“BE TO the flock of Christ a shepherd, not a wolf; feed them, devour them not. . .” That charge comes from the Prayer Book’s order for the consecration of a bishop. “Remember always with thanksgiving that the treasure now to be entrusted to you is Christ’s own flock, bought by the shedding of his blood on the cross.” Those words are from the Common Worship service for the ordination of priests.
It is often claimed that the beliefs of the Church are best expressed in its liturgy: lex orandi, lex credendi. The imagery of the charge to bishops and priests is drawn from John 10, where Jesus contrasts the Good Shepherd to the thieves, bandits, hirelings, and wolves who endanger the flock. Bishops and priests are charged to know their flock: “the voice of a stranger they will not follow.”
By drawing on these texts at ordinations, the Church of England commits itself to a ministry that is, in essence, pastoral. It is about “the cure of souls”. Priests and bishops are meant to be committed to people and place, knowing their people and being known by them.
Yet, for well over decade, the C of E has been questioning this understanding of ordained ministry. A more mission-focused ministry has been urged in recent years, to counter the falling numbers of worshippers and replace those who are dying off.
Earlier this month, the Church Commissioners considered a scheme that is already being implemented in Truro diocese (News, 1 May). This is to merge 16 parishes, comprising 21 places of worship, into a single giant benefice, with only three paid and ordained area clergy, one of whom, as a pioneer, is to focus on mission, and a house-for-duty priest. Five vicarages are to be transferred to the diocese.
As in other diocesan-led schemes, this represents a takeover of power and resources. While parishes are deprived of paid live-in priests, diocesan staff are increased in number and expected to “run” the diocese from the diocesan office. Meanwhile, more and more local responsibility falls on retired clergy and the laity.
Among the papers justifying Truro’s Kerrier scheme was a letter from the diocesan Bishop, claiming that “a priest-centred model of ministry is not supported by the formularies of the Church of England”. This is simply untrue, as our liturgies, our source documents, make clear. “Be to the flock of Christ a shepherd, not a wolf.”
The shepherd knows his sheep by name, and the good priest is expected to live among his or her people. It is not obvious that our mission-focused bishops recognise how “wolfish” they are becoming in their ambitions; or that they recognise that the C of E’s authentic mission to the people of England has always been pastoral, about knowing and being known — not about numbers, money, or even bums on seats. “Feed them, devour them not.”
Read more in our Letters to the Editor