PARISH BULLETIN
Lay Ecclesial Ministers: Looking Back, Looking Forward: One Process

A process for discernment explores the identity of lay ecclesial ministers.

by Virginia Stillwell

"What's your day job?" "You mean you get paid to do this?" "Did you need to take a class?" Lay ecclesial ministers commonly encounter questions like these from acquaintances, friends, and parishioners. Such questions occur even to pastors, as they consider how best to administer parish finances and whether they might not guide parish ministries themselves—in conjunction with volunteers, of course. These questions reflect a lack of understanding of the commitment and sacrifices that lay ecclesial ministers make and their pivotal role in the life of a parish community. In this environment it is no surprise that questions of identity often plague lay ecclesial ministers as they struggle to maintain a sense of their vocation and contributions to the life of the church.

In response to this situation a group of liturgists and musicians in the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis engaged in a symposium that involved theological learning, prayer, storytelling, and communal reflection on the meaning of ministerial experiences. The outcomes for the participants in this process have been to deepen recognition of their vocation and authority, nurture relationships of support and healing, and discern directions for their ministries.

Such a symposium can help lay ecclesial ministers support one another in claiming their ecclesial identity in a church that can sometimes under-value their contributions and undermine their self-confidence. Parish staffs could also find the process fruitful in solidifying relationships of respect and collaboration among lay and ordained ecclesial ministers.

Background

The symposium developed out of the shared experiences of a small group of liturgists who were given a Lilly Endowment grant through the St. John's University School of Theology and Seminary in Collegeville, Minn., to form a Ministry Learning Community. The goals of the grant were stated in the foundational documents for St. John's Ministry Learning Communities. Those were to cultivate and sustain pastoral excellence, to foster ongoing formation in response to issues of mutual concern, to strengthen ministers' capacity for collaboration and theological reflection, and to expand collegial networks within an area of ministry. This grant, along with grants for groups in other areas of ministry, was administered by Vic Klimoski, the Director of Lifelong Learning at St. John's School of Theology and Seminary.

Of the seven people who entered into the liturgists’ Ministry Learning Community, three have been ministering in liturgy and music for more than twenty years, two for ten to twenty years, and two for five years or less. All hold master’s degrees. All are fulltime pastoral associates for liturgy and/or music; all are Midwestern and white; all but one are Catholic; all but one are female. They represent three generations of liturgists, bringing together seasoned insights with new ideas, the wisdom of experience with the energy of the neophyte.

The Ministry Learning Community began meeting in the summer of 2005. Through regular meetings and retreats the group gradually developed a sense of trust, confidentiality, support, and community. They began by refreshing their knowledge about the theology of lay ecclesial ministry as expressed in church documents and current authors. Next, they reflected on how well their experiences of ministry manifested the church's theology of lay ecclesial ministry. They also considered the personal and familial consequences of their work in ecclesial ministry. The Ministry Learning Community realized that in many ways parishioners, clergy, and they themselves, do not always behave as though they truly believe the dignified theology of lay ecclesial ministry that church documents and theologians have expressed.

Goals

Growing out of the group’s recognition of identity questions they had encountered, they took on the goal of encouraging those considering or just beginning careers in lay ecclesial ministry and of supporting current lay ministers, especially those struggling with issues of ecclesial identity, whether the struggle was internally or externally generated.

To meet this twofold goal the Ministry Learning Community created a symposium for liturgical ministers to enable them to hear one another's stories, explore their own ministerial identities, and deepen relationships of support. The conviction was that ministers need to be engaged in a substantive way in interpreting their ministries in the life of the church. The symposium structure mirrored the process that the original group had undergone, except that while the group had experienced the process over the course of a year, participants in the symposium would have just twenty-four hours to do so.

The symposium was offered to members of the Association of Liturgical Ministers of the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis in January of 2007 and was attended by approximately twenty liturgical ministers, from students of liturgical ministry to thirty-year veterans.

Symposium Process

The symposium would be about the participants themselves: their own stories of ministry would be the basis for their reflections and any learning that might occur.

One of the leaders reviewed the history and theology of lay ecclesial ministry in the church. The purpose was to give participants a common theological foundation for understanding and reflecting on their ministerial experiences and a norm on which to base their decisions and actions going forward. The presentation emphasized that lay persons are equal in dignity with the ordained, with proper rights and responsibilities in the life of the church; that lay ecclesial ministry has a long and star-studded history in the church; that the church recognizes lay ecclesial ministry as a true calling of the Holy Spirit based on baptism, with very real gifts and sacrifices; that ordained and lay ecclesial ministries are collaborative and relational in nature; and that their focus is on enabling all of the baptized to share in the ministry of Jesus Christ.

Storytelling

The core of the symposium was storytelling. A member of the Ministry Learning Community introduced this activity by exploring the foundational nature of personal stories and storytelling in the Christian tradition.

The leaders took great care to set parameters that would foster trust among the participants. Divided into small groups, all were asked to maintain confidentiality and listen with a compassionate ear as each person spoke. In each group there was one person who had previously experienced the storytelling process, who acted as timekeeper, facilitator, and recorder.

