relationships
All ministers need to recognize and be sensitive to inequalities of power in ministerial relationships and to use their power in ways that are positive and enabling for others. At times this may mean that a minister has to consciously set aside his or her own power in order to empower the other person. Wisdom in the exercise of power can only be achieved through a willingness to examine how we use our power and humility in accepting criticism from those who are less powerful. It also requires that those who feel relatively powerless resist the role of victim and have the courage to confront those who hold power in relation to them. It takes courage to risk offering honest criticism to someone in authority, especially if they are someone we like or whose approval matters to us. It also requires the humility to recognize that sometimes our criticisms may be misjudged or unfair (Doctrine Commission 2003).
The story of the Canaanite woman (who challenges Jesus saying to him ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table’, to which he responds ‘Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish’) exemplifies the creative possibilities when both the powerful and the powerless are able to listen and learn from each other (Matt. 15.21–28). Refusal to listen to another person’s point of view comes from a fear of losing power. Jesus’ response demonstrates a very different possibility. The Canaanite woman’s courage in confronting Jesus and his willingness to listen bring him a wider understanding of his calling, while she is empowered in her faith and her daughter is healed.
2.3. Authority and ordination
Authority is power that is both explicit and legitimate. Clergy need to be aware that, even if they see themselves as sharing power or working collaboratively, ordination confers a particular authority which can be extremely influential upon lay people. Such authority encompasses not only the institutional authority of official appointment, but also the authority from God to be a symbolic representative of the community of faith and religious tradition. This authority is symbolized at ordination with the words, ‘Receive this book as a sign of the authority which God has given you this day …’
It may be difficult for some who hold the authority of ordained ministry to recognize its effect on others, particularly if they experience themselves as lacking power or influence. Ordained ministers who are insecure in themselves, or feel that their authority is threatened in some way, may compensate by misusing the authority of ordination as if it were their possession. They may rely upon it to bolster their own fragile self-esteem or to enhance their status and power in relation to lay people, rather than seeing it as something to be used to empower the whole faith community.
Ordained ministers need to be particularly aware of how the authority of ordination may affect those whom they are helping. Authority explicitly derived from God will be especially potent in its effect on people of faith. It may make it much harder for them to be critical or to complain, even when there are major failures of ministerial competence or integrity. Authority ascribed to an individual tends to increase the impact that their approval or disapproval, neglect or support has on those who recognize that authority. As a result, the views and opinions of clergy can have a powerful positive or negative influence on parishioners, even though the individual ordained minister might feel that their influence is negligible. It requires humility and imagination to remain in touch with the powerlessness and vulnerability which lay people, junior colleagues or those in training may experience. Their response to feeling powerless may be on a spectrum from uncritical obedience to hostile rejection of authority.
All ministers exercising authority within the Church need to be aware of how authority can be misused or abused, whether consciously or not, and to have constantly in mind their servant status.
2.4. Typology of power
Rollo May’s typology of power (1972) can be helpful in assessing the way we exercise power within ministerial relationships where there are inequalities of power:
exploitative power dominates, using force and coercion, such as threats or destructive criticism;
manipulative power controls in more subtle or disguised ways, for example by exclusion from significant communication or using the other person to meet one’s need to be needed;
competitive power is deeply ingrained in our culture, particularly in our educational and economic systems. It can be positive and energizing when parties are relatively equal, for example in sport, but is destructive where there is an imbalance of power;
nutritive power sustains and empowers, enabling the less powerful person to develop their own competence and freedom to act, as when adults enable children to do things for themselves, even if to start with they need help and support;
integrative power respects the freedom of the other person and encourages their potential strengths; it involves relating to them as an equal, albeit with a different role, as in a training relationship where the training incumbent brings skills and experience in ministry and the curate brings skills and experience from previous employment such as teaching.
The following questions are important for all in pastoral ministry:
What forms of power are most appropriate and life-enhancing in the context of pastoral care?
What forms of power are negative and destructive in their effects?
Does the minister exercise power over others or use power to enable others?
How can power be exercised with a care and sensitivity for those who feel less powerful and an awareness of how it feels to be vulnerable and relatively powerless?
The use of exploitative, manipulative or competitive power is always damaging within pastoral relationships. Such approaches to power emphasize inequalities, so that the exercise of power by one person diminishes the power of another. In contrast, both nutritive and integrative forms of power enhance rather than restrict the power of others. Roles may be different but relationship and mutuality are encouraged. Both parties are willing to listen to each other and each is open to the possibility of change. Influence is two-way and power becomes an energy which flows between people, instead of a scarce resource being competed for. It is then a creative and healing resource, enabling both individuals and groups to discover their strengths and to fulfil their potential. Such life-giving energy increases as it is shared, so that the whole faith community can be empowered in the worship and service of God.
| Reflection – inequalities of power Recall relationships (in both secular and church contexts) where there have been inequalities of power between you and another person. Use Rollo May’s typology of power to identify how power was used or responded to by the other person or by you. What did you learn from those experiences about negative and positive uses of power? |
2.5. Gender and power in secular society
Historically there have been considerable differences in the ways men and women in our society have exercised power. Although patterns are changing, such differences continue to have a significant, though often unrecognized, influence. In some areas of secular employment, particularly those where women have parity of education and income, women are now established on an equal footing with men. However, women are still less likely to attain the most senior positions in secular society, they still suffer inequalities in pay and pensions and, in general, men continue to hold more social, economic and political power than women.
In secular organizations, where women now hold senior positions, the model for exercising authority still derives from a dominant masculine culture, emphasizing challenge, competitiveness, rationality and targets. Women who adopt this pattern may be criticized for being harsh and aggressive,
