Abstract:
‘Who will lead the sheep when the shepherds are gone?’ Clergy plays an important role in the
establishing and sustaining of the church; without them, congregants will not be rooted in
the faith nor will the faith be transmitted to the next generation. The shortage of clergy in the
Roman Catholic Church and the distribution or displacement challenge facing the Protestant
church pose a risk to the future of the church; therefore, the response of clergy to their call to
full-time pastoral ministry is crucial for the continued existence of the church. The purpose of
this study was to discover the variables involved in responding to the call to full-time pastoral
ministry in a church. A grounded theory approach was used to discover the properties of the
core category: ‘calling’. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, and data were coded
using Glaser and Strauss’ grounded theory methodology. The core category ‘calling’ included
properties such as age, defining what a call is or is not; it evolves over time, it has an aspect of
timing and it requires ‘worldly experience’ to be effective. Osmer’s descriptive-empirical task
was used as a practical theological lens through which to view the core category ‘calling’.
The results indicated three responses by clergy who had left full-time pastoral ministry: not
being called in the first place, a dual call (being bi-vocational) and being called but leaving
anyway. Further research is needed to assist clergy in accurately identifying and developing
their call to full-time pastoral ministry.
INTRADISCIPLINARY AND/OR INTERDISCIPLINARY IMPLICATIONS : The research calls for an ongoing
dialogue with regard to the concept of clergy calling and initiates this by means of a practical
theology perspective of a grounded theory study. Future research recommendations are
suggested.
Description:
This article is based on a conference
paper of the same title presented at the Athens Institute for
Education and Research’s Annual International Symposium on
Religion & Theology held on 27–30 June 2016 in Athens, Greece.
Both the conference paper and subsequent article focus on one
of the core categories of the author’s PhD dissertation (University
of Pretoria, Dec 2012 – supervised by Prof. Dr Yolanda Dreyer). (http://hdl.handle.net/2263/27595)