The CNY Diocesan School for Ministry

Introduction: It has become increasingly clear that there are many parishes in the diocese that, because of available resources, will be unable to be led by seminary-trained ordained priests — in some cases, even on a part-time basis.

There are several ways in which this problem might be addressed:

(1) Parishes unable to call a seminary-trained ordained priest could choose to close or merge;

(2) We could develop a deacon school and put deacons in charge of parishes (A solution that many dioceses in the same situation have adopted);

(3) We could train priests locally perhaps in partnership with one of our seminaries (some dioceses have done this under some type of “local priest” canon, other dioceses have done this using a variety of locally based “total ministry” programs — so this solution is being used by dioceses across the country); or

(4) We could develop a local initiative for the formation of Lay Vicars who would be fully in charge of the life of a parish, preach and lead non-Eucharistic Prayer Book liturgies, and rely upon a priest for the Eucharist on an occasional basis.

Of these options:

(1) The choice of closing or merging parishes seems both unlikely and unwise. The merging and yoking of parishes has often proven ineffective in the past. Furthermore, most parishes have no intention of simply “throwing in the towel” and allowing themselves to be closed. Apart from this, there are many vital congregations who are (and likely will be) without clergy leadership. Their ministries are important for the people who compose the congregation and for the church in general — hence the loss of such ministries serves no one.

(2) It is theologically unsound and strategically weak to install deacons as parish administrators and even as parish worship leaders. The ministry of a deacon is that of being in the marketplace and engaging the culture—the deacon is the bridge between the church and the world. The deacon is not in the center of the church gathering the church together. We do, indeed, need deacons in the diocese. And, in fact, the ministry of deacon is ever more vital in the 21st Century church as we move more and more toward engaging a culture that is gradually drifting farther and farther from who we are and what we are all about. However, deacons must be trained and positioned to be “deacons” not “mini priests” or parish administrators. Hence, the idea of placing deacons in charge of leaderless parishes seems a poor option to deal with the problem at hand.

(3)While it may be an excellent idea to train local priests using some form of a total ministry model, (and while we will probably need to embrace such a process of formation for the future) implementing this option would take more time than we probably have. A program for the local training of priests would likely take several years to organize and implement. By the time such a program was formulated, a partner seminary (or seminaries) identified, candidates discerned and a program of formation put into place, we could be looking at 4 to 5 years before the first ordination of a “local” priest would occur. Parishes that are without ordained leaders need someone who is trained to lead that congregation now.

(4) It seems, therefore, that a more immediate and theologically sound solution to the problem of parishes without ordained leadership is to develop a program for the formation of Lay Vicars. As baptized persons, these Lay Vicars would be in charge of congregations. They would be (non-Eucharistic) worship leaders. They would be charged with developing their congregations and engaging the culture for a 21st-century Church. Each Lay Vicar would be supervised by an ordained priest who would also serve as a “circuit rider” for the occasional celebration of the Holy Eucharist.

It should be noted that this program for the formation of Lay Vicars should not be seen as a temporary Band-Aid to stop the inevitable demise of failing parishes. In fact, this program is designed to help parishes to be infused with new life and a new ability to minister to their existing parishioners. However, the strategy of Lay Vicar is also (and perhaps even primarily) a missionary strategy to help us in our efforts of being a Church in the 21st-century. The curriculum is designed to develop Lay Vicars who are 21st-century thinkers as well as missionaries in and to a 21st-century culture.

The Lay Vicar is a parish administrator; the Lay Vicar is a worship leader and pastor to the people. However, the Lay Vicar is formed in such a way as to re-imagine the faith and be able to meaningfully translate it for the parish. More specifically, the Lay Vicar also helps the parish he/she serves to regularly engage the culture in which the parish resides (those outside the doors of the church).

The following proposal outlines a strategy for developing and implementing such a program:

Phase One — Identifying candidates:

We would identify parishes that might best benefit by being led by a licensed Lay Vicar. We would meet with the parish and its leadership and engage in a process of discerning someone from the parish who might be called to assume this ministry.

This discernment process would be conducted in conjunction with the Commission on Ministry. By Canon, the Commission is responsible for assisting the Bishop with regard to identifying and preparing candidates for ALL the ministries in the church: ordained as well as lay.

Persons who feel called to the Ministry of Lay Vicar are asked to present their names to their rector (or in the case of a parish without a priest) to their district dean. The dean/rector will then make this name known to the Bishop (Bishop’s Office) and, when appropriate, the candidate will be interviewed by an appointed committee of the Commission on Ministry.

The Commission on Ministry will recommend to the Bishop as to whether or not the person aspiring to this ministry should be admitted into the program.

It is important to note that this discernment phase is essential to the success of the program. The people whom we call forth as Lay Vicars must be people who are not only able to be involved in all the aspects of the formation process, but who are also able to be flexible enough and missionary-minded enough to look at faith, the church and the culture though new eyes. Hence, identifying persons for this ministry will take particular care. A parish that requests (or that we suggest should have) a Lay Vicar must be carefully guided in the choice of a Lay Vicar candidate.

