THE path might be clearer and the outlook brighter for self-supporting ministers (SSMs) than they once were. But there is still a journey ahead if the Church is to make the most of their skills, say the Revd Hugh Thomas, a lawyer and SSM in West Hampstead, and the Revd Dr Teresa Morgan, McDonald Agape Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Yale Divinity School, and SSM in the parish of Littlemore — both of whom have researched and written about non-stipendiary ministry, in the Church Times and elsewhere (Feature, 9 July 2021; Comment, 29 January 2010) .
In 2011, Professor Morgan suggested that dioceses should be “thinking strategically” about how best to use SSMs. In a 2021 article, Fr Thomas wrote that “for those being ordained now as SSMs, it is important that their ‘non-church’ skills are fully recognised.”
Dr Morgan co-wrote a report based on a national survey of SSMs in 2010. That document now appears on a list of resources with the National Network of SSM Officers and Advisers. Fr Thomas is currently undertaking research related to SSMs for his doctorate in practical theology through the Cambridge Theological Federation and Anglia Ruskin University.
SSMs make up about 30 per cent of all active priests, Fr Thomas says. Last year marked 60 years since the Church of England’s first SSMs were ordained. They make “an important contribution”, but “concerns remain”, he maintains.
The Revd Graham Dale, 62, is head of the public-affairs and strategic-relations programme at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. He is also Associate Priest of St Mary’s, Harrow-on-the-Hill — the result of a calling that, he said, was like a “bolt out of the blue”.
The day before our interview, Fr Dale was writing a paper about engaging with the new Government. In the evening, he attended a church business meeting. The day after our interview, he was due to take part in a mental-health first-aid course arranged by his employer, and needed to prepare for a civic service at his church.
He understands what some commentators have been saying — that SSMs might feel a lack of appreciation, and that the Church of England could be more creative in using them — but he has not experienced any sense of being underused.
“I don’t feel overly frustrated. In fact, on the contrary, I feel privileged to be an SSM,” he said.
He appreciates the leadership of the Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Sarah Mullally, who herself has served as a non-stipendiary minister. He agrees, however, that “the Church of England is not necessarily taking advantage of all the skills that SSMs bring” — although he believes that that principle could also apply to the wider congregation, and suggests that churches undertake an audit of skills among their members.
SSMs offer a special blend of being in professional jobs, alongside priestly responsibilities. “In those fields, their training is up to date,” he said. “They will have perspectives to bring that might be helpful.”
He is aware of SSMs who work for London boroughs’ social services and in the health service. “Taking those two examples, there will be lots of churches who would really value perspective from a trained social worker on, say, a local community initiative.
“And there will be lots of churches who are maybe doing something in the area of social prescribing . . . who would potentially value an external voice.”
If the Church of England had an initiative to enhance and support its engagement in the local community, Fr Dale would love to be involved. “The reason I’m in public affairs is because I believe in politics,” he said. “My day job is not an accident.”
THE Revd Dr Jeff Lake, 54, is an associate priest of St Bride’s, Fleet Street, the journalists’ church. He also works as deputy director of public heath for Westminster City Council and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
When discerning his vocation, Dr Lake did not feel called to give up his secular job. “I thought there were many reasons to be very excited about the opportunities that might be presented by being able to have a leadership role in the church, while also having a leadership role in public health and local government,” he said.
The Revd Ali Mulroy
Dr Lake feels that he is very fortunate, being in a community where there is support for SSMs. And he does not feel under-utilised. “I wouldn’t say that’s been an issue for me. In general terms, I think I probably hear more commonly SSMs who feel that the demands on them are too great, that their time commitment elsewhere perhaps isn’t understood.”
Dr Lake feels that it is his responsibility to be clear about what he can and would like to do in his church ministry, “and then it needs to be manageable for me”.
He also feels that the question of being under-used could be applied more broadly across congregations than just among SSMs. “The knowledge and skills of the people who are in our parish communities is often very diverse . . . and the ability of the Church to utilise that is really difficult; not everybody does that terribly well.”
An important aspect of Christian leadership, he says, is recognising other people’s skills and encouraging them to be deployed in the mission of the church community (as in Ephesians 4.12). “That’s a broader challenge, and it certainly applies to SSMs as well,” Dr Lake said.
Where he has felt personal frustration has been in “that interface between public health and churches and faith communities. It would be very easy to operate at that interface, and there would be a lot of activity and interest. But it’s often felt rather more difficult than that.”
