During the 1960's, an arid period for the Church worldwide, many ministers felt frustrated. A number relinquished the ministry. Others took up specialist ministries, notably chaplaincies. The flavour and anguish of this period is preserved in this selection of articles bearing on the issue.

A. E. White, A.C., March 10, 1964, p. 2.

      When Granger Westberg was here last year he told us that, in the medical school where he is a professor in religion and medicine, very few of the medical students plan to become general practitioners. They all want to be specialists. According to one definition, a specialist is a man who knows more and more about less and less.

      Specialisation is becoming more precise. Where a doctor once would specialise in several areas, he is now likely to specialise in one part of one area. This trend is exaggerated in the story of the G.P. who said to the very young graduate, "I believe you are an ear, nose, and throat specialist." "Oh, no," came the quick response, "I specialise only in noses." "Ah," said the G.P. Then, after a pause, "Which nostril?"

      Westberg said that over the last three years, hardly any student graduated from medical school to become a G.P., or, as we might call him, the family doctor.

      This move to specialisation is evident in many other fields and is quite strong in the ministry. Over the past few weeks there have been announcements that several ministers are leaving pastorate and pulpit in order to enter special fields of Christian service.

      It is good to have these men working in special areas and it is taken for granted that they are following a divine call, that they are moving into God's will and not escaping from it. There have been many new demands in recent years and these, added to many more familiar and traditional services, have touched many aspects of life. There are school, prison, hospital, and industrial chaplains. There are deputationists and administrators in temperance work, Bible Societies, missions, and social welfare. There are officers in departments of Christian Education, Home and Overseas Missions, Evangelism, Social Service, and Stewardship. There are college principals land lecturers. There are specialists in communication through radio and T.V. There are even editors.

      This editorial is not directed against such specialisation. But there is need to speak out for the pastoral ministry. It is not out-dated and unnecessary. In the opinion of many of us it is still the most important responsibility and privilege of the Christian minister.

      Personal relationship is the key to living, and the pastor is the link between human needs and divine resources. He and his people will turn to the specialist in times of special need for techniques or strategies, or for diagnosis and prescription. But the specialist does not take the place of the pastor. He is an ally. The pastor is still the man on the spot with the entry into every home and with the opportunity to demonstrate genuine personal interest.

      God is a redeemer and the church is a redemptive community. The pastor serves God's people in God's name. There is no higher calling than his.

A.C., 1967, October 28, p. 10.

To the Editor,

      Recent "Open Forum" letters have dealt with the lot of the minister. In Toowoomba, Qld., there are six men who minister at one time for Churches of Christ, and I know of at least four others who have recently given up and are now engaged in unspectacular forms of employment. Practically every minister

in our brotherhood can name men who heard the call, trained, served and retired--all within a very short time.

      Reasons for this continuous exodus, apart from retirement, are many. Some leave for sheer economic reasons. Others want security for their family. Some are dismissed or dropped because a congregation wants a change. Rarely is a minister dismissed because of misdemeanour.

      However, this letter is not to argue reasons for men vacating the ministry, but rather to deplore the apathy, so apparent, that many men can train for years at great sacrifice and then vanish over the horizon with few people, if any, caring as to what happens to them.

      May I suggest that all three Colleges give serious thought to the matter of including the University Social Studies Diploma in their training, so that when the "axe" falls, our men will be able to walk into a form of employment with which they are accustomed. An approach to the Minister of Social Services with a view to getting the College Diploma recognised as an equivalent to the Social Studies Diploma needs thorough investigation. The present trend seems to be training young men to fill vacancies which they themselves will later vacate and vanish over the horizon. Deplorable to say the least.

--Dr. Arnold C. Caldicott, Qld.      

A.C., 1968, p. 52.

      Recently I wrote down more than a dozen names of men I know who have left the "full time" ministry. I ask "Why?" and come up with these thoughts:

IT'S THE CHURCH!!

