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UCC Ministry Issues

UCC Ministry Issues. An On-Going Conversation March 2009. On-going work we are doing together. Collaborative, all-Church effort Draft document (Draft 3.0) now on UCC website (Parish Life and Leadership). Ministry Issues Draft 3.0. Implementation Committee at work

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UCC Ministry Issues

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  1. UCC Ministry Issues An On-Going Conversation March 2009

  2. On-going work we are doing together • Collaborative, all-Church effort • Draft document (Draft 3.0) now on UCC website (Parish Life and Leadership)

  3. Ministry IssuesDraft 3.0 • Implementation Committee at work • Participants as listed in Draft, pg 4, plus • Candita Mattos, Vertie Powers, Andrea Cano, Felix Carrion, Peg Slater • Ron Fujiyoshi, Gene Miller, Jonathan Lee • Lynn Bujnak

  4. Key QuestionsGuide Us For example: • Whose ministry is it that we are talking about?

  5. The Implementation Committee understands that “authorized ministries of the United Church of Christ” are exactly that: ministries of the Church as it strives to listen and respond faithfully to God’s call.

  6. How We Got to Draft 3.0 • 1980’s: General Synod adopted current wording re authorized ministries of ordination, commissioning, licensing • Expansion of MOM followed • (MOM = Manual on Ministry)

  7. Conversations of the80’s and 90’s addressed: • Character of Ministry (ecumenical and UCC) • Historical Commitments within the UCC • Increasing (Recognition of) Diversities • Changing Demographics of the UCC • Need for licensed ministry, role & recognition of licensed ministers

  8. and • Clergy from other traditions • Concerns re participation, loyalty of clergy to the UCC • Recognition that “one size fits all” may not work

  9. 2000’s: Ministry Issues Convocations • Five-fold focus: • Theology of Ordination • “In Care” Process • Licensed Ministry • Multiple Paths of Preparation for Ordination • UCC Identity • Three national gatherings, leading to Pronouncement adopted by General Synod, 2005

  10. General Synod 25, 2005Pronouncement: Ministry Issues: Forming and Preparing Pastoral Leaders for God’s Church

  11. PronouncementAffirmations • Call of all God’s people to ministry • Call of some persons to authorized ministry • Call of the Church into God’s mission • Celebration of diversities

  12. Affirmations, continued • Need for new patterns re • Preparation for Authorization • Continuing relationships of authorized ministers and the church (including accountability, lifelong learning) • Discernment of Call

  13. PronouncementCommitments • Repent for any past unfaithfulness • Give Thanks for those who have served • Listen and respond to God • Participate actively in (ongoing) discernment of call • Develop, support, engage in multiple paths of preparation for authorization

  14. Commitments,continued • Participate in ongoing covenants of authorized ministers and the church • Expect and encourage lifelong learning on the part of authorized ministers

  15. Now • NOT throw out all the old and bring in all new • Much which is proposed is in practice in some way, somewhere; much that we are doing will continue • (Multiple Paths of Preparation is not really a new idea.)

  16. Some things don’t change • Church’s need for faithful leaders • Role & authority of UCC Associations • Need for educational programs for preparation and for continued learning • Covenants among settings of the UCC and its ministers • Church’s need to make room for diversity

  17. Ministry Issues(March 2009) • Draft 3.0 is on the PLL website • Please toss previous Draft and use this one unless there is something in Draft 2 and not in 3 which you want to address. • Draft 3 has varied materials (thus its length) • Tools for Committees, Local Churches, others • Ideas, Proposals • Background Information and Commentary

  18. A Way into Draft 3.0Ministry Issues • Start with the “Narrative Overview” on page 6 • See the “Core Understandings” • Then the “Marks” and their Introduction • Select other key pieces according to your interests, concerns

  19. Ministry Issues Affirmations, Oct. 2008 • Authorized Ministries of the UCC are of one piece. All are: • Representative Ministries of the Church • Based upon the needs of the Church • Share one basic pattern (or movements) of call, preparation, formation, authorization, & covenantal relationships of “standing”

  20. Affirmations • Authorized Ministries are distinct. Each has its own: • Responsibilities • Required gifts and skills (and related preparation) • Place & time • UCC “categories” (lay & clergy) re Synod delegates, etc.