Dr Lake believes that many communities are more inward-facing than many SSMs would like. “I think there’s a real opportunity, in SSM ministry, to facilitate the Church to be more outward-facing,” he said. “But it’s not an easy thing to do.
“I’m sure it would be helpful if there were more of a general sense of the opportunity that the SSM ministry presents, and the ways in which that could be a blessing to the Church. I think for many it’s sort of an unfortunate necessity.”
THE Revd Professor Robert Gilbert, 50, works as a tutor and researcher at Oxford, and is also an associate priest of Holy Trinity, Headington Quarry, and St Michael and All Angels, New Marston.
A structural biologist, he described his journey to priesthood as “an evolution of a sense of vocation”, and is now considering stipendiary ministry as his next step.
Professor Gilbert has been interviewed about his work in faith and science, and has written a book, Science and the Truthfulness of Beauty: How the personal perspective discovers creation (Routledge, 2019). As an SSM, he manages to mix the two separate realms of academia and Church — and benefits personally from the blend.
“The church ministry is enabling, I would say, in terms of my university work. It sounds odd to say that, but it’s something so different that it gives me quite a different sort of perspective, and different set of commitments.”
Church ministry offers him “very immediate rewards”, he explained. “You know you do a good service, good assembly — it never goes perfectly — but you are conscious you’ve made a difference. Certainly, with occasional offices — like funerals, especially — you can be very conscious you’ve made a really positive difference.”
In that way, Professor Gilbert has found church ministry “psychologically helpful” for his university work, where the rewards are not so obvious. And so, for him, church ministry is an energising experience rather than taking energy away from his academic position.
Ian BozicThe Revd Dr Jeff Lake
Does he feel under-used as an SSM? “I’m not sure I’d say I feel under-utilised, no. But the word I would use — and I’ve used it to others in discussing this, and they have reflected back that that seems right to them — is that there’s an element of the incidental about a lot of us in SSM ministry.
“What I mean by that, is that any individual set of responsibilities — it could be a regular responsibility, or any individual commitment — is important, but there’s a risk of a lack of a shape.”
He believes that there should be more of a structured framework for non-stipendiary ministers. “There would be an opportunity for the Church to be more strategic . . . whereby there was a little bit more thought going into: where are our self-supporting ministers? What is known about them; how do we develop them? How do we use them and how do we deploy them? Seeing it as complementary to stipendiary ministry.”
Ever since he was ordained, Professor Gilbert has felt that the focus needs to be not on whether somebody is stipendiary, but, what their responsibilities are, and what their calling is. “It’s about the role, not whether you’re paid for it,” he said. “The fact is, I think, that in parishes, that is how people actually experience their ministers.”
THE Revd Ali Mulroy, 45, is a house-for-duty priest: a one-bedroom flat comes with her unpaid position as associate priest of St Peter’s, Bethnal Green. She has divided part of her accommodation into a studio, which facilitates her work as an artist.
Ms Mulroy has worked across a range of contexts — from a charity day-centre to an independent boarding school — where she saw the power of art to heal and empower. “I wanted to make that even broader and deeper, by introducing God into it,” she said. So she became an SSM.
“I feel like I’m being used to my full extent, and I feel like — particularly in this church — that the aspect of creativity has been really released and supported. I run a community art club, Art and Soul. The local community and the church community come to it.
“At first, a number of them said: ‘Oh, we first started coming to support you, and now we come because we’ve discovered things about ourselves, and we’ve discovered the capacity art has for connection and restoration.’”
Is there anything the Church of England can do more to support SSMs? “I think maybe the visibility, or the promotion of it, so that you don’t seem like you’re doing some outlandishly weird thing to be SSM,” Ms Mulroy said. “I think that would help. Just normalise it.”
Ms Mulroy attended a gathering of London-based SSMs recently, led by Bishop Mullally. The message and the meeting seemed to help.
“She gave a really wonderful, encouraging talk,” Ms Mulroy recalled, “that alongside being with other people who are doing similar to you — even though it’s not in the arts, or it’s not that similar, but it’s the similar juggle — it really helped me see the benefit of it.
“Sometimes, you feel: I’m not succeeding in either, because I’m half being an artist, and I’m half being a priest. It helped me see that I’m fully being an artist, and I’m fully being a priest.”
Clive Price is a freelance writer, PR consultant, festival organiser, published poet, and Communications Manager for MMHS