tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5449677811690616608.post3614210392530479305..comments2023-12-15T21:49:46.651+01:00Comments on Pluralist Speaks: No Rev for MePluralist (Adrian Worsfold)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01922153724523820866noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5449677811690616608.post-12146198119213373652011-12-13T22:01:04.405+01:002011-12-13T22:01:04.405+01:00This is sad. I think it is very frustrating when s...This is sad. I think it is very frustrating when someone feels called / led / wants to be a minister, but it is not possible to be one.<br />The who/what/when/why/where is a separate issue..<br /><br />but still, it is sad. I wonder, but do not know, what would have had to be different for it to come about?Dodgy_Vicarnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5449677811690616608.post-84643845722023776302011-12-03T21:59:39.630+01:002011-12-03T21:59:39.630+01:00'The problem is that Unitarianism does present...'The problem is that Unitarianism does present round holes and if you are a square peg you then do not fit the requirement.'<br /><br />A few thoughts occur to me.<br /><br />Ministry does have its formal structures and requirements, and these often seem more rigid in liberal churches than in evangelical ones! Declining churches worry a lot about keeping congregations happy, and if you don't 'fit in', the worry is that you'll end up driving even more people away. This may be an inadequate reponse, but this is how things are.<br /><br />What's wrong with religious groups meeting in homes? That's what the early Christians did. Maybe Unitarians could take up the cell church model and run with it. Do the Unitarians have church plants? Perhaps building a group of people who want to engage in theological exploration together would be better for you than trying to run an established congregation that's set in its ways and has its own ideas. The history of the church is full of people who've committed their lives to founding new spiritual communities.<br /><br />However, you say you're not keen on 'membership', yet you want to minister to people who do, which does strike me as a problem. You seem to want to lead and instruct a faith group while remaining permanently aloof from it. This doesn't seem very 'friendly', and congregations will pick up on that feeling. <br /><br />If you don't really believe in institutionalised faith it's unsurprising that your chosen institution has its reservations about you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5449677811690616608.post-84849450882428503142011-12-03T16:34:25.056+01:002011-12-03T16:34:25.056+01:00After reading this, I feel that I am now even clos...After reading this, I feel that I am now even closer to hearing the bells which will sound a death knell.<br /><br />It will be for the hope that Unitarianism in the UK might come to actually provide what it often appears to promise in it's publications and cyber-presence - an inclusive way for spiritually-aware people of diverse personal faith to work together to enable their own and each others' spiritual growth free of the dead weight and divisiveness of creedal requirement.<br /><br />However close the bells might be however, there is still time for the change in self-definition necessary to free that potential.Barry Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04847007443755081472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5449677811690616608.post-9376329288585348282011-12-03T16:26:23.276+01:002011-12-03T16:26:23.276+01:00This comment has been removed by the author.Barry Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04847007443755081472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5449677811690616608.post-70124146682972257462011-12-03T01:23:49.334+01:002011-12-03T01:23:49.334+01:00The problem is that Unitarianism does present roun...The problem is that Unitarianism does present round holes and if you are a square peg you then do not fit the requirement. My view of ministry has always been something more of 'being' than doing, and the shape of the peg should not as such matter.Pluralist (Adrian Worsfold)https://www.blogger.com/profile/01922153724523820866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5449677811690616608.post-5380753722038294232011-12-02T19:35:30.177+01:002011-12-02T19:35:30.177+01:00Actually this blog makes for interesting reading. ...Actually this blog makes for interesting reading. As someone also blackballed from the Unitarian Ministry training board but from a very different perspective it is interesting to hear someone speak out. As someone formerly trained in another denomination and someone holding the Title Reverend for many years, I do wonder at times as to how inclusive Unitarianism is? "All are Unitarian but some are more Unitarian than others", often shouts out to those of us on the fringe of the movement.Andie.https://www.blogger.com/profile/08199892575295614875noreply@blogger.com