Paying Attention: Comparison of Desired Characteristics of Ministerial Leadership in the United Church of Christ

Paying Attention: Comparison of Desired Characteristics of Ministerial Leadership in the United Church of Christ

Meeting leadership needs of the United Church of Christ, which includes finding the best ways to prepare new leaders for authorization, has been a lively conversation in the denomination in recent years. A decade of study led to a national Pronouncement on ministry issues in 2005 which suggested ways to move into the future while taking into account the remarkable diversity of faith communities within the denomination. The broad range of ecclesiologies, with their corresponding theologies of ministry, has made the denominational conversation rich, but it has also made the task of coming to consensus on ministry issues challenging. In order to gain a better understanding of our practices in preparation for creating new guidelines for authorization, one directive of the Pronouncement was to "pay attention to our theologies of ministry in the UCC, especially ordained ministry." This project applies an ecclesiological typology to the descriptive language in current local and national denominational guidelines for identifying, preparing, and authorizing candidates for ministry, for the purpose of comparing the preferences which are revealed in them. Preferences are arrayed, and similarities and discrepancies between local and national materials are noted. In particular, this project observes whether or not the full range of ecclesiological diversity of the United Church of Christ is reflected in the guidelines for authorization, what differences exist between the sets of guidelines in this respect, and what the significance of those differences may be. The intent of this project is to contribute to the ongoing denominational conversation.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty in candidacy for the degree of Doctor of Ministry. Advisor: Lee Barrett. Electronic PDF document. 223 pages.

Rader, Kay S.

Lancaster, PA: Lancaster Theological Seminary

2012

(c) Kay S. Rader; posted by permission

Leadership

Church work

Dissertation

electronic document (PDF)

https://library.lancasterseminary.edu/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=129475

English