Prior to the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), the Church followed well-established norms for the continuing education/formation of religious and priests.

The Church taught that continuing education was important for religious and priests as persons and very important for the quality of ministry they provided to the people.

As a matter of fact, depending on the kind of ministry offered by religious and priests, continuing education was frequently mandated by the State to maintain professional standards e.g. for medical ministry or for education.

Since Vatican Council II, the pastoral scene has changed. Many talented, skilled and committed laypersons are now involved in the pastoral care of God's People.

There are two basic reasons for this change: The first reason is theological - the emphasis Vatican Council II placed on the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation; The second reason is pragmatic - the change in the patterns of vocations to the religious life and priesthood that is still being experienced in many, but not all, parts of the world.

While the pattern of ministry has changed, the responsibility of the Church to provide continuing education/formation to those who serve in ministry has not changed.

The Church must help bishops, priests, religious and laypersons to understand the theology of the Church on ministry, to have a spiritual foundation for ministry, to be open to the ongoing development of pastoral skills and to become comfortable with a collaborative style of ministry. In this column, I shall try to address these issues before making practical applications to the archdiocese.

Theology of ministry

Theology is simply the science of God. It has many divisions and many methods. A theology of ministry is essentially a consideration of how God calls, how God forms community and how God inspires people to serve each other.

Every ministry is an activity that serves grace, people and, most importantly, the potential for spiritual maturity that exists within people. The emphasis in a theology of ministry is on action and service, not on power and honour.

There are some canonical “givens” in a theology of ministry. Those interested in ecclesial ministry and those who will call them to ministry must discern carefully whether or not they are suitable for ministry. After thorough screening they must be prepared and formed for the ministry in which they wish to participate. Finally, they must be approved by the bishop for ministry. Everyone in formal ecclesial ministry must exercise ministry in union with the bishop.

Assuming all the “givens” just mentioned have been fulfilled, there are some common characteristics of ministry that can be packaged in a helpful manner for reflection:
1) Ministry is doing something;
2) for the kingdom;
3) in the public forum;
4) on behalf of a Christian community;
5) which is a gift received in faith, baptism and mission;
6) which has its own limits and identity within a diversity of ministerial actions in the Church.

The spiritual foundation for ministry

All ministry is rooted in the sacraments of initiation. We are called by God to serve others and to build Church. We are privileged to share in the threefold office of Jesus Christ as prophet (teaching and witness), priest (prayer and worship) and shepherd (building community). As a result of our status as initiated believers, we participate in the mission of the Church itself.

Our spirituality, which refers to a lived experience of being in relationship with God through Christ in the Spirit, gives meaning to what we do for others in the name of the Church. Our spirituality protects us from ever understanding that what we do for others in the name of the Church is a job rather than a vocation.

Our spirituality motivates us to pray as we prepare to serve and it encourages us to reflect on the quality of our relationships in ministry e.g. do we treat people with understanding and gentleness.

Being in ministry assumes that we have accepted the call to holiness and, consequently, that we live a full sacramental life, are open to the ongoing call to conversion and are striving for a personal encounter with Christ.

f ministry is not motivated by a personal relationship with the Lord, then, as mentioned above, it quickly deteriorates into power, control and a pharisaical desire for honour.

Acquiring pastoral skills

The process of acquiring pastoral skills and developing them for the quality service of others is a lifelong challenge. However, the process of acquiring the pastoral skills contains an assumption.

It assumes that the person in ministry understands the theology which supports the ministry e.g. the extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist must understand the teaching of the Church on the Eucharist and must have incorporated that teaching into their spirituality.

It is not enough to know what to do, if we do not understand the theology of what we do and, from the viewpoint of spirituality, why we do it.

Openness to collaborative ministry

At the opening of this column, I listed the three classical categories of God's People: clergy, religious and laypersons. In contemporary times, the new movements and new communities that are such a gift to the Church would have to be included in the list.

For people to be involved in ministry in our challenging age, an ecclesiology of communion and solidarity is needed. Different gifts are to be appreciated as enriching for the life of the community. Collaboration becomes both possible and life-giving with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Adversarial attitudes have no place in the pastoral theology of the Church. Whenever present, adversarial attitudes bring forth tension and division – the opposite of what the Church is and does in ministry.

Conclusion

During the Year of the Eucharist, the bishops, priests and religious of the Ecclesiastical Province of Port of Spain and laypersons who serve as Parish Administrators in the archdiocese gathered for a continuing education/formation experience on the theme of the Eucharist.

At the end of the symposium, they voted to have a similar experience every two years. When the symposium was offered to the archdiocese, the response was the same – it was agreed that laypersons need more adult education/formation.

The reason for this column is to advise the archdiocese that planning sessions for an Adult Education/Formation Programme in the archdiocese have already been scheduled for later this month. Everyone in ecclesial ministry in the archdiocese will be obliged to participate in this programme.

Similar to the preparations for the Eucharistic Congress, the programme will also be offered to the entire archdiocese via videotape and attachments.

A fuller explanation and programme details will be published in the Catholic News and through the parishes before the projected opening date in September of 2006.