The selection of candidates for the Church of Scotland ministry

Abstract

This dissertation begins with a brief account of the effect of the process of secularisation, from a sociological point of view, on the role of the minister. The nature of his role and status is considered against a background of the changes at present taking place within society. The concept of role con¬ flict is explored. Judging from the spate of literature on tne 3ubject and the current changes in society it is concluded that the ministerial role is highly susceptible to confusion. The conclusion is partly reflected in the small number of theological graduates compared to the large increase in graduates in other faculties, and in the numbers recruiting for the Church of Scotland ministry.Although the sociological definition of the ministry is uncer some stress this does not imply that the theological uefinition is suffering the same fate. Thus chapters two and three provide some theological background to the subject. The first of these chapters returns to the Bible in an attempt to unravel the origins of the word •ministry1 in the flew Testament. Hebrew aerivation of flew Testament words are ascertained and it is recognised that the Christian 'apostle* had his prototype in the Jewish 'shaliach'. The title 'the Twelve' is also examined since this is probably an earlier title than that of Apostle. The conclusion is reached that a small number of men were called to the office designated by the name of the Twelve ana that it was an office characterised by the function of an Apostle.The flew Testament usage of the word 'priest' is also discussed and found not to be used for anyone who holds an office in the church. It is preferable to use the term as it describes a function. Indeed the question of ecclesiastical 'office' is not a N.T. concept. The tendency is to speak of 'service' rather than office. This concept of 'service' ('diakonia') is discussed at length and related to the Pauline conception of charisma. Chapter two concludes with the sobering thought that in the N.T. there is no one pattern of ministry which can be interpreted unambiguously. More is there the general principle of service and a flexibility and diversity of ministry which today is unfamiliar. Not only is it difficult to establish a scriptural norm for the ministry a brief glimpse into Church History reveals a similar conclusion. With regard to the diversity and flexibility, this is related to some contemporary developments, namely, specialised ministries. The difficulties inherent in these are discussed and guidelines given for determining their authenticity in terms of service of the church, service of the world and service of individuals, the latter discussion revolving round the concept of soul'The interesting effect of these new ministries is that of highlighting the role of the clergyman as opposed to that of the layman because there is a large amount of overlap in their respective functions. Thus chapter three begins with a discussion on the priesthood of all believers. Difficulties with this particular phrase are mentioned and more useful concepts discussed. In particular, the phrase 'the people of God' is shown to relate more strictly to the N.T. words 'lay' (.'laos') and 'clergy' ('clerus'). Reasons for the clergy-laity distinction are given and evidence cited to show that the layman has been far from passive throughout the course of Christian history. The chapter continues with an outline of three main types of layman and reasons for the renewed interest in the laity. In discussing the role of the laity the meaning of ordination arises because it seems that the laity can equally well carry out all the tasks that have been traditionally assigned to the clergy. The function of a minister is described as a 'servant of the servants of God'. After a look at the N.T. usage of ordination and church order and the indelibility of ordination, two different views of ordination are given on the subject and a synthesis attempted. any view of ordination must take seriously the ministry of the laity, the mission of the church and, last but not least, the ordained ministry must be seen in relation to the 'given-ness' of God.Of course the ordained man is different simply because of his call and thus chapter four deals with this question against a discussion on the nature of motivation in general. Experimental findings are reported and a theoretical model, the 'little adult', is examined. Surveys carried out in England and Scotland are quoted before specifically discussing the concept of 'call'. Four kinds of call are discussed in detail. The chapter closes with reasons for using psychological methodology in what may seem purely a theological matter. Theologically one talks of a call to the ministry but psychologically one must speak of the decision of a person to enter a particular vocation.Chapter five deals with the selection process and opens with a brief discussion of the modes of operation in the Methodist and Anglican denominations. The chapter continues with a discussion of the selection system in the Church of Scotland prior to 1966. The advantages and disadvantages of relying on the interview as an instrument of selection are carefully weighed. The 'extended interview' or group selection methods of the Civil service Selection Board (CSSB) are outlined together with experimental findings. Finally the new procedures of the Church of Scotland are discussed in detail.Chapter six describes the selection process by means of statistical methods. A detailed breakdown of over 80% of Scottish ministerial candidates is given. The attrition rate for the three denominations is remarkably similar. after examining the percentage acceptance rate at selection schools and also the details of candidates who applied twice the conclusion is reached that assessors are consistent in their judgements. after statistically examining various election School variables no clues are found to predict which candidates are likely to withdraw at some later stage.All variables are examined for sex differences and significance is found in the 'chair' and 'church' variables. Fewer women than expected obtained low scores in the exercise as committee chairman. The opposite is the case for the 'church' variable. Thus if bias is understood to refer to patterns of over and under representation under the statistical assumption of independence, the sex bias does exist. There is also a significant relationship between l.Q. and the final Selection School decision. Bias is also found in certain age ranges. Most variables are found to approximate well to the normal distribution. Finally a correlation table for all the variables is discussed.Chapter seven focuses on the theoretical issues involved in any selection process, in particular, the relationship between predictors and criteria. The prediction of academic performance is given as an illustration. Both cognitive and non-cognitive predictors are discussed. with regard to criteria, the difficulties in defining teacher effectiveness is used as an example. The criteria of success, effectiveness, perseverance in the ministry and mental health are all found to be wanting when used in relation to the clergy.With the intention of delineating the characteristics which make for effective ministry all the assessors of the church of Scotland were asked to complete a short questionnaire. The results are tabulated in chapter eight. The main question deals specifically with the 'characteristics always found in the good effective pariah minister'. A sorting procedure was employed, the results tabulated and written out in the form of a criterion model. Concern for others, spirituality and ability to communicate rank highly in terms of importance. The results are compared to those of other researchers and also with the answers given by a number of candidates. There is a high degree of similarity between the answers of assessors and those of candidates.The penultimate chapter deals with the results of a questionnaire sent to a large proportion of candidates who have been accepted since the inception of the new system. secondary questions about Selection Schools, motivation, theological standpoint are discussed but the prime aim is to develop a criterion for the ministry. The core of the questionnaire is six open-ended questions related to the concept of satisfaction and areas of difficulty in the parish ministry. The idea is to determine areas where men and job do not fit. although results are not as conclusive as anticipated it is possible to establish two things. Firstly a tentative approach is made towards a Job description defined by the satisfactions and difficulties the respondents had. Secondly it becomes obvious that respondents had difficulty in conceptualising the role of the minister at all. A statistical analysis is carried out to determine whether any relationships exist between the predictors, that is the Selection School variables and the criteria, that is, the categories of difficulty and distaste. Additional questions give further clues on the satisfaction-dissatisfaction dimension.Chapter ten draws together all the threads of the thesis, reaches conclusions and points in the direction of further research.