  21. Affirmations • Covenantal relationships continue through the movements of call, preparation, formation, authorization, and standing • Covenants are reshaped at particular points • Discernment and formation continue throughout all movements

  22. Implementation • “Marks of Faithful and Effective Authorized Ministers of the United Church of Christ” is now the key piece • For all authorizations • Throughout all movements • To serve as a guide in discernment of call, preparation, authorization, and continuing formation

  23. Key Piece: “Marks” • Marks to be read and to serve within the varied contexts of • person, • community, • authorization, • needs of the church

  24. “Marks” in four sections • Spiritual Formation for Ministry • UCC Identity for Ministry • Personal and Professional for Formation for Ministry • Knowledge and Skills for Ministry

  25. Key Questions • Can this (use of the Marks) work? Is it a good idea? • (Method) • Are these the right Marks? • (Content)

  26. Multiple Paths of Preparation • (“Multiple Paths” does not mean “short cut.”) • Implementation Committee Strongly Proposes: • A “Path” of preparation is individual (for a particular person) and usually includes participation in one or more educational programs. • Educational program in and of itself is not a “Path.”

  27. A Key, guiding, Question • Is this person called to, and ready for, authorized (licensed, commissioned, ordained) ministry in the UCC? • Not, has this person completed a particular educational program?

  28. Multiple Paths of Preparation • can honor the diversities of communities, persons, churches, needs within the UCC • Whether UCC wants or needs a “learned” ministry is not argued • But, of course, “learned” varies in meaning

  29. “Discernment” • Crucial to hearing and responding to God’s Call • Requires serious engagement with the Holy Spirit • as well as with one another • Requires/assumes openness on the part of all • Is on-going

  30. Discernment of Call to Authorized Ministry • A communal endeavor which includes: • A Member • Local Church • Association • Perhaps also family, educational setting, friends, wise elders

  31. Another Key Questionfor Discernment TO WHAT ministry are you called? NOT: ARE you called to ministry?

  32. ImplementationCommittee Proposal: • That a similar pattern of discernment of call, preparation, formation, authorization, and continuing covenant be followed for all authorized ministries of the UCC • Possible new pattern to organize MOM • Recognize and honor differences in time, path, emphases, and any other particulars of each authorization

  33. Local Church Is a Continuing Covenant Partner • “Culture of Call” to be nurtured (needed in all UCC settings) • Initial Discernment with Member • New Tool in Draft 3.0 (Thanks to Southwest Wisconsin Association for their work on this.) • Ongoing relationship through discernment and formation, as well as throughout a person’s ministry

  34. Standing of Authorized Ministers as a Continuing Covenantal Relationship • Such UCC language may be a “no-brainer,” but it has important implications • An active, participatory relationship/membership, not a static status, within the UCC • Spiritual, Personal, Professional Formation continues (to the grave!) • Includes continuing accountability, care (Covenant calls for mutual accountability)

  35. Covenantal Accountability • Formal • E.g., Periodic, Informational Reviews • Informal • E.g., Peer groups, mentoring

  36. Tools in the Draft for Committees • Discernment • Assessment • Of Persons • Of Educational Programs • Meeting members of communities new to the Committee • (Thanks to Dorothy Lester for original draft) • UCC Identity • “On Formative Practices”

  37. More to Come • Using the Marks re Licensing • Using the Marks re Commissioning • Organizing and Managing the Committee on Ministry’s ministry • Bibliographies re ministry, discernment, and ? • ??

  38. Next Steps • Responses to Draft 3.0 • April 2009 Implementation Committee Meeting • Evaluate • Identify next steps • Develop plan (with calendar) • May have a writer by then to begin work toward new MOM; if not then, SOON!

  39. An Invitation • Please share with the Implementation Committee your suggestions, including: • Experiences you might share with others • Tools still needed (and by what settings/persons within the UCC) • Other comments • Response instructions in Draft, or send to PLL

  40. Thank YOU!

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