by Christopher A. Beeley
Wm. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, Mich. 144 pages
The language of systems theory applied to the church is the common language of the clergy. We frequently cite terms like “triangle” while noting the need for a “non-anxious presence” among “anxious, undifferentiated” parishioners whose “overfunctioning” is a sign of their “enmeshment.” We nod in general agreement (at least among ourselves in clergy support groups) that “self differentiation” is the response to the “undifferentiated ego mass” that is the local congregation.
This is in large part due to the theories of Murray Bowen and his students, particularly the brilliant Rabbi Edwin Friedmann, whose book “Generation to Generation” introduced a generation of clergy to a new way of the church as a biological system that required particular pastoral practice to be healthy.
We now have a vast company of clergy laboring to be non-anxious, self-differentiated leaders who are unfamiliar with the deep sources of pastoral wisdom that guided the church for centuries. One has to admit that the result is a mixed bag, if not worse. The New York Times (August 2010) reported on the large numbers of clergy experiencing signs of poor health, including obesity, depression, sexual addiction, loneliness and burnout. Gregory Jones countered, citing a survey that indicated the large number of pastors who are satisfied with their vocation and find joy in it. (“Pulpit and Pew”)
Denominational executives will tell you the number of congregations in survival mode that are likely to close within the decade. Still there are pastoral leaders among these congregations who are called to be shepherds who need more than therapeutic language and clever techniques to feed the flock for congregational vitality in the 21st century.
Christopher Beeley, an experienced Episcopal parish priest who teaches at Yale Divinity School, beckons clergy to attend to the theology and practice of early church pastors. Ironically, while some are steadily inventing theory and practice to guide the “emerging” church, Beeley encourages a radical turn to past tradition as a way into the future.
Drawing upon the teaching of Augustine, Ambrose and Basil, Gregory of Nazianzus, Gregory the Great, John Cassian and John Chrysostom, he brings to light essential pastoral practices that were laser-focused on teaching the faith to their congregations and providing pastoral care for the “health of the whole person.” He writes, “At the end of the day, and at the end of a lifetime of ministry, the only thing that matters is whether we have made the love of God and the spiritual growth of our people the top priority.”
Beeley addresses teaching and preaching, pastoral counsel, spirituality and church leadership, all from the perspective of these ancient guides. He reminds us: “Weak leadership does not promote vital lay ministry; it compromises the health of the entire body by failing to provide the laity with the basic spiritual guidance they need to be effective leaders themselves.”
Here is food for every pastor and church leader.
ROY W. HOWARD is pastor of Saint Mark Presbyterian Church in North Bethesda, Md., and book editor of The Presbyterian Outlook.
