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A problem with the appointment process in the Church of England

‘How did you end up in Prague?’, is a question I have quite frequently been asked over the past eight years. My simple answer is always, ‘Because I applied for the job’. I chose to come here – I wasn’t sent.

For the past twenty years or more, nearly every vacant position in the Church of England has been advertised in the Church press. If you wish to apply, you complete a now fairly standard application form and submit it by the closing date. In due course, a short list of candidates is drawn up and those selected are invited for interview. An appointment is then made.

Putting it in simple terms, the Church of England has adopted the normal secular method of filling a vacancy. A change of position or advancement within the Church is now by competitive interview, rather than based on who you know. One can always cite instances where this still isn’t quite the case, but normally it is.

As part of this process, the vacant parish/benefice/chaplaincy has to draw up a profile, describing what they are like – the situation in which the new appointee will have to minister. They also have to write a person specification, saying what kind of individual they would like as their next Rector/Vicar/Priest/Chaplain. I must say that the expectations expressed in some person specifications that I have read, have left me feeling that only the Archangel Gabriel need apply, and even if he did, there would be no guarantee that he would be appointed 🙂

Whilst overall, the process does seem fair and right, I do have one major problem with it in relation to those of us called to ordained ministry within the Church. One question on the application form asks, ‘Please specify how you meet each of the selection criteria?’ In other words, how do you fulfil all the expectations contained in the person specification?

Answering this question in the manner expected, requires you to say what a wonderful, gifted Christian minister you are – basically that you are the best thing since sliced bread! You have to sell yourself and I find that being at complete odds with my calling.

I have expressed this view verbally, many times in the past, particularly quoting the words of St Paul; ‘For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgement, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.’ Romans 12. 3. Yet to be appointed to a new position, you are required to do the exact opposite – to think very highly of yourself.

As a result, there are inevitably some people who have gained new positions and advancement within the Church, in part because of being very good at selling themselves. And others who should have gained preferment, but haven’t, because of having the sober judgement that St. Paul recommends.

One person I knew, who was junior to me in the sales and marketing department of the publishing company I worked for before ordination, trained for ministry shortly after me and is now the Dean of a Cathedral. He was very good at self-promotion when in secular employment and I’m sure that has contributed to him being where he is now. Interestingly, in the process, he has gone from being a Charismatic Evangelical to being a Liberal Catholic 🙂

I am not saying that one shouldn’t be self-aware. As an ordained priest, I should know what are my strengths and what are my weaknesses. But when people ask me how a service has gone, especially a wedding or a funeral, I usually say in response, ‘Ask those who were there; those who were on the receiving end of my ministry’.

I have been promising to write a blog post on this very matter for a few years. But I have finally been prompted into doing so by a series of verses from the Gospel of Luke which have occurred within the Gospel readings set for recent Sundays by the Revised Common Lectionary that we, and so many other Churches, follow.

In Luke 14. 10-11, Jesus says that, ‘when you are invited (to a wedding banquet), go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, “Friend, move up higher”; then you will be honoured in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’ That last sentence recurs again at the end of the Gospel passage I shall be preaching about tomorrow – the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, as recorded in Luke 18. 9-14.

Jesus is also recorded, speaking to his disciples, saying, ‘So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, “We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!” ’ Luke 17. 10. In other words, don’t go around saying how wonderful we are in all that we do.

Basically, my premise is that the Church should be encouraging and admiring humility amongst its ordained clergy. Self-awareness, yes – but not self-aggrandisement. Having this week, written and sent my formal letter of resignation as Chaplain of St Clement’s, Prague from 30^th April 2017 when I will retire from full-time ministry, all I can say is that I’m very pleased that I will not once again have to sell myself, in order to gain a new post.

Warsaw

Following lunch on Sunday 25^th September, which marked the official end of the 2016 Eastern Archdeaconry Synod, quite a number of the Synod members stayed on for an afternoon walking tour through the centre of Warsaw. It was good to have the opportunity to see something of the Polish capital before returning to Prague the following day.

