reflection in ministry must be Scripture.Within the context of this paper, this would particularlybe derived from the functional framework provided by 2Corinthians. 3:6 and Hebrews 8: 10-12.

6.1.2 Tradition

There is much to gain from considering the functionalcategories derived from 2 Corinthians. 3:6 and Hebrews8:10-12 in the light of traditional approaches toministry. This will enable the necessary ongoing andcareful critique of its practice. What is being proposedhere is not a replacement but rather a refinement of whathas gone before. Care in this regard will enable bothcontinuity, improvement and effective change management.

6.1.3 Reason

This pole of the quadrilateral is central to thisapproach. It is central to establishing the validity ofthe frame of reference proposed as residing in 2Corinthians. 3:6 and Hebrews 8:10-12. It is essential tothe process of validation involving the critical analysisrelated to tradition. It will also be used to takeappropriate account of and credit the sociological,organisational and educational research related totheories of reflection, action and competence. Therelevance of such issues has already been identified askey concepts relevant to this paper.

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6.1.4 Experience

The experiential pole of the methodology arises from theassessment and refinement of the theory(ies) of actionthat arise from the framework under proposal. It alsoarises within the identification, development andevaluation of what constitutes skilful or competentaction in ministry

6.2 Communicative

The communicative aspect of the perspective may be seenas related closely to communications, the eighth of thefunctional specialities of theology as defined byLonergan (1971: 132). Lonergan defines this as beingconcerned with theology in its external relations. Inparticular it relates to the second kind of communicationthus identified. It is thus related to

the transpositions that theological thought hasto develop if religion is to retain identity andyet at the same time find access into the mindsand hearts of men of all cultures and classes.

(pp.132-133)

This is central to the concept of ministry introducedabove. Within the perspective provided by this view,ministers can be seen to need the communicativecompetences required

to work in cooperation with God in the conduct ofactions designed,

to facilitate the law or ways of God being understoodand valued,

to cause people to enter into relationship with Godand into Godly relationships with one another, and

to work within the context of a polity which impliesa flat distribution and exercise of power.

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In developing such competencies, ministers may be seen tobecome effective as agents capable of causing hearers toengage with what Lonergan calls the minister’s cognitive,constitutive and effective meaning (p. 356).

6.3 Educative

Within the educative perspective, ministers are seen ascontributors to the ontological development ofindividuals and communities and hence of the society,state and church (cf. Lonergan, 1971, ch. 14). Consistentwith this, ministry is seen as being intentionallyrelated to the promotion and guidance of a life-longongoing process of conversion at all levels. Lonergan(1971: 238) identifies three interrelated aspects ofconversion, these being intellectual, moral andreligious. Within this view ministers are therefore seenas requiring a sufficient level of competence incommunicative actions to validly and reliably stimulateintellectual, moral and religious transformation at boththe individual and corporate levels.

Consonant with Lonergan’s view, van der Ven (1998)proposes the need for an educative approach to ministrythat goes beyond the therapeutical and managerialparadigms that he argues have strongly influenced (andperhaps dominated) approaches to ministry throughout thelast half century (ch. 2). It is argued that concept ofthe minister as a reflective New Covenant practitionerprovides such an approach.

7 CONCLUSION

An approach to ministry that conceptualises ministers asreflective New Covenant practitioners may be seen tobuild upon traditional concepts and current approaches toministry. The framework thus proposed provides atheologically sound telos for ministry praxis by aligningit with and deriving it from the nature and scope ofministry with the New Covenant in Scripture. Ministrythus understood is seen as an integrative, communicative

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and educative practice focussed on the development in thelives of its recipients of spirituality, character andvirtue consistent with the terms of the New Covenant.This approach also provides the promise of a means bywhich objectives and outcomes for ministry might bereliably and validly identified and specified, and theknowledge, skills and competence required might bederived from both context and Scripture.

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