An Open Letter to the Eleventh Lord (or Lady) Bishop of Montreal
I am an outsider to the Diocese and the culture of Quebec and Canada. I am also substantially younger than most people in the diocese and therefore have yet another added dimension of difference in view. I am still wrestling with understanding and discerning the issues that face us in this Diocese. Sometimes, however, it is useful to hear impressions from an alien voice. I offer my thoughts, for what they are worth, in the hope of engendering discussion, reflection and debate within your Diocese.
We were once one of the most important and powerful Sees in Canada, we are no more. The exodus has left us depleted to such an extent we do not seem to be able to reconcile ourselves to our relatively sudden change in status. We continue with structures and projects that are beyond our capacity to healthily support. Denial is prevalent. It reminds me of elderly gentlemen I have met in the dusty morning rooms of gentlemen’s clubs in London that still act and believe that the Empire never fell. If we ignore the signs around us we risk the possibility of not heeding the Spirit’s call to chart a new direction and find new life. Of the various challenges that I discern we must rise to meet as a Diocese, four strike me as important for you to consider as you begin your episcopacy.
The lack of French ministry in a Province that is primarily francophone is worrying. The ministry model I see most often is that of a Chaplaincy model. Although there is an expectation that all of the clergy will be fluently bilingual many are not. Although I have lived in Quebec for two years I have found that the Anglican world in which I live shields me so much from the French Language (as well as French culture) that not only have I not learned it (although I am working on it slowly), mea culpa, but I have only really needed it on a couple of occasions. In other words we seem to be largely sectarian. This closes so many obvious doors it does not need to be pointed out.
One of the looming challenges that awaits us seems to be seldom discussed. We are facing massive retirement waves within the ranks of the clergy. The statistics of this Diocese show that one third of the clergy now active (not counting post retirement ministry) in the Diocese will be over the age of retirement in only five years. In ten years more than half will have retired. The rising average age of the laity is equally concerning. Or to be more precise, it is not the aging that is concerning but the lack of younger clergy and laity coming into the church. This realization brings with it two primary dangers that can both be observed in the modern church.
One is the lowering of formidable Anglican standards for ordination and training just so that there will be enough deacons and priests to fill the various clerical posts needed. I am not speaking academically here but of priestly formation and the deepening of the inner life. This may be the greatest threat to our integrity. I believe a gradual lowering of expectations of the clergy, and thereby the laity, will breed a climate of mediocrity and clerical defensiveness. Priests need to be able to think theologically and to prayerfully center to make sense of the complex world in which we live and do imbue life with meaning in a sea of meaninglessness and escapism. A lack of genuine spiritual depth will be sensed and the seekers will continue to wander away to seek life elsewhere. If this lowering of expectations happens there will be continual problems caused by a lack of competence in administration, pastoral skill, and in the leading of worship. The rise of clergy acting and believing, as well as the laity, that they are employees comparable to secular counterparts is quite concerning. The ordained are called to a lifestyle and not a job description. They are called out of the world, all though not far enough to protect them from it, but far enough to be unable to take deep joy in many of the perceived benefits accorded by our postmodern society. I speak of general trends within the church and not the integrity or competence of my colleagues.
The other danger is that the tail will wag the dog. The structures and current financial arrangements can set the agenda for what we are to do and not the structures and finances being used as tools of the mission of the Gospel. I do think it a bit telling that almost half of the active clergy in this Diocese possess exalted clerical titles (eleven Canons, ten Regional Deans, six Archdeacons, one Vicar General (who is an Archdeacon of course), one Dean, and one Bishop).
