|
Return to Table of Contents
Religion forms culture
and community. It creates social order that protects the community from
chaos. It gives meaning to our actions, maintains tradition and ritual,
and stabilizes moral order and respect for others. It keeps us from
killing each other off! It also provides for the continuation of the
elements that keep society stable. Ministry’s function is to preach, to
organize the church and congregation, to counsel the distressed, and to
teach the immature. The objective of the church is to help the
congregation cultivate the religious life (Niebuhr, 1956).
Priests must be aware of
the archetypes and archetypal expectations of the congregation.
Community members expect their Priest to uphold the highest community
virtues, because the Priest is the channel or pipeline to the infinite.
She embodies the connection to God, and her role is to open the pipeline
for others. The priest must also function in the day-to-day world. She
must maintain a balance between rationality and sentimentality. The
rational aspect is the sensible side that handles church and community
issues like budgets and daily routines. The sentimental aspect handles
the numinous and the transcendent side, the utopian ideas and beliefs of
the congregation (Holmes, 1978). It is a razors edge!
The Pastor or Priest must
practice practical or applied theology (praxis) which includes:
-
Grounding in the myths and history of
society, and in its evolved purposes and ideals - one must know
where one’s traditions and stories come from.
-
Knowledge of human nature and knowledge of
how to organize and persuade – the ability to lead others.
-
A capacity to understand the present
moment and to be able to analyze and understand the factors shaping
it - an understanding of the challenges to the welfare of the people
(Fowler, 1987).
These elements are
important to the Spiritual Leader in community. Today, people need to
be led to higher states of consciousness, to greater compassion and
care, and to justice that is equal for all. “The good politician
manages to lead the people forward in the realization of the unique
purposes of the community, through methods that take account of both the
human ‘stuff’ of which people are made and the unique pattern of
internal and external factors that threaten or challenge the mission of
the polis” (Fowler, 1987, p 15). Community members must have a leader
who informs and teaches them how to handle daily life, how to live
gracefully in community, and how to meet global challenges. The leader
must also relate these issues to the greater values of Service and
Spirit.
Praxis is balanced with
prudence, which is a practical wisdom that influences our actions.
Praxis is also complemented by theory which gives clarity and focus, and
by the poetic or creative which provides feeling and emotion. These
elements, taken together, provide a framework for the spiritual leader
in community. Praxis relates to community customs and traditions as
well as transformation and change. It involves day-to-day ways of doing
things, and it involves strategic initiatives and transformative
intentional actions to help community develop spiritually.
Ministers are the leaders
of the religious activities of the community. They stand for moral
order and are responsible for moral teaching. They are the authorities
on religious ideals and the philosophy of meaning, and they mediate the
spiritual or non-physical dimension for the community. The numinous can
offer a different kind of therapy or healing because it provides meaning
and purpose. The Priest or Minister helps connect others to this
numinous quality (Kelsey, 1984).
The purpose of spiritual
guidance is to bring people in touch with meaning in the universe and to
enable them to find meaning in all aspects of their lives. The Minister
or Priest acts as the Spiritual Guide, Teacher, or Spiritual Director
who helps people to receive this experience. Without the experience of
the numinous, religion is hollow and empty. The Pastor or Priest as
Guide must have walked the path and be able to relate the path to human
nature and life. He or she must have direct experience with the
transpersonal.
Spiritual guidance is
about helping another see and respond to spiritual truth. Spiritual
direction is a heart journey – a calling – a call to individuation and
spiritual growth. Spiritual guidance is any assistance aimed at
deepening faith, and the attention of the Spiritual Director must be to
encourage within the client the moment to moment attention to God.
Next
|