The ‘Enabler’

We can never be sure what impact our words will have on other people even after the passing of many years. 30 years ago at the induction of the vicar of a small Lincolnshire village the preacher, the then Bishop of Grantham, Dennis Hawker, spoke of the role of the parish priest as the ‘enabler’, a concept that has been rattling around in my mind ever since.

Bishop Dennis Hawker died a few months ago.  The obituary in the Church Times referred to him just as ‘Hawker’ which I find ungracious and insulting to a man who unwittingly made an impression on me and through whom I believe God was speaking to the whole church.

The idea of the priest or the vicar as ‘enabler’ may not appear at first sight to be very profound. I believe it to be of the utmost significance as we reflect on how the life, worship and ministry of the church should develop into the future.

 To many, the role of the paid professional ‘priest’, ‘vicar’ or ‘minister’ (call it what you will) has become synonymous with ‘Church’. He (or she) is paid to do the work and fulfil all the functions the congregation is prepared to demand and lay upon that person. It has become too easy to offload responsibility in all matters ecclesiastical and religious on this person and get on with life, ‘coming to church’ when it suites us.

This is not the model envisaged by Jesus and the New Testament. 

Jesus himself did not set up any structured organisation. He called his disciples and entrusted to them, after a period of preparation, every aspect of his earthly ministry. They carried his full authority (Matthew 28v17) and they in turn called others, men and women, into that sacred ministry. Jesus enabled ordinary men and women to be His Body on earth. In obedience to this command it has become a worldwide body proclaiming the kingdom of God in every land and community.

St Paul in 1 Corinthians 12 verses 12 – 31 develops this concept of the Church as a body, each constituent part of that body having its own gifts and ministry to be exercised for the good of all and the furtherance of the Kingdom.

The professional stipendiary priesthood is a much later development, carrying within it the risk of disabling the people of God to be the Body of Christ. Hence the temptation over the last few centuries for many to equate ‘Vicar’ with ‘Church’. Latterly the Church has recognised the need to recapture the original vision of the whole people of God. The decreasing number of full time stipendiary clergy may be a God-given phenomena, calling the church back to its roots. The full time professional priest is being called into the more biblical role of ‘enabler’, discerning, preparing and equipping individuals within local congregations to exercise ministry on behalf of the whole Church.

 At 6 p.m. on Monday 29^th September in the Committee Room we have the first meeting of a Worship and Ministry Forum at St Christopher’s. This is the opportunity for YOU make your contribution to the debate about the life of our church in Bahrain particularly the way we worship and exercise ministry.  I hope many of you will feel the call to contribute to this vital aspect of our life as the Church, helping me to be an effective ‘enabler’ to the congregations at St Christopher’s and Awali.

Alan Hayday.   (Dean)