The first building that caught my eye after the taxi dropped me off in the city centre, was the tower of the Palace of Culture and Science. This building is a classical example of Stalinist-Baroque architecture and bears a striking resemblance to Hotel International here in Prague, located just a few hundred metres from the Chaplaincy Flat. Both are based on the design of Moscow State University.

The Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw, built between 1952-55, was a ‘gift to the citizens of the city from the nations of the USSR’ 😉 During the communist era, it was seen as a symbol of Soviet domination and, as my Polish guidebook says, ‘still provokes extreme reactions, from admiration to demands for its demolition’.

Ministry of Finance building, Warsaw © Ricky Yates

Other examples of post-WW2 architecture are not so ostentatious such as this building which houses the Polish Ministry of Finance.

Our walk took us the length of Nowy Swiat, one of the historic thoroughfares of Warsaw, which later becomes Krakowskie Przedmiescie. Both streets are lined by a series of attractive buildings, but knowing how much is original, as against that which has been rebuilt since the destruction of World War Two, is difficult to tell.

The Church of the Holy Cross, Warsaw © Ricky Yates

This is the baroque fronted Church of the Holy Cross whose main claim to fame is being the burial place of the heart of the composer Frederic Chopin.

Church of the Visitation, Warsaw © Ricky Yates

Two other Churches along this ‘Royal Route’ as it is known, are the Church of the Visitation……

Carmelite Church of the Assumption of the BVM, Warsaw © Ricky Yates

……and the Carmelite Church, dedicated to the Assumption of the BVM.

Presidential Palace, Warsaw © Ricky Yates

In between is this grand palace which, since 1994, has been the official residence of the President of Poland.

Here, a balcony is being supported by four male figures, an architectural feature which can also be regularly observed in Prague, except that in Prague, the figures are more commonly female 🙂

The Royal Route ends in plac Zamkowy/Castle Square, which is actually more triangular than square 🙂 The original castle was built between 1598 – 1619. Sadly, this was utterly destroyed by the Nazis during World War Two and the current impressive building is a complete reconstruction undertaken between 1971 – 1988.

From the square, there is the view below, across the Vistula River, to a very recent addition to the Warsaw skyline – the National Football Stadium, completed in early 2012 in advance of Poland and Ukraine, hosting the European Football Championship.

National Football Stadium, Warsaw © Ricky Yates

The 2016 Eastern Archdeaconry Synod in Warsaw

Members of the Eastern Archdeaconry Synod with Bishop Robert, following the concluding Sunday morning Eucharist © Ricky Yates

Between Thursday 22^nd – Monday 26^th September, I attended my ninth and final meeting of the Eastern Archdeaconry Synod which this year, was hosted by the Warsaw Chaplaincy. My first Eastern Archdeaconry Synod was in mid September 2008, held in Corfu, in the week before Sybille and I moved to Prague and before I commenced writing this blog. Subsequent Synod meetings were in Izmir in 2009, Vienna in 2010, Bucharest in 2011, Attica, Athens in 2012, Woking 🙂 in 2013, Prague in 2014 and Zagreb in 2015.

Our Synod meeting took place in Dobre Miejsce, a Roman Catholic Conference Centre located in delightful woodland on the north-western outskirts of Warsaw. It proved to be an excellent venue with comfortable single rooms, a well equipped conference meeting room and a large chapel for worship. The only downsides were the food, which was quite repetitive and very traditionally Polish, and a wifi network which frequently disconnected 🙁

In order to get to Warsaw, I chose to drive, accompanied by Churchwarden Gordon Truefitt, one of our two lay delegates to the Synod. Jack Noonan, the other lay delegate, was also going to travel with us but eventually chose to fly, (at his own expense), as he needed to leave Prague later on Thursday 22^nd and return on Sunday evening, rather than on Monday 26^th. It is an indication of the vast size of our Eastern Archdeaconry in that the Prague Anglican Chaplaincy is the nearest one to Warsaw, yet my journey was one of almost 700 kilometres.

During the Synod, we enjoyed three Bible studies led by Rev’d Neil Richardson, a Methodist theologian and Biblical scholar. He explored the ministry and writings of St. Paul and how they can be applied in the life of our Chaplaincies.

