MSE/WPs and the Church
The Church of England seems to have an odd relationship with the child it brought to birth when canon law was changed to allow the admission in to holy orders of those who would continue to earn their livelihood by means other than the church's payroll.
Whereas the Roman Catholic foray into worker-priest activity had been explicitly theological in purpose (before being closed down), the Anglican project seemed a mix of theology and practicality: bridging the church/world of work divide and getting more clergy to assist in parishes. I think it accurate to say the 'theology' was the lesser driver, but others may disagree.
Since then, priests in 'secular employment' within the Church of England have not really hit their development milestones (maybe we should now ditch the parent/child analogy). Why is that? Not enough of them have had a clear vision and drive (which may say something about selection); not many of them have been deployed thoughtfully (this seems true of clergy in general); there is little effective support of individual MSEs or of them as a body. Beneath all this lurk some powerful attitudes and resentments on all sides, touching on recognition, reward, acknowledgement and power. Nothing new there then in the life of the church...
"But it will not be so with you...." It is never too late to undertake serious change within institutions or the heart - but it needs a tipping point, where enough people want change.
Whereas the Roman Catholic foray into worker-priest activity had been explicitly theological in purpose (before being closed down), the Anglican project seemed a mix of theology and practicality: bridging the church/world of work divide and getting more clergy to assist in parishes. I think it accurate to say the 'theology' was the lesser driver, but others may disagree.
Since then, priests in 'secular employment' within the Church of England have not really hit their development milestones (maybe we should now ditch the parent/child analogy). Why is that? Not enough of them have had a clear vision and drive (which may say something about selection); not many of them have been deployed thoughtfully (this seems true of clergy in general); there is little effective support of individual MSEs or of them as a body. Beneath all this lurk some powerful attitudes and resentments on all sides, touching on recognition, reward, acknowledgement and power. Nothing new there then in the life of the church...
"But it will not be so with you...." It is never too late to undertake serious change within institutions or the heart - but it needs a tipping point, where enough people want change.