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Israelite Wisdom and pastoral theology in the rural church
Gareth Lloyd Jones
Abstract
This paper argues that pastoral theology proclaimed from rural pulpits and
practised in rural ministry may be disloyal to its biblical roots if inadequate
attention is given to the distinctive perspective of the Israelite Wisdom
tradition. A review of recent significant development in our understanding of
this particular biblical tradition is followed by an examination of a prominent
aspect of Hebrew Wisdom, namely its anthropocentricity. Attention will be drawn
to the literature’s key themes including human concerns, human responsibility,
human authority, and human limitations.
Enabling collaborative ministry in rural Anglicanism
Ian K Williams
Abstract
Collaborative ministry is an emergent feature in rural Anglicanism and may well
be expressed in the form of a ministry team in a multi-parish benefice. This
paper, after clarifying what is meant by collaborative ministry, reports on
field research to identify the nature of the clergy–people relationships which
enable and support collaborative ministry. The ways of relating identified by
the field research reveal both continuity and a radical discontinuity with
relationships in the more traditional model of rural pastoral ministry.
Is the rural church different? The special case of confirmation
David W Lankshear
Abstract
The nationally published statistics of confirmation candidates in the Church of
England between 1950 and 1999 are explored for three groups of dioceses. These
groups are the most rural, the most urban and a group that lies around the
centre of the continuum between rural and urban. The decline in the number of
candidates after the 1960s is traced. The figures are also compared with the
population of the dioceses, the members of the electoral roll and the numbers of
Easter day communicants. The gender balance with confirmation candidates is also
explored for this period. Attention is drawn to the differences between the
urban and rural patterns of presentation of candidates for confirmation and the
changes in these during the fifty year period being considered. A number of
explanations for the differences noted are advanced and it is suggested that
these possible explanations are best tested through research at diocesan level.
Attention is also drawn to the weaknesses inherent in the rural/urban model when
it is used as a descriptor of the Church of England.
The priesthood of creation: the Hulsean Sermon 2004
Anthony Russell
Abstract
The sermon begins by explaining the origins of the benefaction, and setting it
in the context of contemporary writings on God and nature. It then describes the
radical shift from the search for God as visible in creation, to the modern
elevation of the environment to the status of alternative religion. In the light
of that movement, it asks about the nature of nature, and about an appropriate
way of understanding the relationship between nature and God. In this respect,
the Judaeo-Christian record has not set a good example by seeing nature as made
for humanity’s benefit. A more recent view thus provides an important
corrective, arguing for the givenness of the natural world, and for human beings
as part of that. Simultaneously, accounts of nature itself have returned to a
picture of an entity which is female, sacred, dynamic, and capable of fighting
back if attacked. The sermon concludes by proposing that humanity is distinct
from, but not placed in god-like control over the natural world. Our model for
this is found in the persona of Christ as high priest and mediator between God
and creation. It is this model, applied to men and women, that will enable them
to live in a priestly and ultimately redemptive relationship with the natural
world, all of them creatures of a loving God.
RESEARCH REPORT: Do introverted clergy prefer rural ministry?
Leslie J Francis,
Guy Smith
and Mandy Robbins
Abstract
Building on three earlier studies, the present paper employs the abbreviated
form of the Revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire to compare the personality
profile of 94 Anglican clergy engaged in rural ministry with 219 clergy engaged
in ministry in non rural parishes. The research is based in the dioceses of
Worcester and Lichfield. Rural clergy were found to be more socially conforming,
but neither more introverted nor more extraverted than clergy serving in
non-rural parishes. The implications of personality differences are discussed
for the shape of rural ministry.
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