Theology for Ministry

Catholic New Times, Sept 12, 2004 by Richard Shields

Theology for Ministry, by Margaret Lavin, Ottawa: Novalis, 2004.

Despite the apparent spike in vocations, parishes continue to be closed because the number of ordained ministers remains so small. The hierarchical priesthood-episcopacy is the only official ministry of the Roman Catholic Church, making it difficult for a consensus to form among Catholic as to what constitutes ministry and who should be considered a minister.

To say that everyone is a minister only blurs the issue. On the other hand, laying out a theology "of" ministry does not deal with the existential realties of the minister's identity and the relation of the church community to its ministers. Ministry, as a living response to the emergent reality of the world and God-in-the-world, is never adequately understood in terms of universalizing categories.

If ministry is a choice-action of the church that is inseparable from its faith-commitment to Jesus of Nazareth, then its forms and expressions are only intelligible in terms of the-real situations, in which the followers of Christ are being challenged to be who they are.

Margaret Lavin, the director of theological field education at Regis College, Toronto, offers a theology for ministry that will help Catholics understand what ministry is about, as well as foster reflective practice, through which ministers can gain a deeper appreciation of what they do.

Her book presents a Roman Catholic approach to interpreting the mystery of God that brings out the dramatic, interactive process connecting the daily reality of human living to the divine mystery. More than a paradigm for ministry, this process is the reality, which makes ministry possible.

While Lavin sees ministry in terms of the responses of the church to the signs of the times, her understanding of church is not hierarchical or institutional. Rather, she understands the church as communion among believers that is rooted in God's communion with the world. This is a keystone in her argument, leading to the conclusion that "only a de-institutionalized church can work for the good of all God's people."

Theology for Ministry carries on the pastoral theological tradition of Karl Rahner, whose thinking is not only apparent in the documents of Vatican II, but of great importance for understanding the creative and revolutionary ecclesiology it inaugurated. Lavin reflects from a perspective called "theological anthropology"--an understanding of human beings as the "image of God" and of the church as a relationship of believing persons whose communal life becomes a tangible sign of God (sacrament). From this perspective, ministry makes sense as "an interrelationship between, and an interdependence on every member of the church community."

Her book moves through a discussion of God's initiatives toward the world (creation, incarnation, and trinity) to reflection on our response to God's grace (sacrament and church). Her method is not to explain doctrine and then apply it, but to reflect on Catholic beliefs and to use them as a means of understanding human experience, whose Godly meaning is not dependent on hierarchically taught doctrine or autocratically imposed morality. Lavin thus challenges ministers to embrace who they are with an adult faith and a mature autonomy.

Each of the book's six short chapters has two parts. In the first, Lavin unpacks the meaning of her theological anthropology in terms of the core understandings connected with the beliefs she discusses. In a second section, she uses the reality of ministry to question, rethink, and understand the meaning of what is believed.

Theology for Ministry will be an effective resource for ministers who meet for prayer, mutual support, and reflective practice. It is an excellent "first book" for those embarking on ministry.

However, some caveats are in order. Transcendental theology, while it may seem perfectly clear to its practitioners, has its own jargon that may baffle the uninitiated. Its explanations, often appear circular--a pitfall that Lavin does not always manage to avoid. Although Rahner places a strong emphasis on eschatology (the insuperable incompleteness of even the redeemed human condition), much theological anthropology remains too optimistic.

As a result, its discussion of sin remains formal, without adequately capturing the depth or drama of the conflict with evil and its pernicious ability to lead one to despair. In my view, this same fault is found in the present work.

The bottom line, however, is "read it!" Lavin's way of thinking about the church alone is worth reading. Theology for Ministry is a breakthrough book in its approach to understanding ministry, and a wakeup call for anyone who is beginning to forget the claims Vatican II is still making on the church today.