Participants were then asked to tell their ministerial stories to the others in their small groups. While keeping the names of parishes and persons anonymous they were to respond to four questions: What brought you to this ministry? What do you contribute to the life of the church? What impact has your ministry had on your personal and family life? Why do you stay in this ministry?

Following this exercise and some free time, participants shared evening Eucharist and a communal meal. Then there was a period of group reflection on the question, “What did we hear?”

Common Threads

A member of the Ministry Learning Community explained the value of surfacing common threads that weave together individual stories as well as divergent strands that are nonetheless significant in the overall tapestry of our lives in ministry. This was not a time for sharing details or analyzing the meaning of what was heard in our small groups. It was meant to be a time simply to name the significant and various elements of people's responses to each of the four questions.

A wine and cheese social followed to enable participants to relax together, respond informally to the stories they had shared, and to nurture the trust and relationships that were developing among them.

The next morning, after a light breakfast and Morning Prayer, the participants received a list of the elements that had been named during the reflection session the previous evening. Group members were led in a theological reflection on their common experience, in light of the theology of ecclesial ministry that had been presented at the beginning of the symposium. The participants noted various areas of harmony and dissonance between their ministerial experience and the church's theology of lay ecclesial ministry.

In response to these observations, participants were asked to strategize about how to move forward and support one another in living out the identity expressed in the church's theology of lay ecclesial ministry. Most of the strategies named were specific to their particular ministry (liturgy and music) and diocese. Another group would undoubtedly surface different strategies for dealing with the challenges its members had encountered in ecclesial ministry.

In closing, a member of the Ministry Learning Community explained the value of blessing and commissioning rituals for lay ecclesial ministers. Such public rituals enable communities to recognize and affirm their ministers. They also enable lay ecclesial ministers to claim their roles and relationships within the faith community. The symposium closed with a ritual of blessing in which participants recommitted themselves to the vocation of lay ecclesial ministry.

Key Outcomes

Several outcomes of this process are worthy of note:

• Those who participated in the symposium expressed tremendous gratitude for the opportunity to share with one another their own experiences of ministry.
  
  
• Participants went away with a renewed sense of their vocation as lay ecclesial ministers through the ministries of music and liturgy. Their stories indicated the many ways through which the Holy Spirit had indeed called and gifted them through baptism and guided them on the journey. By responding to that calling despite sometimes astounding financial, personal, and familial sacrifices, participants displayed their abiding faith and love for the church. While this sense of vocation reflects the theology expressed in church documents, it is in direct contradiction to many of the participants' sometimes painful experiences as employees in the church.
  
  
• Most participants were surprised and affirmed by the lengthy list of contributions that liturgical ministers make to parish life. They discovered that many of their contributions are pastoral in nature. The ritual of blessing and commitment served to ground participants more deeply in their pastoral identity. Celebrating such rituals in a parish setting is a significant way to express and nurture this understanding.
  
  
• The participants found it difficult to collaborate on culling theological and practical insights from their own stories. Yet, this movement in the process is vital. Without reference to the church's theology and the broader community, reflection on personal experience would merely be eisegetical. The ability to reflect both communally and theologically on their experience of church is a fundamental skill for ecclesial ministers who want to guide the church forward, rather than simply maintain the status quo. This symposium gave participants an opportunity to exercise that skill.
  
  
• Many participants told of painful experiences with clergy or parishioners. Much of this pain surfaced as they reflected on the answers to the questions of what impact their ministry has had on their personal and family lives, and why they stay, or in some cases felt they could not stay, in ecclesial ministry.
  
  
• This symposium provided an opportunity for participants to experience much needed healing. They appreciated the opportunity to nurture relationships of support with other ministers of music and liturgy. They considered ways to bolster networks of support among liturgists and they committed themselves to seeking support from one another in the future. However, they also identified a pressing need to build respect and support for lay ecclesial ministers among parish communities and, above all, among ordained ecclesial ministers.

Conclusion

We have a long way to go before the church's practice fully reflects its budding theology of the vocation and dignity of lay ecclesial ministers. This symposium offers a vehicle for making progress on this journey at the grassroots level. It is recommended for both ordained and lay ecclesial ministers. It could be utilized by those who have diverse ministries but share a common setting (such as a parish staff) or those who engage in a similar ministry in different settings (like the gathering described above). It is a valuable tool for allowing ecclesial ministers to share their stories, foster a sense of their ecclesial identity, reflect together on the theological meaning of their ministerial experiences, discern directions for the future, build respect for one another, and nurture healthy relationships of trust and collaboration. The outcomes may be different for each group that undertakes this process, yet the results will be equally fruitful for all.

For more information or for help in planning a similar symposium contact a member of the Ministry Learning Community by calling St. John's University School of Theology and Seminary (1-800-361-8318) and speaking with the Director of Lifelong Learning.

Virginia Stillwell is pastoral associate of liturgy and worship at St. John Neumann Church in Eagan, Michigan.