to a professional standard.
1.7. Ordained and lay ministers as exemplars
Ministers, as the public face of both the local congregation and the wider Church, must accept a responsibility to maintain public confidence in the role of the minister and trust in the integrity of the Church. The parish priest and other ministers in public office are never free from the moral and spiritual requirements of office, even when not on duty. All ministers, lay or ordained, are called to be servants on behalf of Jesus Christ, the Servant of all, and their authority is rooted in Christ. The Church therefore rightly expects certain standards of behaviour from its public representatives, who are seen as role models for the Christian life of faith.
Society is rightly critical of people who claim certain standards and then fail to live up to them. Individual failures are also likely to be exploited by some sections of the media, diminishing the credibility and authority of the Church. However, ministers share the frailties common to all human beings. They put themselves and others at great risk if they lose touch with this reality and start to believe that they are somehow different and less susceptible to mistakes and failures. Ministers have to learn how to live in the tension between realism about their vulnerable humanity and acceptance of the often difficult burden of being seen as an example.
At the heart of all effective ministry is the nurturing of discipleship in openness to God, through prayer, Scripture, sacrament and a readiness to discern the movement of the Holy Spirit. No human being can adequately fulfil the model of ministry seen in Jesus. But he is our priest and,
we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Heb. 4.15–16)
1.8. Accountability in ministry
The concept of accountability is common to management and to Christian ministry, although it may be interpreted differently. A minister is a servant of Christ, who is the head of his body the Church, and a minister’s ultimate accountability is to God. However, at a human level, accountability in ministry is complex, encompassing the person being ministered to and those close to them, colleagues in ministry, the bishop and the wider Church. A sense of accountability to oneself and to one’s family is also crucial. Specifically, ordained ministers are accountable to the Church, through the bishop, whose ministry is properly understood as a shared ministry, and expressed in the licensing or institution charge as ‘both yours and mine’.
1.9. Sacred trust
Ministry is entrusted to us by God. Ministers are called to be trustworthy.
They are often in situations where people are at physical, emotional or spiritual risk and therefore extremely vulnerable. People turn to them when they are at their most vulnerable, at times of joy and celebration, or of profound distress, in the aftermath of traumatic experiences, when facing personal dilemmas or struggling with guilt and remorse. The ordained minister may also have privileged access to places (e.g. prisons and hospitals) and be invited to be present in circumstances where access is normally restricted. It is only through the vital element of trust, the sign of Christ’s compassion entrusted to his Church, that these opportunities for pastoral care to those in great distress are made possible. If this trust is damaged it can affect the wider Church over generations.
Reflection – the pastoral role
What do you value most about your pastoral role? What opportunities and challenges does it offer that would not be possible for a counsellor?
How flexible are you in responding to unexpected pastoral opportunities?
What are your experiences of being listened to accurately and at depth? How well do you listen?
Do you see ordained ministry as a ‘profession’ and how does this influence your ministry, whether paid or voluntary, ordained or lay?
What are the tensions between ordained ministry as vocation and contemporary expectations about career development?
What are the risks and challenges for you of understanding pastoral care as a covenant relationship?
In which areas of your life do you find it hard to live up to the expectations that you or others have of you as a Christian minister?
1.10. Confidentiality and trust
Confidentiality is crucial to the development of trust in pastoral care. This applies not only to situations where the expectation of confidentiality is clear, but also to the many informal pastoral contacts that ministers have, where they may be given information because of their role and because they are trusted. In a pastoral relationship self-disclosure to the minister makes the person vulnerable, and increases the minister’s power in relation to him or her. Ministers need to be sensitive to the way they hold this power. If the minister keeps firm boundaries around confidentiality this enables the vulnerable person to retain control over their life. Breaches of, or leaks in, confidentiality disempower a person by undermining their ability to control what other people know about them (Gula 1996). Where dual roles and relationships are involved there needs to be particular sensitivity to confidentiality (3.5). For example, if an ordinand is also an employee of the diocese they may feel very vulnerable about information being passed, without their knowledge, between tutors on their training course and diocesan staff. In such circumstances transparency is essential and the complex boundaries of confidentiality should be discussed and mutually agreed from the start.
1.11. Context and confidentiality
Ministers should reflect upon how information received in one setting affects their relationship with a person in other situations. They also need to be very aware of how easy it is, even if unintentionally, to misuse confidential information. This can happen in private conversation with colleagues, lay ministry team members, or friends within the parish community, or even with the person concerned, in a different context.
Explicit clarification on confidentiality and reassurance that on meeting in a different context nothing will be raised, alluded to or, as it were, ‘known’ or ‘remembered’ by the minister, helps people feel safer. Amid many other preoccupations the minister who has received many personal disclosures may find it easy to set aside or forget what has been divulged. It is therefore important for all ministers to remain sensitive to the reality that, for the person who has disclosed personal information, perhaps for the first or only time in their life, the memory of that disclosure will always remain vivid. In consequence, feelings of vulnerability are likely to persist for a very long time after the disclosure was made. The person may therefore be particularly sensitive to any perceived criticism, avoidance or withdrawal on the part of the minister. They may easily and understandably misinterpret behaviour which is, in reality, the result of the minister’s other preoccupations or tiredness.
1.12. Clergy and confidentiality
Information shared in confidence with an ordained person must, in all but the most exceptional circumstances (1.13; 1.16; pp. 34–5), be regarded as confidential and only divulged with the other person’s properly informed consent. Learning when and how to hold confidentiality and when and how to share information is an essential part of ministerial formation. However, confidentiality is particularly complex in pastoral care, because information may be obtained in situations and encounters, such as committee meetings or phone conversations, where it may not be so obvious that there is an expectation of confidentiality.
Training incumbents and curates face particular issues of confidentiality which they need to reflect
