Supper Club...

'good use of authority that is transparent and authentic' and a 'bad use of authority
that is non-consultative and coercive'.

Good friend Helen Cameron spoke at Supper Club and gave some context for some interesting discussion. Using the experience of the 'African Salvationist Disapora' she drew out issues that she suggests could help our ecclesiological self-awareness. I breathed a breathe of relief as the discussion was more contextual, which allowed people to read in and make connections.

The theology of power seems to be a common thread in the supper clubs that I have attended, more by accident than by design. Helen - not knowing this - put more meat to the discussion. I've lost my notes - but Helen called for us to identify where we make 'the good news' bad news, Paternalism was one such area she looked. Her context was that of a distinguishment of 'good use of authority that is transparent and authentic' and a 'bad use of authority that is non-consultative and coercive'.

So the point for me to mull over is - as an officer in TSA am I at risk of my life being interfered with against my will by the hierarchy that is TSA? Am I being patronised by decisions made with the claim that I will be better off or protected from harm? Am I protected from the harsh realities of life because as part of the officer package we have a house and a car assigned to us - instead of a realistic working wage? Am I a victim of paternalism?

That was on Monday, I read this today in a paper
"Ordination requires that the ordinands explicitly and publicly affirm that he or she is willing to have the church play a large role in the shaping of the self. An ordained person's identity is inevitably linked to and determined by the church."
Campbell, D.M (1992) Theological Education and Moral Formation: What's Going on in Seminaries Today? in R. J (ed) Neuhaus Theological Education and Moral Formation. Eerdmans

It was the sentiment not the terminology that caught my eye.

Comments

Johnny said…
Looking forward to seeing the full text of Helen's paper at TheRubicon, so I can read it & inwardly digest.
I think this is perhaps where I had some of my problems with TSA. I couldn't reconcile that power and the things that I saw happening with other officers lives with the way in which God interacts with humanity.

Whilst not having a huge problem with authority, I do have a problem with misplaced and misused authority. There are few churches where the denomination or congregation has as much control over the life of the minister as TSA.

TSAs approach to many questions is 'we've decided this, so you must live with it' is, indeed, paternalistic. I guess the question I should have asked myself earlier was whether I was comfortable with it? At one point I was, and then I began to see the effects of it.
Gordon said…
That's interesting Martin - I must admit that I have felt consulted with throughout so far, but there are those who feel the opposite.

As CO's we had nothing but total freedom - I wonder if the expression paternalism is indicative of transistion.

Out of interest do you regret going strraight as DYO - DHQ's are a hotbed of insitution and thereby the paternalism that effected you was more at hand?
Regret isn't probably the description I would use considering how things have worked out...but to some extent yes - the things I saw from the DHQ I was involved in and my experience at college left me with the picture of officership that I have now.

If I'd been a CO...well, who knows? But there is a certainty for me that we're where God wants us to be...and in the long term church leadership is still out there somewhere.

One of the things I struggled with in the first place was how some officers were given huge freedom and others not (even to the extent of appointments from college!)- and not just because of ability - I think it was more about the structure in certain places being less controlling, as we've already mentioned.

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