I admit to an interest: I have been a bit involved with the
project over the four or five years that it’s been running. Paul Murray rather
exaggerated my contribution to its birth in his opening remarks; but from my far-off student days when
transactional analysis was all the rage I still remember being told that “we
all need our strokes”. It’s always good to be appreciated.
Which was one of the thoughts that was somewhere around when
the leadership survey report was presented by Tom Redman (like Paul, a Durham
professor – we were in pretty high-powered company). Some 184 of church members
in our synod had gallantly filled in a questionnaire about their attitudes to
their minister; and though plenty of questions were raised about the
methodology, there was no reason to dispute the general conclusion that the “performance”
value of church members is heavily dependent on the style of the minister’s
leadership. And the number-crunching of
every section of the questions revealed appreciation for the minister’s “servant
leadership”.
I was thinking about this this morning when an e-Christmas
card made its way into my inbox. You may have received the same one yourself:
Linda and Gill at Church House are appreciative of what we have done to support
and advocate Commitment for Life over the past year, and are looking forward to
celebrating the 20th anniversary in 2012. I clicked on the link – and while not
over-impressed (sorry Gill!) by the schmaltzy music and snow scene I find
myself fascinated by the site: you can send a FREE CHRISTIAN ECARD (choice of
design) for nearly every holiday and every occasion imaginable.
As well as Christmas and Hannukah and Chinese New Year(why
would they be Christian ecards?)
there’s Patriot Day, Boss Day, Reformation Day, Teacher’s Day and St Patrick’s
Day – among many others. But the two that caught my eye were Clergy Appreciation
Day and Ministry Appreciation Month. Perhaps in the next few days I should send to
all my not-yet-retired colleagues the one with the sleeping dog that says “take
it easy....” But you might choose the
tasteful water lily that simply says “thank you” – or if you’re more effusive
you might even chance “You’re a great pastor! Your hard work and sacrifice are
appreciated!” Or where appropriate, you
can choose from two designs that proclaim “Woman of God, God Bless you for your ministry” – though to
my mind the soft focus and white dress on one of them border on what we now
call “inappropriate”.
Receptive ecumenism, as the name implies, is about
discovering what we can receive from others, rather than concentrating on the
gifts that we have to bring ourselves. I’ve always been uneasy about that
non-gospel saying of our Lord’s, that it is more blessed to give than to
receive, because in my own experience most of the people I’ve worked with in the
Church find receiving far harder than giving. Of course, as perhaps Fenwicks
window and the John Lewis advert remind us, both giving and receiving are
needed to complete any transaction – and blessedness is to be found when both
are undertaken in the right spirit.
Whether or not they receive the appropriate e-cards, I hope
that my colleagues who couldn’t get to St James’s yesterday will know that their
ministry is appreciated. And if they haven’t yet filled in the admittedly
difficult questionnaire that they
were asked to complete about attitudes to their
church leader – yes, we know that moderators are different, and the questions
don’t easily match our ecclesiology – the Receptive Ecumenism team would be
very grateful to receive their late entries.
