This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from the King’s Research Portal at https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/ Route Planning Mapping Journeys to Priesthood in the Church of England Bloor, Amanda Awarding institution: King's College London The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without proper acknowledgement. END USER LICENCE AGREEMENT Unless another licence is stated on the immediately following page this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ You are free to copy, distribute and transmit the work Under the following conditions: Attribution: You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Non Commercial: You may not use this work for commercial purposes. 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ROUTE PLANNING: MAPPING JOURNEYS TO PRIESTHOOD IN THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND Amanda Elaine Bloor PhD, Kings College London 1 INDEX Abstract p.4 Introduction: Supposition p.6 Chapter 1: Investigation p.19 Chapter 2: Organisation p.83 Chapter 3: Inspiration p.131 Chapter 4: Exploration p.175 Chapter 5: Formation p.222 Chapter 6: Integration p.278 Chapter 7: Consolidation p.327 Conclusion: Transformation p.378 2 Annexe A: Participant Invitation p.404 Annexe B: Research Questions p.406 Annexe C: Informed Consent Form p.417 Annexe D: Sample Transcription p.419 Bibliography p.421 3 ABSTRACT Research suggests that the well-being of clergy in the Church of England is closely tied to the way that they feel about themselves, their vocation and their employer. Yet whilst successive studies have investigated the role of the Church in contemporary society, the impact of secularism and the professionalisation of the ordained ministry, little attention has been paid to the formation of new priests and the way in which this shapes their self- understanding and identity. This longitudinal study follows men and women from their earliest days in theological training into their first parishes, asking what it is that they hope to be doing, what the Church appears to be training them to do, and what it is that they find expected of them after ordination. It questions whether new entrants to the profession have realistic models of what contemporary priestly ministry involves or whether they try to hold onto idealised, romantic visions of priesthood. In rapidly changing contexts and within an increasingly sceptical landscape, do they have the personal and institutional resources to grow and flourish? Do they find strategies to cope with the divergence between their hopes and the realities they experience, or does uncertainty about their role, and a divergence between the personal and the normative, lead to dissonance and alienation? 4 Utilising qualitative techniques and a variety of interdisciplinary approaches, semi-structured annual research interviews allow the investigation of critical incidents and experiences that prove crucial to the development or inhibition of a priestly identity. The thesis takes a chronological approach based on the metaphor of a journey, considering the images of priesthood that inspire vocations, examining the experiences of those training for ordained ministry, identifying the ways in which they attempt to integrate theory with practice, and discovering how the process has shaped their expectations and identities. It makes acknowledgement of the effects of the research process upon the researcher, and makes proposals to the Church for improved practice. 5 Introduction Supposition The Church of England continually needs new priests. Like any other large organisation, it has to replace staff who retire or resign, it has to meet the needs of its customer base (which as long as the parish system survives means being able to minister to everyone within a set geographical area, whether or not they consider themselves to be ‘members’ of the Church) and it has to plan for the future whilst hoping for expansion and growth. Yet making those priests – and I use the term very deliberately – is a process which attempts to bring together a number of seemingly divergent elements: the uncontrollable nature of God’s involvement with the world; the desire of the Church to oversee and manage the behaviour and practice of its clergy whilst allowing them a degree of autonomy and independence unusual in secular employment; the wide variety of expressions of church practice and expression within Anglicanism; the varying abilities, skills and background of those called to ordained ministry; the historical fact of Establishment; the importance of the local; and the questioning of what it means to be a Christian in contemporary British society. Would-be priests are required to identify and prioritise the supernatural ‘calling’ of God but submit to the discernment and authority of the Church, and are commonly required to respond to the needs and wishes of their local communities and congregations whilst maintaining a clear institutional identity and obedience to those ordained 6 to Episcopal leadership. Anglican priesthood is at the same time deeply personal and irreducibly corporate; it is shaped by context but subject ultimately only to God. Little wonder that new entrants to the ‘clerical profession’ find themselves challenged by questions of authority, identity, ambiguity and practice. The desire for ordination is, the Church believes, inspired not only by a hope to serve, but also by the supernatural intervention of God – which may manifest itself in fairly mundane ways1 - in the form of a ‘calling’ or vocation to ministry. Priestly ministry in the Church of England traces its roots back to the faith established by the earliest followers of Jesus Christ, commissioned by him to ‘make disciples of all nations’2 (which itself built on the pre-Christian roots of Judaic temple worship), and points towards a God considered to be beyond the constraints of time and space, but manifested in a particular way by the life, death and resurrection of a first-century Palestinian man. As theologian Hans Küng points out, Christian faith relies upon the figure of Christ as its ‘normative basis.’3 A faith that is rooted in an individual person, in a specific context, must, in order to have significance beyond that time and place, demonstrate both a lasting resonance and an ability to engage creatively with contemporary life and issues. ‘If God,’ says David Ford, ‘is conceived as related to all reality,’ then it is necessary for Christian faith to ‘engage intelligently’ with the questions and 1 David Martin refers to the ‘friendly remark’ of a friend that he could help the Church more concretely by being ordained than by critical academic comment. Foreword to Percy, 2006. 2 Matthew 28:19, NRSV translation 3 Küng, 1999 p.27 7 problems thrown up by daily existence.4 The expression, understanding and leadership of that faith must remain congruent with tradition whilst remaining relevant to contemporary culture. Priesthood has therefore to be understood in terms of the past, present and future, and those trained and employed as priests must be able to interpret their role and function in ways that will make sense both to those looking at the tradition of the Church and the Christian faith, and to those questioning its relevance within twenty-first century English society. How the Church attempts to resolve this dichotomy, and the success with which it is achieved, is the theme of this study. The process of becoming a priest is intentionally slow and demanding. Candidates for ordained ministry have to prove that they possess experience of church environments, demonstrate leadership and communication skills, pass a complex selection process and undertake a training course which typically takes two to three years. Their sense of vocation is repeatedly tested and their suitability for clerical service continually assessed. Even after satisfactory completion of all these stages, an occasion marked by a formal public ceremony (ordination), new clergy are expected to undertake a three to four year apprenticeship (a curacy) under the supervision of an experienced parish priest before being considered ready to apply for posts of ‘first responsibility.’ Producing new priests takes time and is costly for individual and institution alike.