What's it like to be an Anglican priest?

[Paidiske]

Two things are big parts of my week that I didn't see on your list. The first is supervising my staff. As the rector, I'm the boss for the other five staff members.

Ah, well, there are no other paid staff here. That cuts both ways; on the one hand, I don't have to supervise them, but on the other hand, I don't have the ability to delegate to them!

But a big reason that I'm busy when the office and food bank are open is basically dealing with the volunteers in the way you describe a lot of what it is to deal with your staff.

The second is all of the emails/texts/phone calls, mostly from parishioners.

That's part of what I've lumped in as "admin."

No one mentioned all this mundane stuff in seminary!

Did you do field placements as part of your training? That's where I got a bit of an up-close look at the realities of parish life.

Every once in a while someone expresses their thought that priesting must be easy since you only work on Sunday mornings.

Probably exactly the same people who complain if you don't go to every single activity in the parish during the week...

I do sit on a couple of diocesan committees, but they don't meet very often; once every couple of months or so.

 

[Deegie]

I need to learn how to break up the post I'm replying to into multiple quotes like you did. Your second-to-last sentence really resonated. I faced something just the other day where people were slightly miffed that I wasn't attending a Friday night event at the church. I was already giving up my Saturday afternoon and evening so there's not a chance I would attend both.

Which reminds me...I just saw an article this morning about Australian clergy often having a 48-hour workweek.
Australian Clergy Struggle with 48-Hour Work Weeks

 

[Paidiske]

I need to learn how to break up the post I'm replying to into multiple quotes like you did.

Put your cursor where you want to break the post, and hit enter.

Your second-to-last sentence really resonated. I faced something just the other day where people were slightly miffed that I wasn't attending a Friday night event at the church. I was already giving up my Saturday afternoon and evening so there's not a chance I would attend both.

I get this sort of thing all. the. time. It's like they don't really see it as working?

Which reminds me...I just saw an article this morning about Australian clergy often having a 48-hour workweek.
Australian Clergy Struggle with 48-Hour Work Weeks

I'll read properly later because I have to run now, but I'd say that would be a pretty average week for me. More would not be uncommon at all.

 

[Deegie]

Put your cursor where you want to break the post, and hit enter.

Well that's so simple that I feel dumb now. Thanks!!

I get this sort of thing all. the. time. It's like they don't really see it as working?

Exactly. It was a fundraising event that was fun for them. It would have been work for me. Trying to explain that was futile. I need to be particularly strict about my boundaries because my predecessor was not and felt the need to say yes to everything. I now insist on keeping my sabbath time for rest and family activities -- at least most of the time.

 

[Paidiske]

Which reminds me...I just saw an article this morning about Australian clergy often having a 48-hour workweek.
Australian Clergy Struggle with 48-Hour Work Weeks

I think the article reflects the local reality really well.

And the absolutely perfect example of that is that it links to a "highly commended" policy on ministry well-being, which I opened, looked at, realised it ran to 71 pages, and went, I have no time to read that properly any time soon!

 

[The Liturgist]

I'm currently in a long-term supply arrangement. That means I don't have much to do with administrative business. I am occasionally asked for an opinion on worship matters. I do make home and hospital visits on a regular schedule. The church building is about 40 miles from my home so I don't typically drop into the office during the week, except for whatever day I do visitations. This arrangement has forced the congregation to take care of themselves a little more than they were accustomed to. I would go down there more if they wanted but they have to pay me mileage anytime I do. They are saving a tremendous amount of money over what they paid the last regular pastor by having me come once or twice a week and paying me on the per service + mileage scale. And that's okay because I have a couple of other streams of income. There are a couple of them that will drop by my house now and then and that's fine. The guy who leads the midweek study is the most regular visitor.

I have stuff that I do for my bishop. That is not a very consistent thing. Sometimes I'm working on 4 things at once and other times there's nothing all month. Right now I've got 2 projects going for him. I occasionally hit the road and make in person visits into PA, WV, and MD on his behalf - usually ecumenical initiatives.

Continuing education has become a point of emphasis in our church so I am enrolled in a class most of the time.

That to me sounds like an ideal gig. In the Eastern Orthodox church, hieromonks (monastic priests) are often used for purposes of supply; one of my prayers is for a renaissace in Anglican monastic vocations in the Order of the Holy Cross and other Benedictine, Franciscan and other groups. Speaking of which, I get the feeling that supply was part of the original intent of Roman Catholic canons regular, as opposed to friars such as the Dominicans, but that later the various orders of Canons Regular such as the Norbertines became more like the Mendicant Orders, in their case even developing a distinct variant of the Roman Rite (just as the Dominicans and Carmelites also did, so as to avoid having to deal with regional uses, for example, in England alone there were the Sarum, Hereford, York and Durham uses).

The ecumencial initiatives you are involved in, are these mainly with other continuing Anglican groups?

 

[The Liturgist]

Well that's so simple that I feel dumb now. Thanks!!

Exactly. It was a fundraising event that was fun for them. It would have been work for me. Trying to explain that was futile. I need to be particularly strict about my boundaries because my predecessor was not and felt the need to say yes to everything. I now insist on keeping my sabbath time for rest and family activities -- at least most of the time.

This is very important for all clergy, doubly so for clergy with young children. Also I personally like to see clergy have their children involved in the parish life, for example, as altar servers and in youth groups. In the United Methodist church where I spent much of my adolescence, the minister’s son and daughter were an integral part of the Methodist Youth Fellowship, which was also an important part of my life, considering that was where I met my first girlfriend (who recently had two beautiful children, but has been rendered single and is fighting brain cancer, so please pray for her, her baptismal name is Rachel). Note that she was not one of the minister’s kids, but they were a vital part of our posse, as it were.

