Category: Unit 3

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Response to jsonhealer – Rank, Talk, Write – The Nicomachean ethics of Aristotle

Rev. Martin,

Your post is a great summary of a book that, I will admit, I was too intimidated to tackle when I saw it on the reading list. Thank you and well done!

You’ve got a great ability to distill lots of information down to a core idea and how you’ve highlighted that the “greater good” is both in the action and in the outcome is very helpful.

Learning to ask myself and those I lead, “What’s the purpose?” has helped evaluate outcomes as well as actions in our work. From meetings with staff to ideas for new events or programs, understanding the purpose helps us to achieve this greater good but in the current task in front of us and in the longer term outcome we are seeking together.

As far as your question, as a pastor this greater good can take on many descriptions. I have found it helpful to pray the Lord’s prayer for my work and for those I am leading. The reminder of “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” helps keeps that much greater good front and centre as we are doing our work together.

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Response to Monica Grace – Rank, Talk, Write Activity

Monica, I chose the same article to summarize for this assignment and I’m glad to see you enjoyed it as I did. I’m also glad to see we reached similar conclusions so you’re giving me confidence about what I wrote!

Like you, I’m in a ministry setting so I read your post through the lens of this course but also through the lens of not only my current job but really the whole of my life. I’m really grateful for Cahalan’s ability to clarify something I’ve known intuitively about my own work and those around me.

As far as your question, it’s a good one. Should we assume that everyone who enters into some kind of vocational practice has the potential to reach this stage of expertise and unknowing? I’m not sure that’s true. It’s certainly not what I’ve seen from everyone around me who has gone in to vocational ministry.

One encouragement that I would take to heart from your question is the role of mentors for beginners and novices. I’m asking myself how I can be a better mentor for those who are at early stages in their practice.

Thanks again for your summary and your great thoughts in response to this article.

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Rank – Talk – Write

My experience has been that skill development among pastors is typically presented as leadership theory, budget management and organizational development. Kathleen A. Cahalan’s article Integrative Knowing and Practical Wisdom (2017) presents instead the reminder that pastors are practitioners who must grow toward practical wisdom.

Cahalan’s central question is presented at the end of her introduction after giving sketches of funerals led by two different pastors, one fumbling and rigid and one compassionate and merciful.  “How did this priest learn to be this kind of minister?” (Cahalan, 2017, p. 116)

Broken down by headings within the article, I found five main ideas presented:

The Intelligence of Practice
Skills can be learned in different ways which, over time, have the potential to be acted on together becoming practical wisdom.

In the Beginning
The beginning of practice acknowledges that a novice practitioner requires education, mentors, peers and opportunity to help them grow in skill and understanding.

Advancing in Practice
As practitioners advance they grow in their ability and also by internalizing the ethos of their area of skill.

Competence in Practice
As practitioners, and pastors specifically, grow in competence they develop additional skills such as foresight, empathy and seeing the bigger picture which help move them closer to practical wisdom.

Another Kind of Competence: Expertise or Unknowing?
Practitioners in many skill areas are focused on expertise while the focus for pastors is the truth that the knowledge and understanding of God will never be fully known.

Cahalan’s article (2017) is a strong reminder of the importance of “eight ways of knowing that are essential to wise practice” (p. 117). Yet the summary remains that for ministers the expression of practical wisdom is different from skill areas where “the virtues of practice are related to speed, efficiency, accuracy, and often individual effort” (p. 121). For priests and pastors to truly minister to the families they are serving, practical wisdom goes beyond skill development or increased knowledge. “Ministers who are expert practitioners require something very different: the ability to slow down and contemplate what God is doing” (p. 121).

Reference
Cahalan, K. A., Foley, E., & Mikoski, G. S. (2017). Integrating Work in Theological Education. Eugene, Oregon: Pickwick Publications. Retrieved from https://ezproxy.student.twu.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=1500058&site=eds-live