What kind of ministers do we want?
I've been thinking about this post from Andy, On (not) being ordained . You need to read it, but in short, he describes his journey to the point firstly, of being called to ordination training as a pioneer minister, and now, of deciding not to proceed to ordination. It's something of a cry of the heart, but also reflective and challenging. Andy reveals a certain degree of hurt without being at all bitter. He exposes some of the weaknesses of the modern Church of England, but is still able to affirm its strengths. Two observations particularly struck me. The first was "old habits die hard - actually, many of those old habits don't need to die". Although it's a truism, the reminder that "traditional church" is still where it's at for most churchgoers is a challenge to the way in which we present new ways of doing church. The second is much sharper - "there is a degree of salesmanship in any church ministry". I don't think Andy ...