      It's our form of government; the democratic, congregational set-up, where the minister seems to be at the mercy of his congregation. His future, reputation and effectiveness, e. g., his whole ministry is bound up with people he wishes to love dearly and who disappoint him, even crucify him. It is the business of shifting: it nearly "kills" a man trying to find God's will when he's called to a church.-The expense, the manse contents and the like all add to the frustration. It is having a car. It is hard to find enough to buy, maintain, and cover the depreciation of a car. Yet I believe that our Churches of Christ framework is as good as any in which to work; other frame works have human problems too. Our church is the kind of church Christ loved and gave himself for and so should I.

IT'S THE PEOPLE!!

      They just haven't got a clue what a minister goes through in training and in ministerial work. They don't understand the tensions, frustrations, battles and confusion, and that dull ache in the brain caused by continual strain for long hours. The criticism, and what is expected of a minister is hard to take. He's flat out--yet 'tis said, "He doesn't visit" or do "this" or "that" particular thing. He's "too old," "too young," "too modern," "too progressive" or "too bossy." They expect him (and his wife) to do things they aren't prepared to do themselves. They resent him having a day off, yet the doctor says if he doesn't go steady he'll be in trouble. After coming home exhausted from leading a hectic camp people ask, "Did you enjoy your holiday?" People are more interested in business, sport, making money, etc. to be at church functions. They're too conservative, too critical; they don't want to be guided, disciplined, or helped. A minister does his best and gets rubbished. When he does please the people they resent his going. "The people are too difficult!" I've heard that before (Exod. 4:1). Moses would never have been the man of God he was if his leadership had been easy. With God's help he made it, and so can I.

IT'S ME!!

      "I haven't enough brains, personality, and 'stickability.'" I can't preach, visit, teach R.I., handle finances, cope with difficulties, accept criticism, and get along with people; I can't take the "grind" year in and year out; I can't keep the garden tidy; I can't keep up my Christian home life; there's not enough privacy--the phone and/or the doorbell rings in the middle of a hot roast dinner, or during the family or children's devotions. I have family and marriage troubles and they are usually caused or amplified by the church. The children are spoilt. I can't keep up with my standard in personal prayer, Bible reading, preparation, theology, and pastoral work as well as my own home life so rather than be a hypocrite, I'm getting out to be a "normal" person. I either stay in the ministry as a hypocrite with little genuine

concern or keep on and end up a wreck, so I'll get out while I'm young enough to have another vocation where I can earn more money, study more, and make more impact on the world for Christ."

      Some blame themselves because their wives have troubles. "My wife has difficulties; 'She talks too much;' 'She can't get on with people;' 'People pick her and she can't take it;' 'She's too capable and others resent it and make her do all the work;' 'She should be at everything' or 'She's too useless' sum up the problems she faces." And then, when the minister and his wife sacrifice to attend functions, people who should be there are at home "relaxing" or "watching TV" when he and his wife would like to be "relaxing" also or doing something more profitable.

      In seven years of ministry, I've faced or seen these things; "I feel like giving up" is a frequent thought. I have every sympathy for those who have, but trusting in God's resources believe that I never shall."

"STILL WITH IT."      

A.C., 1969, p. 30.

To the Editor,

      Recent copies of "A.C." have focused attention on Training for the Ministry.

      This is all to the good. The institutions are doing a magnificent job with meagre funds but is it so well known that even after taking into account peculiar local situations, views on what constitutes the ideal minister for a particular congregation (age, educational background, other work, etc., etc.) the present situation offers little hope to anyone seeking a call? At least four States can give no encouragement Reference Committees and Advisory Boards in these States indicate generally that there are no vacancies and not likely to be any in the near future.

      Another well-known brotherhood personality has expressed concern to the writer, wondering what is going to happen to the present intake of students which will graduate in say five years' time, from our three theological colleges, even taking into account drop-outs, overseas postings, etc.

      New congregations will take care of some of the graduates, but the time is ripe for a full-scale evaluation of present trends and likely future developments. Have we reached saturation point?

