To maintain focus, this article will concentrate on the clergy ordained in the Methodist Church of South Africa between 1980 and 1999. A significant portion of the initial analysis is drawn from personal interviews with the pastors, focusing primarily on what they encountered. in their ministries. This article also examines the impact that ministerial training has had on the formation of ministers, as well as their thoughts on further training. The unusual spelling of the word 'Connexion' contributes to the unique character of the Methodist people of southern Africa.
Overview of the methodology
However, I still think that the responses I received and their various comments are useful to add support to the opinions of the personally interviewed ministers. The timing of the interview process I discovered many wonderful insights from Mary Loudon's book Revelations: The Clergy Questioned. Constance Oosthuizen reflected on the lives of deacons in the Methodist Church in her work, Conquerors through Christ: Methodist Deaconess in South Africa.
Reflecting on the database
45 This includes a small number of ministers who returned to ministry after their original retirement. Below is a graphic representation of the ratio of ordained women to the number of men. Thirteen ministers who resigned from the MCSA later re-entered the ministry.
The impact of Ministerial trainine
Having taken a brief look at the historical structure of ministerial training in the Methodist Church in Southern Africa, we now turn to coordinate the thinking of the clergy who were ministers in training during this period. Fortunately, modern ministers somehow benefit from the mistakes made in the past in ministerial training. The advent of the Phase 1 program has addressed many of these previous deficiencies.69. One of the frustrating things about continuing education in ministry is the lack of financial resources available.
Counting the Cost
In response to a question about the ministry's impact on his family, priest Dennis De Lange remarked that his two daughters saw quite a few negative aspects of the family. Part of the struggle to be ourselves in the context of ministry has a lot to do with our own 'shiny image'11l. Because of this, our true selves are rarely, if ever, allowed to emerge. By analyzing this feedback, we can understand some of the root causes of clergy disillusionment.
As the ministers talked about their various struggles in the ministry, the issue of lack of adequate resources was raised. Christina Maslach and Michael Leiter would argue that lack of resources is one of the first steps to work overload and eventual burnout. There is another aspect of the church, which will also be mentioned later, that we must include in this section.
Another issue is that we are supposed to be servants of the church and that the church is not our employer. Look, I'm not quite sure how one prepares in terms of the whole structure of the church when they don't seem to get any support from the top of the church. That it is necessary to see that the church is acquiring young priests in order to fulfill the mission of the church. If you reach retirement age, they basically tell you that you are not wanted.
You cannot limit our view of the church to only the negative images that have been imprinted in our minds.
6 The impact of the political situation
Two important debates in the Methodist Church
Another aspect of 'politics' in itself was the treatment of women in the church and especially in the ministry.187. The reality of power struggles and position struggles is an unfortunate element in the church. When black Methodists saw the blatant racism in the church, they responded by forming the BMC.
1975 under the leadership of Emest Baartman and KhozaMgojo and initially tried to address the arrogance of the white leadership in the church. BMC wanted recognition in the church and they wanted a church with equal power sharing.l97. 201 This is a particularly difficult problem as the Methodist Church had ministers who served in the SADF and these.
Reflecting on the role of the early Methodist church in encouraging women in ministry, David Hempton writes, “Feminist scholars still disagree about whether Methodism has made progress. Constance was the first woman to be ordained in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa and that was in the year 1976220. Another impressive example is Bishop Purity Malinga, herself ordained in 1988, and the first woman to be appointed bishop in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa.
Dean Hoge and Jacqueline Wenger talk about a 'stained glass ceiling' for women in ministry.
8 Resigning, Retiring and Relocating
Leaving a legacy - a reflection on ministry in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa
Undoubtedly, one of the greatest rewards of ministry is knowing that you are making a difference in the Kingdom of God on some level and that you are laying the foundation for future generations of believers. In his work Creative Service, Henri Nouwen writes, 'when a minister discovers that he can really give life to people by enabling them to face their real life situation without fear, while at the same time ceasing to see himself as a man on the fringes of reality. He is then right at the center."334 It is this realization that they are at the center of reality that can encourage ministers to leave a strong legacy for themselves and for the church. One of these misconceptions is that the priest is a trained professional and that they must then do everything in the church.
