From
Living Theology in the Metropolitan Chicago Synod
Evangelical Lutheran Church In America
Volume 2, Number 1
Epiphany 1997
Ministerial Formation
First Call
Theological Education
Constance Leean Seraphine
Have
you ever had that nightmare where you're about to walk into the sanctuary to
perform a funeral and you realize that you know nothing about the deceased or
his or her family and you don't know what to say in your homily?
We
all have dreams of inadequacy like this. But what if the nightmare comes true?
Situations very similar to this have been reported by pastors in the first few
days and months of their first call to parish ministry.
Picture
this newly called pastor--let's call him James--moving into his first parish
office, unpacking his boxes and boxes of books from systematics, church
history, Greek, New Testament, and theology for a post-Christian age, and
lining them up in alphabetical order on a newly painted bookcase. James then
signs a memo to the church council which the secretary has left on his desk and
chuckles as he signs, "Rev." The secretary interrupts this reverie by
announcing that Sue is on the line and wants to talk to him about her need to
resign as the coordinator for volunteers. Also, another caller left a message
about setting up a marriage counseling session. Oh, and does he remember the
11:00 a.m. appointment with the treasurer about budget deficits?
Welcome
to the real world of parish ministry. A pastor who is now a synod staff person
recalled: "What surprised me, say the first six months or so, was to be
involved in counseling with a grieving family, to planning a council meeting,
and then looking at a stewardship campaign. And then jumping into teaching
confirmation and going from place to place and subject to subject. You are
making quick changes through a period of one day...through even one
day!"
It
would be easy to look back at one's seminary education and place blame on the
professors and the curriculum which didn't adequately prepare one for the
exigencies of parish life. Peter Marty ("The Pastoral Landscape," Lutheran
Partners, July/August, 1995) reflects, "Three quick years spent in
hallowed halls were never meant to be the shortcut for [one's] long journey to
wisdom. Seminary educators do not have the time to cover the full panoply of
issues that surface in a pastor's study, a church council meeting, or Sunday
worship. Seminarians are too busy nailing down the essential theological
support beams upon which to construct a fruitful and faithful practice of
ministry to grasp the full character and the detailed dynamics of parish
life."
Enter,
stage right, First Call Theological Education (FCTE). From the ELCA Study of
Theological Education Report passed by the 1995 Churchwide Assembly, (Appendix
E, FCTE Churchwide Standards & Guidelines) "The common purpose of
first call theological education is to enhance the transition from seminary to
parish. The desired outcome is that during their first three years under call,
pastors and rostered lay leaders in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
will have made the initial transition into their respective leadership roles
and will have grown in knowledge of God's Word and the Lutheran confessional
witness, in love for Jesus Christ and his Church, and in commitment to its
mission."
Synods
have primary responsibility for providing first call pastors a "core"
program of 25 contact hours per year which includes (a) ministerial identity,
(b) discernment of context, and (c) ministerial skills and practice.
Seminaries,
according to Phyllis Anderson of the Division for Ministry, "have given
their best gifts to these new pastors and lay rostered leaders to this point.
Now, they're in the hands of congregations as part of this learning
network."
Bishop
April Larson of the La Crosse Area Synod says it this way, "...we learn
our academic learning--our biblical studies, our exegetical work, theological
work, our pastoral care work from the seminaries. But the people teach us how
to be a pastor. There's a little bit of exaggeration in that, but there's a lot
of truth to it. We really learn to be a pastor from the people that we
serve."
Where
congregations become particularly involved in FCTE is in the selection of
"electives" (25 contact hours per year). For instance, if Pastor
James has a mutual ministry committee (or equivalent group), he would develop a
"Learning Covenant" which takes into account the congregation's
mission goals/needs as well as what he knows are his own growing edges in
ministry. James might bring to the table his interest in learning more about
various models for teaching confirmation age youth which fits the
congregation's expressed need for strengthening the youth program. A Learning
Covenant form is sent to the synod office listing the core learning events,
elective selections and a plan for structured reading, a third component of
FCTE.
A
fourth component of FCTE, the colleague group or mentor, is organized by the
synod to assure that James and other newly rostered leaders establish
supportive relationships with peers or mentors. Clergy who have experienced pilot colleague groups have reported
very positive experiences. "I have felt that everyone in our group,
including myself, has found it to be a forum in which genuine dilemmas of
ministry could be honestly brought up and wrestled with," said one person.
These groups also help clergy clarify what areas of growth they should pursue.
"Without this, I doubt if I would have done any continuing
education," reported a new pastor.
First
Call Theological Education has the potential to make a marvelous contribution
to the strength of the church. The promise of this new venture is to create a
habit of the heart for life-long learning among the rostered leaders of the
ELCA and Metro Chicago Synod, a habit that is grounded in God's Word and the
radical gospel of Jesus Christ, who promises to make all things new for those
who believe.
Constance Leean Seraphine
Coordinator, First Call Theological Education
Member, United, Oak Park