      Personally, I want to serve within the framework of the church's life and ministry at a pastoral level, but at midpoint in life I cannot continue to hope that "something suitable" will turn up. If I'm no good, then I'd rather be told outright that I'm not wanted and I can get on with something else--but meanwhile I'm involved in one of the most demanding of pastoral ministries on behalf of others, for another denomination!

(Name and address of minister supplied).      

A.C., 1970, p. 442.

      The last decade has seen a searching criticism of the ministry as we know it. More priests and ministers are leaving the ministry than ever before, some to return to secular employment. Some theological colleges in Australia are having difficulties in finding enough suitable candidates. Some students feel that the local church is "dead," that there is not much value in "drinking cups of tea with old ladies" and that if only they could get "out into the world" they would be able to do great things for God. In the words of Seward Hiltner, today there is "ferment in the ministry."

      Perhaps ferment is what we need to shake us up; to move us from our complacency. There is no doubt that many of the criticisms have a measure of truth in them. Could it be that we have become so steeped in tradition that we have forgotten what ministry really is?

      To Jesus, a minister wasn't a person who ruled or governed a church. Nor was he a man of preeminence or power. In striking words of paradox Jesus exclaimed "Whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister . . . For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister."

      Most modern versions translate the word minister here as servant. Ministry, therefore, is serving others, living for others as Jesus did, whether they belong to "the flock" or not. Nor is ministry confined to the few. If we are Christians we are ministers.

      But while we are all ministers in this general sense, some of us are not able to spend all of our time in this capacity. It is obvious that we need, from a practical point of view, if from no other, men

who because of their special abilities and devotion to Christ are willing to make ministry their calling in life.

      We are all serving Christ as Christian ministers. Some are involved full-time in the special ministries of leading local congregations nor in brotherhood and other Christian leadership. Effective ministry is when we all work together, each achieving his full potential as a minister of Christ.

A.C., Nov. 3, 1964, p. 18.

To the Editor,

      The resolution passed at Federal Conference, inviting the board of Management of the Federal College of the Bible to consider taking steps to ensure the faculty be paid salaries more commensurate with their position and service, raises the question, Why stop there? Is it not time that State Conferences be asked to take steps to ensure that ministers be paid salaries more commensurate with qualification and training?

      Too many of our churches use the Conference recommendations re salaries as the beginning and end. It is time the Conference Committees compared the qualification, training and salaries of our ministers with other professional bodies. They will find that minimum salaries of 35-40 pounds are being paid to similarly qualified personnel working only 40 hours a week.

      Many of our ministers are working 60-80 hours per week without the benefits of overtime.

      The question of providing of manse should not come into the assessing of salary paid, as in my mind this is discounted by the fact that ministers of our churches never own their homes, as they are always on the move. We should pay them sufficient salary to allow them to save for a home of their own, to be purchased on reaching retirement.

      I think it is a blot on our brotherhood thinking, when we at the local church level are not generous in our thinking and outlook to our minister. How are we going to be generous in our giving and outlook to the work of our brotherhood on a Federal level, if we are not generous at the local level?

      We are not paying ministers sufficient car allowances. Too often the car allowance paid is token and only covers cost of petrol, and does not allow for depreciation and replacement. Churches should not be backward in providing their ministers with petty cash, stationery and sundry expenses. Our ministers should not be left in the position of putting up with the mental strain of insufficient financial security.

      Do our Conferences feel that the salaries paid to our ministers are in line with the capacity of the local church to pay? If so, then it is time that our general standard in giving is challenged and raised to a new high level, and this can be done, as has been shown by churches which have conducted Planned Giving programmes.

      I have often heard the argument that the minister is called by God and therefore the question of salary paid does not really come into it. I must disagree. God calls laymen to all kinds of careers and professions, and all work for remunerations commensurate with their skill and qualifications provided by Courts and State Wages Boards.

      I am sure if the case of our ministers was heard by an independent tribunal, the recommendations re minimum salary would be more in line with the amount suggested above.

      Let us not be accused of getting our ministers on the cheap.

--M. R. Lee, Vic.      

[NOF 613-616]