To foster a church environment where the laity fully recognizes their role in the building up of the church and where the clergy release their control over every department in the local church. would indeed be a powerful legacy to bequeath to future generations of Methodists. First, several ministers spoke of the desire for financial freedom in local congregations and districts. Included in the estimates are amounts that contribute to the operation of various departments in MC SA.
He considers the impact of ministers who become teachers and facilitators in their communities, instead of just being preachers. In this way, the clergy could use their positions to empower the parishioners to do various things, instead of the ministers trying to hold on to all aspects of the ministry. David Moodley ponders the weaknesses in the way ministers are stationed. He especially laments the fact that pastors are moved too often and it is often at a point when. The Methodist Church could learn from some of the modern churches that often retain their pastors for long periods of time.
As already mentioned, there are few resources on the subject of Life as a minister in the Methodist Church.
Conclusion
As we have delved into the main reasons for resignations within the church, we have come to understand that these are not unique to Methodist pastors. We have also sympathized with priests facing retirement, as well as hearing from ministers who have moved abroad. It has been made clear that our assumptions about the reasons why people leave the South African church are not always correct.
Pastors are not superhuman beings who survive on a diet of no sleep, no food, little family time and criticism. All pastors appreciate words of encouragement and thrive in the knowledge that they are effectively serving Christ by serving God's people. They note that 'a story is always told to someone.'350 The stories that we have reflected on in this paper were told to us by ministers of the Methodist Church.
I hope that these personal accounts will not be recorded in this paper just for the sake of fulfilling academic requirements, but rather that we can learn from them and make some meaningful contribution to the future of the Christian church. We need a song to sing, a story to tell, a dance to dance to know where we are and who we are. Have we heard that tune and participated in the greater drama if we are to understand ourselves?52.
May we listen to and understand the stories of Methodist ministers in southern Africa, and may they inspire us to be better people, focused ministers, and Christians of true character and purpose.
Biblio2raphy
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Dana Jack & Katherine Anderson, 'Learning to Listen: Interview Techniques and Analysis', in Sherna Gluck & Daphne Patai (eds.), Women's Words: the Feminist Practice of Oral History, (New York: Routledge, 1991), pp.1l- 26 .Denis, Philippe, Mlotshwa, Thulani and Mukuka, George (eds.), The Casspir and the Cross: Voices of Black Clergy in the Natal Midlands, (Pietermaritzburg: Cluster Publications, 1999). Dlamini, Beauty, 'Three pastors under the same roof: the story of a female pastor', in Philippe Denis' (ed.) The Making ofan Indigenous Clergy in Southern Africa, (pietermaritzburg: Cluster Publications, 2000), pp.
Forrester, Duncan B., Theology and Politics, (New York: Basil Blackwell Ltd, 1988). eds.), Women's Words: The Feminist Practice of Oral History, (New York: Routledge, 1991). A Guide to Theological Reflection, (Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1996). Kismer, Wolfram, 'A Biblical Understanding of Reconciliation' in H.R. Botman and RM.Peterson eds., To Remember and to heal, (Cape Town: Human and Rousseau, 1996), p. Mtetwa, Sipho, “Ministry in Bloody South Africa: The Life Story of a Black Priest During the Dirty Years of Apartheid”, in Philippe Denis (ed.) The Emergence of Indigenous Clergy in South Africa, (Pietennaritzburg: Cluster Publications, 2000).
Villa-Vicencio, Charles, Between Christ and Caesar: Classic and Contemporary Texts on Church and State, (Cape Town: David Phi lip, 1986). red.), Shifting Boundaries: Contextual Approaches to the Structure of Theological Education, (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1991).
Appendix