A good part of our time on Friday, was taken up addressing the issue of ‘Safeguarding’ and how we are to implement the instructions with regard to this subject, coming down to us from the Church of England centrally and the House of Bishops. We had two long sessions, led by the Diocesan Safeguarding Manager, Ian Carter, a former police officer. The training clergy and volunteer leaders are going to have to undertake, seems incredibly onerous. It is the quickest way to put off people volunteering to help in our Chaplaincies!

However, the need to do this was brought home to me in part of the address to Synod the following day, by our Diocesan Bishop, Rt Rev’d Dr Robert Innes. Here are two paragraphs from that address, which clearly highlight the problem.

‘In recent decades it has become apparent that the Church in Europe has not cared as it should have done for children and vulnerable people. As a direct result, in some countries, trust in the church has plummeted. In Belgium, (where Bishop Robert is based), a recent survey by our leading consumer magazine, showed that the RC church is one of the least trusted institutions in our country – trusted far less than the army, the social services, even politicians. I found that deeply shocking.

So our emphasis on safeguarding is about building a high trust culture. It means establishing systems and procedures that, as far as we can, give people confidence that those of our people who are in positions of trust are genuinely trustworthy.’

Late on Saturday afternoon, we had a session on growing new congregations. We heard about some exciting developments in Poland with new Polish-speaking and English-speaking congregations being established in Kraków and with plans for a new congregation in Gdansk. I was asked to speak about how the Brno congregation came into being, here in the Czech Republic.

As always, the time spent informally with colleagues over meals and evening drinks at the bar, were some of the most valuable parts of our Synod in Warsaw. Working as we all do in isolated situations, it is difficult to put into words the importance of this time spent together, once a year.

The Synod ended with a Sunday Eucharist at which Bishop Robert was the celebrant and preacher. For this service, we were joined by the Warsaw Chaplaincy congregation. Immediately afterwards, the Synod members posed for the photograph at the beginning of this post, though a couple of Chaplains are missing from the picture.

I should end this post by expressing my thanks to Rev’d David Brown, the Chaplain in Warsaw, and to his Churchwarden Patrick Acheson, who together did a marvellous job, organising the Synod. Having hosted the Synod in Prague in 2014, I know the amount of work and stress that is involved! Thanks are also due to Archdeacon Colin Williams, for whom it was his first experience of being in overall charge of the Eastern Archdeaconry Synod, having officially come into post at last year’s Synod meeting in Zagreb.

Are Czech Churches welcoming?

Back on the last Sunday of January 2016, we were joined at St. Clement’s for worship by Alex and Kathleen, a Czech-British couple, together with about fifteen of their family and friends. Alex and Kathleen live in the UK and are regular worshippers at their local parish church. But they also maintain a flat in Prague and, whenever they spend time here, they always join us for worship at St. Clements.

Alex was celebrating his ninetieth birthday, hence his family and friends had travelled from various parts of the world, to be in Prague to mark this special occasion. And attending our Church service that morning, was seen as an integral part of the weekend of celebrations.

A few months previously, Kathleen had asked me if they could invite a young Czech soloist called Jan, to sing during the service that morning. Jan is a personal friend of Alex’s and had studied music under our regular organist, Professor Michal Novenko. I assured her that this would be a wonderful addition to our worship and Michal was very pleased to cooperate and accompany Jan from the organ.

Therefore on that Sunday morning, Jan sang three different arias from Handel’s ‘Messiah’ – one after the sermon, before we said the Nicene Creed, and two during the administration of communion. He did so, standing on the balcony at the west end of the Church, where the organ is also located. From that vantage point, he watched and followed all of the service.

During the colder months of the year, following worship, we have Coffee Hour in the hall across the road from the Church in Klimentská 18. It is an opportunity both to share fellowship and to warm up after spending around eighty minutes in a Church with limited heating 😉 That morning, we also all got to share in a special birthday cake that Kathleen had provided.

At Coffee Hour, Jan sought me out in order to speak with me. He firstly thanked me for giving him the opportunity to sing during the service. But he then said to me, ‘ I want to bring a whole series of Roman Catholic priests to your services, to show them how to be warm and welcoming to everyone who comes to worship’. He then went on to say how he appreciated that everyone had a complete Order of Service containing all of our liturgy. How I explained when to stand, when to sit, when to join in, etc. For me, this is what I normally do. To him, it was a revelation!