With this in mind, there may be at least two ways by which names for this ministry may be presented: (1) an individual could present his/her own name. (2) A person’s name could be presented by another person/persons (Bishop, diocesan leadership, rector, vestry, etc.) who has discerned that someone has the gifts for this ministry. That person could then be invited/recruited into this program.

Furthermore, it is not necessarily true that someone from within a given parish would be the one chosen as Lay Vicar for that parish. While it may be possible to identify a Lay Vicar from the ranks of parishioners of the parish seeking the Lay Vicar, in some cases it may be necessary to look outside the parish for such a person. Someone from another parish, interested in offering himself/herself for this ministry might thus be chosen and appointed.

Phase Two — Initial period of preparation:

There will be six consecutive weekends (Friday evening through Saturday) of study, prayer and interaction in which a basic curriculum is taught in an overview fashion. (The basic curriculum is included at the end of this proposal). There are three sections to the basic curriculum—hence two weekends for each section.

This initial phase of training (these six weekends) will be LIMITED to those who are preparing to be Lay Vicars. Subsequent training will be open to anyone who wishes to attend.

Each Lay Vicar is then assigned a priest overseer to whom he/she is accountable. This priest may be the person who occasionally celebrates the Eucharist in the parish of the Lay Vicar.

Phase Three — A formal recognition of new ministry:

At the end of this initial preparation phase, Lay Vicars are formally appointed, licensed and a service for the celebration of a new ministry is celebrated in the parish. (Depending upon the number of Lay Vicars, this service may or may not be conducted by the Bishop). It is expected that each parish would offer a stipend to the vicar—the guidelines of which would be established by the bishop’s office.

Phase Four — Ongoing formation:

The license of each Lay Vicar is renewable annually.

It may also be advisable to offer two licenses to the Lay Vicar: one license as a Lay Vicar and an additional license to preach. In some cases, due to past training, ability etc., a Lay Vicar will be able to preach from the very beginning of his/her work in a parish. In other cases, the Lay Vicar may be someone who needs more preparation for preaching. In those cases, he/she could read a sermon prepared for them by someone else until they were ready to be licensed to do so themselves.

In order for a Lay Vicar’s license to be renewed, the Lay Vicar is expected to attend twelve weekend sessions (one per month, Friday evening through Saturday) for prayer, study and mutual support/accountability. In these weekend sessions, the core curriculum is revisited in greater depth.

While Lay Vicars are required to attend these monthly sessions, any interested person is welcome to attend the various sessions. Hence, for example, a parish lector might attend a weekend in which we are focusing on scripture or public proclamation, a treasurer might attend a weekend in which parish administration is being discussed. This presents the diocese with an ongoing venue for education (primarily for lay people) within the diocesan structure.

A note: It is conceivable that a Lay Vicar might choose the path of becoming an ordained priest if and when a local formation program is developed — this should not be discouraged. However, if a Lay Vicar should choose to pursue the ministry of deacon when the deacon school is established, he/she would no longer function as Lay Vicar in charge of a parish but would be trained for a whole new type of ministry as an ordained deacon.

The Core Curriculum for the Formation of Lay Vicars for the Church of the 21st-century

The curriculum is an adaptation of the basic canonical areas in which candidates for the ordained ministry are trained and formed. It consists of three basic sections (1) roots and foundations (2) fundamental doctrine seen through a 21^st-century lens (3) applied ministerial strategies for a 21^st-century Church.

The curriculum would be locally prepared but also draw in the vast resources of available literature and programs in the Church such as Education for Ministry, Fresh Start, Stephen Ministries , etc.

The teaching of the curriculum would be conducted by local clergy and lay mentors as well as outside consultants and lecturers. There would be wide use of the Internet as a tool for distance learning.

(1) Roots and foundations. (Scripture and tradition) A pretty straightforward overview of the Old and New Testaments and an overview of church history — basic at first, more advanced as the ongoing formation process unfolds.

(2) Fundamental doctrine through 21^st-century lens. This is something like an advanced “alpha” course for Lay Vicars. It invites the students to actually articulate key fundamental doctrine as they understand it (and in language that the parish and the culture might understand). Who is God? Who is Jesus? Why a Church? What are the sacraments all about? What about ethics and moral choices in a complex technological society? What is prayer and what does it mean to be spiritual?, etc. are the topics covered.

(3) Applied 21st-century ministerial strategies. This part of the curriculum examines strategies for leading and developing the congregation internally and for engaging the culture externally. On the internal side, the students learn something about:

a) how to preach;

b) pastoral techniques/approaches including boundaries;

c) leadership styles and techniques;

d) how to lead worship, read morning prayer, develop other types of non-Eucharistic services, etc.;

e) parish administration, a practical guide to keeping parish records, parochial reports, etc. On the external side, the student explores the ever-growing literature that examines “mission” in our contemporary/popular culture.