Welcome to the Library
Material about worker-priests is rare compared to the multitudinous output from the church about other aspects of the faith, not least about ordained (or 'sacred') ministry.
I thought it might be helpful to draw together what I had found in one place. Here are some I know of. Do please let me know of others you think might be added: remember, they must be of direct interest to the MSE/WP vocation. For material published by C of E dioceses about SSM/MSE ordained ministry see here |
The Revd Canon Mildred Datestamp is a worker-priest librarian and also DDO in Barchester Diocese. Her special interest is in feminist and liberation theologies. She has convictions, not all spent.
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GENERAL
WEIGHTIER TREATMENTS OF THE THEME
OFFICIAL THINGS This document appears on the CofE site with the note: This document is designed to assist DDOs, Bishops' Advisers and others who have a role in selecting MSEs for the Church of England. It was drafted by MSE John Lees and formed part of the Ministry Division's guidance for BAP Advisers in 2011. (John had a book published in 2019 by SPCK Self Supporting Ministry: A Practical Guide. Although dealing with the wider group of unpaid clergy, it includes references to minsiters in secular employment (MSE)). CMD (continuing ministerial development) in the Church of England. (What might a CMD programme with MSE/WPs in mind look like? See here). Other publications One Ministry (Bristol Diocese December 2014 Does the Church of England understand the MSE/worker-priest vocation? It seems not. Its main vocation website (see below, click to access), which is devoted to explaining ordained ministry to those considering it, says hardly anything about this vocation. It is in and through the church's formal and public material that one gets the clear message that MSE/WP vocations don't exist. Perhaps this near-absent level of recognition is related to other structural blindnesses such as not taking seriously the place, mission and capacity of the faithful laos/laity, or the social and political context in which the gospel is witnessed to. FROM OTHER PARTS OF THE CHURCH
MISCELLANEOUS
About, or by, individual men and women following MSE/worker-priest calling
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Denominational groupings of
MSE and worker-priests UK CHRISM a well-established and valuable "association for all Christians who see their secular employment as a primary field of Christian ministry and for those who would support and encourage that vision". REST OF EUROPE Mission de France A missionary diocese of the French Catholic Church: 250 clergy, many of them worker-priests, plus lay associates. Prêtres Ouvriers National membership organisation of French Worker Priests. USA Association of Presbyterian Tentmakers Presbyterian ministers in part time paid church work but also in secular employment. NASSAM The National Association of Self Supporting Assistant Ministers (NASSAM). A relatively small group of non-stipendiary ministers of the Episcopalian Church of the USA. The Southern Baptist Bivocational Ministers Association Provides affirmation and encouragement to 'Bivos'. MSE/worker-priest blogs or sites View from the tent (USA) Bivocational Ministry (USA) Barriers to Ministry (USA) The tentmaking minister (UK) Richard Spence's admirable 'MSE Review of relevant literature' (NZ) |