Maybe you didn't see the blog I posted yesterday from sources unknown. In a nutshell, The Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church jas released a proposed “minimum standards for entering candidates for ministry” which outlines what are the bare minimum requirements for people to be considered for clergy work.
The bottom chart has comments about candidates over a certain age.
- If they are over age 60-70, they should consider less rigorous forms of ministry (ie. less education and less opportunity for advancement, serving at the pleasure of the Bishop).
- But for those over age 45 desiring to be a Deacon or an Elder, it says that they “should be encouraged to pursue other expressions of ministry” and in the case of over 45yos seeking Elder’s orders “to pursue licensed ministry, certified lay or other expressions of lay ministry.”
- Don’t require a pension
- Don’t require health insurance if it isn’t full time
- Serve at the pleasure of the Bishop who can dismiss you when you reach 55 or so for whatever reason.
I think the first reaction is to notice this is a proposal. Then the second is to personalize it. If you came to ministry at age 45 or older, you think this is outrageous. If you are in your late 20s, no so much. In fact, you might agree with this.
In an aging denomination, one might even wonder if this is the right thing to do.
The problem is, the question is, who does the calling? Do we truly believe we are called BY GOD or is that just lip-service to wanting to find a career? The answer to those questions will help us find a way through the wilderness we talk so much about. They are legitimate questions I think.
I've seen plenty of lay people who it seemed to me should be in ordained ministry but have chosen not. I've seen several ministers who I thought should find some other way to serve. Age hasn't been the main criteria, but rather inspiration and clarity and even a dab of creativity. The willingness to change to meet the needs of a congregation probably isn't age-centric.
Does it make sense to "refer" someone to a type of ministry? Perhaps. I've said before one of the reasons I went into full-time local pastor or licensed ministry instead of becoming ordained was age. I didn't want to be the first to retire in the morning and then be ordained in the evening. But that was my choice and what I believed I was called to do and be.
I thought then and now that my "story" was more impactful if it simply wasn't part of a "career" decision. I don't now nor did I then think I picked this as a profession. Far from it. And were things different, I'm not sure I wouldn't be doing something different. Certainly this wasn't on the career goals list.
But I truly believe I was called into this. I truly believe God is using me, despite myself, in ways I still have trouble fathoming. If someone on some board of ordained ministry ever asks me, I'll tell them that.
By the way, as a journalist I wrote a book about God's Calling, and one can debate the quality of it and such, but the stories were solid and it didn't even prompt a discussion in this conference on what a calling is. I was asked to drive 4 hours to the conference center one day to speak for 10 minutes at a discerner's academy then drive back. I guess I didn't do the job well enough for I wasn't asked back, and I've never been asked to be on staff.
My point is this: There's always going to be some human criteria for these things. When we answer the questions of who truly is in charge of our call, our appointment, our lives, then perhaps we will have the correct criteria.
Peter and John wouldn't have had the right schooling, by the way.
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