By the way, to my Anglican colleagues, do your respective Anglican churches have something like the Methodist Youth Fellowship for the young people of your parishes? I assume so but I am curious as to how it is organized.

 

[Paidiske]

By the way, to my Anglican colleagues, do your respective Anglican churches have something like the Methodist Youth Fellowship for the young people of your parishes?

It's cute that you think we have young people.

In reality, the only regular worshipper in my parish who is younger than me, is my daughter.

 

[The Liturgist]

It's cute that you think we have young people.

In reality, the only regular worshipper in my parish who is younger than me, is my daughter.

Oh dear, I did not realize it was that bad. In the US, most churches I visit, including mainline churches, including Episcopalian, ACNA and Continuing Anglican churches, have some youth, although occasionally one finds a parish that is mostly elderly, and some parishes tend to attract elderly people on a sort of curious self-renewing cycle. I’m not very happy about that, in that I think it is a healthier dynamic when you have diverse age groups in fellowship.

Now, out of curiosity, at your prior assignments, for example, when you were in Melbourne, were there young people there?

 

[Paidiske]

I’m not very happy about that, in that I think it is a healthier dynamic when you have diverse age groups in fellowship.

Well, I think we all agree about that, but that doesn't magically make younger generations turn up.

Now, out of curiosity, at your prior assignments, for example, when you were in Melbourne, were there young people there?

Most of them, yes. A small handful of young adults, or the children of adult members. I have not been anywhere since I was ordained that had critical mass for a youth group, though.

 

[The Liturgist]

Well, I think we all agree about that, but that doesn't magically make younger generations turn up.

Indeed. I would be interested to see demographic information from the Australian church on the age distribution in each of its provinces if that exists somewhere.

 

[Paidiske]

Indeed. I would be interested to see demographic information from the Australian church on the age distribution in each of its provinces if that exists somewhere.

I honestly don't know that it does.

 

[Malleeboy]

Wouldn't that be in the NCLS (National Church Life Survey) run every 5 years, last one was in 2021, contains all Protestant churches.
I attend a Bapo church, which was when we joined 25 years ago a largish church, but would probably now be classed a mega-church.
No shortage of large churches with lots of youth in our area in the east. Large churches in our area, seem to be AOG, Baps and 2 Churches of Christ (note for US people, Church of Christ in Australia are like an evangelical, moderate Disciples of Christ, soemthing like Baptists) and 1 largish Brethren.
I used to think that Anglican churches like St Hilary's and St Jude had large youth numbers. Hadn't seen as many young folks in the Anglicans when I have been at one in this area.

 

[Paidiske]

Participation in the NCLS is optional. Lots of parishes don't bother.

St. Jude's attracts lots of uni students. Places like All Saints', Clayton (right near Monash Uni's main campus) also attract a lot of uni students (I was one of them, once upon a time). St. Hilary's, I'm not sure what made them popular. I suspect they've been waning in recent years.

I think Melbourne's largest Anglican congregation these days is City on a Hill, but it's debatable whether you'd have to call them Anglican in Name Only. In this diocese I think it's St. Augustine's, Shepparton; they attract a lot of new migrants, but I have no idea whether they have many youth.

 

[Shane R]

The ecumencial initiatives you are involved in, are these mainly with other continuing Anglican groups?

No. Most of that business is with other groups that wish to be in communion with the OAC. The most recent is a group of Methodists that have decided to embrace tradition and are far too conservative for the GMC, much less UMC. I need to go to Washington, PA and meet with their bishop soon.

 

[Malleeboy]

I grew up in Swan Hill in the 70/80s, Anglican youth were fairly rare even back then. I remember going joint group at school, it was lots of Catholic girls and me (all the kids from my youth group went to the Tech.)

 

[Paidiske]

I ran youth groups in the late 90s/early 00s, and there were enough kids for vibrant groups in suburban Melbourne back then. But that was a quarter of a century or so ago!

 

[The Liturgist]

No. Most of that business is with other groups that wish to be in communion with the OAC. The most recent is a group of Methodists that have decided to embrace tradition and are far too conservative for the GMC, much less UMC. I need to go to Washington, PA and meet with their bishop soon.

I am really interested in traditional Methodist groups. Also you know we have a traditional Methodist at LiturgyWorks, who is one of our founding members, who has been compiling a hybrid of John Wesley’s Sunday Service Book with newer Methodist and Anglican material, using the same modular system we used for the BCP 2023 Project, which will be uploaded soon.

 

[The Liturgist]

I ran youth groups in the late 90s/early 00s, and there were enough kids for vibrant groups in suburban Melbourne back then. But that was a quarter of a century or so ago!

In the US, most denominations still have youth, even in the mainline churches. It really worries me what you are describing. Is this problem specific to Australian Anglicanism and perhaps the Uniting Church and parts of the Catholic Church, or is it more widespread? Also, what about Aboriginal communities?

 

[Arcangl86]

In the US, most denominations still have youth, even in the mainline churches. It really worries me what you are describing. Is this problem specific to Australian Anglicanism and perhaps the Uniting Church and parts of the Catholic Church, or is it more widespread? Also, what about Aboriginal communities?

I don't know how true that is that most denominations still have youth, at least in urban churches. Not far from me there is a ecumenical group of like 8 churches that have combined their youth groups because that the only way they could hit critical mass.