Ok, here's the last round, all together since they are short. Thanks for reading!
c) The Practice of Ministry:
4) Are you willing to minister with all persons without regard to race, color, ethnicity, national origin, social status, gender, sexual orientation, age, economic condition, or disabilities?
Yes! Indeed, I covet the opportunities to be in ministries to all of God’s creation. To me, the church can not be the true church if there are person who we exclude from our life together. I hope to see our communities of faith become more diverse, to see the body of Christ be a body that breaks down barriers between people. I will gladly share in my responsibility to work toward this end, and to minister to all.
5) Will you regard all pastoral conversations of a confessional nature as a trust between the person concerned and God?
Yes. I understand that in some circumstances, information I receive must be shared (i.e. in cases of suspected child abuse). I believe that it is important to be clear in communicating with parishioners and others that their conversations are private and protected, in order for them to feel more comfortable in sharing their true feelings and concerns in counseling settings.
6) Provide evidence of experience in peace and justice ministries.
In my congregation, we talk – in worship, in Bible studies, etc. – about what it means for peace and justice ministries to go hand in hand. We talk about how true peace can’t come about without justice for those who are oppressed, for whom justice has been denied.
Peace, ironically, seems to be such a dangerous and loaded word. Say you work for peace, and people want to know what party and what platform you are supporting. In the church, we are called to work for the peace of Christ, peace with justice, peace that God promises God’s people.
In my local congregation this fall, peace is one of the foci for our fall ministries. As I am writing this, we are preparing to celebrate “Peace Sunday” in honor of the second annual International Day of Peace. At the conference level, where I am part of the Church and Society team, I most recently coordinated the worship resources for Peace with Justice Sunday for local churches. I have been active with peace and justice ministries at the general church level in my work on the General Board of Church and Society (GBCS), our advocacy body in the UMC. GBCS is involved with many justice ministries. My particular focus on the board is in the Economic and Environmental Justice Work Area, and I love my work there.
12 comments:
Do you believe that the Bible is the infallible word of God? And if so, how do you get around 1 Timothy 2:12 which says "I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet." Not to mention the qualifications that follow in chapter 3 and Titus for those who are to be leaders in the church. It clearly states that "He" is to be "the husband of one wife" and so on.
Thanks for your question. I believe the Bible is God's word, but I believe it was written by humans in a time and place, and we have to bring it into our own lives. The bible also teaches that you shouldn't wear clothing of two kinds of fabric, or sow two kinds of seed in a field. You can also find texts which support slavery and polygamy. I think there are many instances of women in leadership roles in the bible. I try to look at the whole word of God instead of taking verses at a time. I think it is clear that that author of 1 Timothy did not see women in church leadership, but I think elsewhere it is clear that women are already in leadership in the early church. Either way, mostly i can't "get around" my call from God into pastoral ministry!
Elizabeth,
I am thankful you are putting these out. I have to start this next summer and wished someone could have told me what I was in for. I hate the not knowing more than the wait.
Steven
Or, Beth, more simply put, United Methodist doctrine doesn't affirm biblical inerrancy.
Which is one of many reasons why I love the UMC.
Yeah, that too dogblogger! Risen Soul, you might want to check out my earlier post about my view of the Wesleyan quadrilateral.
Steven, glad you are enjoying! Waiting is hard. But it goes fast in many ways too.
hey welcome
I used to read you earlier - then lost sight of you - great you are in Rev Gals.
I'm also a candidate for ordination but here in Finland and I have heaps of questions ... watch this space.
(and advice on the mentoring or spiritual development help would be already useful. I'm very frustrated right now. (my email is on my site go back to the main page - heavenlytrain )
a really warm welcome to Rev Gals. :)
Elizabeth,
Something bothers me about your answer to the question about confidentiality. Your answer seems to address confidentiality in pastoral counseling and not conversations of a confessional nature. As pastors we interact with our congegations on at least three levels: as friends, as counselor, and as priest. Each requires a different level of confidentiality. Confession by its almost sacramental nature demands the highest of confidentiality that can only be breached in the most extreme of circumstances. It is as the question states, "a trust between the person concerned and God."
Otherwise, its been fun to read your answers to the ordination questions. It is good to reflect on them as I consider re-entry into UMC ministy after several years of family leave.
Fay
Are you willing to minister with all persons without regard to race, color, ethnicity, national origin, social status, gender, sexual orientation, age, economic condition or disabilities?
Just finished the process last year... and i think on my paper work this is how my question was stated (and in 2004 Discipline)I'm in the Oklahoma Conf.
anyway I had fun with the process...
here is just a few of the thoughts I wrote...
It is my hope, that Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors is truly more than a slogan for all United Methodist Churches.... (opening)
(closing)
...God’s children come in all shapes and sizes, colors, and genders. As a church we must be willing to work with all God’s children regardless of the world’s categories that attempt to divide us. Yet, as a diverse people we should come together and be unified in building the Kingdom of God that celebrates our kaleidoscope of uniqueness. As the contemporary Christian band DC Talk puts in their song Colored People:
We’re colored people, and we live in a tainted place ~ We’re colored people, and they call us the human race ~ We’ve got a history so full of mistakes ~ And we are colored people who depend on a holy grace ~ A piece of canvas is only the beginning for ~ It takes on character with every loving stroke ~ This thing of beauty is the passion of an artist’s heart ~ By God’s design, we are a skin kaleidoscope ~ We’ve gotta come together, Aren’t we all human after all?
Fay, thanks for your feedback. I will have to think about what you said.
Revjack - thanks, you are right, i had put down an earlier edition of that question. Nice response!!
I refuse to argue inerrancy with anyone who hasn't sold all they have and given the proceeds to the poor.
I stole that one, but I like it a lot.
Elizabeth,
Your response to risen soul's question about qualifications had nothing to do with the quesiton.
God used men to record His Word, In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the WORD WAS GOD. There is nothing that contraditcts that fact. Your comment suggests that God did not know what he was doing when he used men to record his word.
Just because you are qualified does not mean you are AUTHORIZED. Women in the position of a bishop clearly contradict the will of God, because it clearly contradicts the Word of God.
To the comment of risen soul and those who like to defend it...
So women have no place in leadership roles in the Church, and you believe in the inerrancy of Scripture? Well, what about women leaders in the nation of Israel who were not only qualified but authorized to lead God's people - as recorded in Judges? Using that as an example, you either truly do not believe in inerrancy, or you truly believe God was wrong in that decision. Which is it? What about the Book of Esther - clearly written from a woman's perspective? - And. may I add, it is considered Scriptural cannon.
Sometimes people put God in a vaccum and limit God based on their own beliefs. I believe in a progressive God who adapts and re-acts to humankind's choices. We have free will, we are not pawns in some type of divine chess game.
I write this as a discontinued pastor from the UMC because I was told my views were too radical.
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