Read
the sermon by The Rev. Leon Hopper
The Rev. Leon Hopper, minister emeritus of East Shore Unitarian Church, Bellevue,
WA, spoke on "The Art of Ministry: Being
and Doing Revisited" in his role as this year's Berry Street essayist.
Fifty
years ago, the Rev. Hopper entered into two life-altering covenants: marriage
and the study to become a minister. Over time he learned that deepening covenantal
relationships such as these grow through acts of acceptance and entrustment.
To entrust is to place the self or something valued in another's hand for safekeeping,
a risky act.
He discovered that all his learning did not equal being a minister. The humbling
recognition was that ministry at its core is a presence. Without presence to
the moment, with congruity between self, word and action, without authenticity,
ministry could neither be nor become.
Presence in ministry emerges from a confluence of disciplines – not getting
hooked on ego; focusing on the issues in common; listening respectfully; acknowledging
the other's message and affirming them as persons. Practice of presence leads
to deeper covenantal relationship. It is most readily felt and understood in
the context of pastoral relationships of one-with-one, whether in casual conversation
or moments of crisis and need. But it is also essential to recognize that presence
is practiced within the structured realities of large institutions: committee
and board meetings, workshops and classes, community engagement, and the pulpit
and public platform.
The 'how' of presence emerges from a way of being rather than the exercise of
a set of skills. The quality of presence is nurtured from a cultivation
of quietness at the heart of one's life – times for meditation and reflection.
There must follow development of the virtue of awareness: awareness of setting,
persons, and emotional climate, being attuned to the moment. And most critical
is a realization that the self is a vehicle, a conduit for the wider purpose
of wholeness and peace. Presence is not about self, but about love and wholeness.
The art of ministry has a center, which emerges from an exercise of vision for
the faith and church. Without a clear vision for a ministry informing the specifics
of daily or weekly activities, there is the likelihood of being drawn into reactive
responses to immediate demands and crises. A vision establishes an overarching
objective for a ministry. Having goals within vision gives direction and motivation
for ministry. It can also lead to frustration and disappointment. Vision and
presence are essential to the art of ministry.
Hopper sees a profound difference between becoming a minister and doing
ministry. He asked if we have seduced ourselves in a desire to define and
describe the roles of ministry in order to ensure necessary boundaries to our
being in ministry. It is easier, he suggested, to set limits to the doing
of ministry than to the being of ministry.
The titles "retired minister" or "minister emeritus" have neither goal nor role
inherent in them. Exercising the goals and roles, which served so well in the
active parish ministry, will not leave space or presence for the new minister,
or successor. There is little being and not much doing in minister emeritus.
What is required is re-imagining a self and ministry. The being remains constant.
It is the doing that must change. Ministry, then, is indeed an art of both being
and doing.
Rev. Hopper is minister emeritus at North Shore UU Church in Seattle, WA. In
1998 he received the UUA's Distinguished Service Award. During his career as
a minister, he served congregations across the continent and filled several
different positions at 25 Beacon Street. Since retirement, he has been a leader
in the partner church movement.
The Berry Street Essay series has a long and distinguished history, beginning
when William Ellery Channing brought the first Berry St. Ministerial Conference
to order in 1820.
Read the sermon by The Rev.
Leon Hopper
Reported for the
web by Betty Skwarek, formatted for the web by Kasey Melski