There seems to be a limited ability of many older people to get beyond the generational gap in order to engage young people with a genuine spirituality that is relevant to their experience of life. I think there is a substantial link between the lack of committed youth involvement on the parish level and the lack of young vocations and the lack of emphasis on excellence and depth in Sunday school, Youth groups, and Confirmation classes. It represents a well established cycle. The cycle also works in reverse. It is often felt by those in youth ministry that youth ministry is given much lip service but limited real engagement on any profound level. I suggest that one of the ways to break this cycle is seen in initiatives such as Archbishop Hutchison’s Youth Ministry Challenge. To proceed along these lines may mean the possibility of educating young people as a long-term investment for the Diocese and the church at large. This would mean money and a good deal of it. With student loans today few young people could even consider it financially feasible to enter the ministry until later in life after a first career. There is nothing wrong with second vocations. However, we must be cognoscente of the serious cumulative cost to the Diocese in years of experience of ministry in our leaders if this remains the dominant trend.
In his book From Good to Great, Professor Jim Collins makes a couple of simple points that apply to institutional structures. The first is to hire the right people. If there is not a right person do not hire at all, find another way to get what you need done. If you keep the right people then vision and energy will continually flow through an organization. If you get the wrong people, a bureaucracy will naturally develop to manage those who are not self disciplined and motivated by their passion. You can have all the vision you want but you will not be able to implement it. In other words, let the reality of the situation form the structure and not the other way around. The other point he emphasizes is to find the thing or things you do really well and concentrate on those things. Do not try to do everything.
If we take just those two simple pieces of advice we could begin to explore entirely new ways of being the church. For example, why should the Anglican Church, the Presbyterian Church, the United Church, The Lutheran Church and the Roman Catholic Church all be working separately on environmental stewardship. I think both Presbyterians and Anglicans will experience the effects of the global environmental crisis the same way. Why do we not share our resources and talents ecumenically and work together on those things that effect us all? Let us look at new models for downtown and rural ministry. I would rather look at new ways of being the church and have us fail spectacularly than experience the pain of slow decline, irrelevance, and mediocrity. When I was in Cariboo we had no choice. We had to look at a new way of thinking about our structures (or lack thereof). In our Diocese we have the good fortune to be proactive.
None of these ideas are new. None of them are original. Some of them have been emphasized and worked on by our outgoing Archbishop and all have been discussed at synods at every level of church governance. Much work has already been done. I bring them to your mind simply to bring the discussion into the open. We need to wrestle with these issues and come to some consensus that is dynamic and Spirit led. It is said that the best leadership teams argue like hell over issues but when the decision has been made then they unite as one to fulfill them. We really need to talk openly and even contentiously about this strange period in the life of the church. Each period has its own challenges, I do not suggest doom or collapse, I just think some of these may be our challenges as the church under new leadership in our diocese.
I do not envy you your role nor the task that lies ahead of you. To do what needs to be done during your episcopate will make you unpopular with many people. Not to do so will carry the same penalty. I pray that whoever you are you will have the strength to be unpopular, to help implement the changes that need to be made, the wisdom to seek God’s guidance, and the support you need. I most fervently pray that you are a person with the habit of daily prayer and reflection upon the scriptures, deep meditation and that you have been given the grace of possessing the gift of discernment. You know this is God’s church and His ministry, our minds, and ideas, discussions, talents, and actions are only tools we offer to be used for His work. Without discernment and prayer we do not know who is building what. There is seldom talk about God, theology or scripture at administration meetings within the Diocese. Unless He builds it, we labour but in vain. I leave you with words by Archbishop Oscar Romero, Martyred for his courage to stand up for his beliefs against the powers and principalities in El Salvador.
“It helps now and then to step back and take the long view. The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision. We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work. Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us. No statement says all that could be said. We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something, and do it well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest. No prayer fully expresses our faith. No confession brings perfection. No pastoral visit brings wholeness. No program accomplishes the Church’s Mission. No set of goals and objectives includes everything. This is what we are about. We plant the seeds that one day will grow. We water seeds already planted, Knowing that they hold future promise, We lay foundations that will need further development. We provide yeast that produces effects far beyond our capabilities. We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker. We are workers, not master builders, ministers, not messiahs. We are prophets of a future not our own. Amen.” Archbishop Oscar Romero
Fr Edward Simonton
Priest of the Oratory of the Good Shepherd