March 2007
Issue 26, Number 2
PP 565 001/00190 ISSN 0726-2612
Young interested in ministry YOUNG adults may be more interested in ministry than we think, but the church doesn’t always identify or nurture that call. This is the finding from two studies of people’s call to ministry: • The presbytery’s Year of Call Task Group commissioned an Internet survey of UCA young adults. • The other was by Parkin-Wesley College principal, Rev Dr Andrew Dutney. The Internet survey dealt with their views about vocation, ministry and learning. Thirty of the 92 respondents said that they could imagine themselves serving God as a minister in a church. “While this wasn’t a random sample, the response is remarkable,” said Craig Mitchell. Craig is a member of the task group. He is lecturer in lay ministry studies at Parkin-Wesley College and commissioned the survey from the Christian Research Association. “There was even greater interest in serving God through overseas aid, youth and children’s work, community development, and Christian welfare work,” Craig said. Continued on page 2.
inside… Church people honoured
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$40,000 drought relief Big Week Out
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A real adventure
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Understanding NCLS
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God ‘nudged’ family
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‘You have to respond’
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Human cost of detention
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CELEBRATING RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY: Representatives from several different religious communities celebrated Australia Day during a Multi-Faith Service at Maughan Uniting Church. The service was organised by the Order of Australia Day Association and Maughan Uniting Church. Pictured are, from left, Dr Carl Vadivella Belle, Hindu; Mrs Sherifa Khan, Muslim; Rev Dr Elizabeth Vreugdenhil, Minister at Maughan Uniting Church; Mr Vahid Chittleborough, Baha’i; and Mrs Sylvia Barnes, Jewish. – Picture by Amy Brookman
‘We’re not good at mentoring’ THE CHURCH is not good at mentoring people discerning a call to ministry, according to a survey. Last year , Parkin-Wesley College principal, Rev Dr Andrew Dutney surveyed the 49 men and women who were accepted as ordination candidates by the SA Synod between 1995 and 2005. The full study is not yet available, but some early results are already clear. “Almost all of the candidates surveyed identified a mentor or mentors as important in their discernment of a call to ministry,” Andrew said. “Interestingly, almost all of the mentors identified were ordained ministers, usually the minister of the person’s own congregation. “But it was normally the person who had to approach the minister to raise the possibility that they might be called to ministry. “The ‘tap on the shoulder’ that earlier generations of ministers talk about is almost unheard of today. That’s worrying.”
Andrew found that a great majority of the candidates identified a particular personal experience that helped them discern a call to ministry. For some it was a private matter, often within the life of their local congregation. A large number responded to a retreat, youth convention or rally that offered opportunity to respond to God’s call. More than two thirds of the group spoke of an experience of the supernatural, a personal intervention by God into their daily lives. Andrew said that, for many, the process of discerning a call to ministry was an unsettling, isolating or even frightening time. “The church has a duty of care towards its members that should include ways to support, encourage and guide people who are discerning God’s call in their lives,” he said. “At the very least we can become much better at mentoring, and ordained ministers can certainly take a lead here.”
Please hand out at your church door