When United Methodist clergy are ordained, the bishop will first ask them historic questions that were handed down from John Wesley. The first being, "Have you faith in Christ?" After the hopeful pastor-to-be answers in the affirmative, the second question is "Are you going on to perfection?"
If you want to be ordained as a United Methodist pastor, you better be prepared to answer yes!
Of course, the bishop usually explains what is meant by this question as "being a perfectionist" is not a positive psychological trait. The third question may help define what we mean by perfection in that it asks, "Do you expect to be made perfect in love in this life?"
And the fourth question then inquires, "Are you earnestly striving after perfection in love?"
Perfection in love.
This refers to being able to love others as we believe that Jesus loves them regardless of whether they return the expression or not. This has to do with sanctification.
Sanctifying grace is that grace every Christian should be working with in order to become more Christ-like in their lives. This is the grace that walks alongside us as works-in-progress! If the main commandments (according to Jesus) are to love God and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, sanctifying grace would be the acknowledgement that we must work with God's help to get there.
United Methodist clergy have acknowledged publicly that loving with the love of Jesus Christ is a goal they are pursuing.
So what is some practical help for achieving this?
Last month, fellow District Superintendent James Kim and I led some of the laity in our districts on leadership surrounding our Staff (or Pastor) Parish Relations Committee (SPRC) which is our denomination's volunteer personnel department for local churches.
At this point, pastors should have received their feedback from these committees regarding their assessment from their SPRC. At this time of difficulty in the church, when we hear about increasing numbers of pastors thinking about leaving the ministry, it can be tempting to avoid any critique at all.
However, if done correctly, a church personnel committee can actually help their pastor go on to perfection in love.
A good SPRC assessment will include a lot of positives on what the pastor has done to further the mission of the church. Even when we have personality conflicts with a person, we should be able to find positive attributes about this person that we can acknowledge. If we can't, we may need to work on our own Christ-like love!
But an assessment should also include some areas that need reflection or improvement. When done in a loving environment, this should help the pastor grow in areas that will actually serve them in their careers as well as positively impact the mission of the church they serve.
I believe that the best assessments from an SPRC will set goals with the pastor for the coming year. As an SPRC by Discipline is supposed to meet quarterly, these goals can be reviewed throughout the year. Of course, a church should also set goals through its committees and walk alongside the pastor to achieve all the goals together.
For the greatest help in evaluating progress, goals should follow the SMART acronym of being specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. These should relate to the overall mission of the church and ideally, speak to specific pieces of that mission that need greater emphasis.
When the lay leadership of the church works with the pastor on healthy, positive assessment and checks in with this assessment quarterly, issues of both clergy and congregational health can be dealt with in a timely manner rather than waiting until they have become a crisis and "something must be said."
Are you earnestly striving after perfection in love?
The ordained clergy have answered yes to this. If we're honest with ourselves, it will take some accountability such as partnering with the local church to get there!
The graphic was published from Ramon 3223 via Wikimedia Commons.
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