As always, it is nice to be complimented and appreciated for what I do. But I was also deeply saddened to once more hear of the lack of warmth and welcome experienced by those who have attended Czech Churches, in Jan’s case, Czech Roman Catholic Churches.

Four and a half years ago, I wrote here on this blog, about the conversations I had with Czechs in their twenties, thirties and forties, at the reception following the wedding of Petr and Kristin. That they found the way I led that wedding service both warm and welcoming and in total contrast to their past experience of attending occasional Czech Church services. As I wrote then:

‘It is not the primary purpose of my being here in the Czech Republic, to minister to the spiritual needs of Czech people, but rather to the spiritual needs of native English-speakers. But I increasingly feel that the main reason that the Czech Republic is as atheistic or agnostic as it appears to be, is not because of a deliberate rejection of Christian faith by its population, but rather as a result of the failure of the Czech Christian Churches to be an attractive advert for the Christian faith.’

In recent months, I’ve tried to understand the reasons for this lack of welcome to newcomers or occasional worshippers in Czech Churches. So far, I’ve come up with two possibilities which I will now outline. I would welcome feedback, especially from native Czechs, as to whether I’m correct.

One reason is that it is a hangover from Communism. During the nearly forty-two years of communist rule in Czechoslovakia, those who attended Church worship; those who were Church members, all suffered. They were restricted in the area of employment, often being forced to only do menial tasks. Their children were limited regarding educational opportunities. Therefore Church congregations turned inward, seeking to mutually support each other. They didn’t welcome any outsider who wanted to join them, suspecting such individuals to be informers.

The second reason is not unique to the Czech Republic – I’ve come across it many times in England. It is the attitude that those who decide to come to Church, should already ‘know what to do’. They shouldn’t need any explanation – they should know!

Both of these attitudes have got to change! It is nearly twenty-seven years since the fall of Communism. The outsider is to be welcomed and not feared. And there is now an almost completely un-churched generation who cannot be expected to know what ‘we do in Church’.

Sadly, the answer to my question in the title of this post is that many Czech Churches are not welcoming. If they do want to grow and not die, habits need to change – rapidly!

A view across Dresden

The Frauenkirche from the Augustusbrücke © Ricky Yates

On the evening of Sunday 21^st August, I once again officiated at the monthly English-language Anglican Service of Evening Prayer, hosted by the Frauenkirche, Dresden. But additionally, I was invited to attend a Sommerfest the following evening, being laid on as a ‘Thank you’, to everyone who helps at the Frauenkirche throughout the year, both volunteers and paid staff.

So instead of returning to Prague on the Monday morning as I normally do, I stayed on for a further day and night, in order to enjoy the Sommerfest. This in turn meant that I had several hours during the day on Monday 22^nd August, to occupy myself. As the weather was fine, I decided to climb the Frauenkirche dome, in order to reach the viewing platform, 67.06 metres above ground level, to enjoy spectacular views across Dresden.

This is the view westwards with the River Elbe flowing away to eventually reach the North Sea at Hamburg.

Whilst this is view looking eastwards, with the River Elbe flowing towards the centre of Dresden, having originally risen in the Krkonoše mountains in the far north of the Czech Republic.

In between, is the Augustusbrücke, which links the Altstadt, where the Frauenkirche is situated, with the Neustadt.

This is the Neustadt, which can be seen in greater detail than with the naked eye, courtesy of the zoom function on my camera 🙂 , with the towering spire of the Dreikönigskirche in the centre of the photograph. Hotel Martha, where I stay overnight in Dresden, is just to the left of the Dreikönigskirche.

The view to the south-east © Ricky Yates

The views are not always perfect. South-east from the Altstadt are this series of tower blocks which mainly date from the communist era.

Neumarkt, with construction work continuing © Ricky Yates

And here on one side of Neumarkt, the large square on the southern side of the Frauenkirche, reconstruction work following the devastation of the city in February 1945, is still continuing.

Alles in Ordnung :D © Ricky Yates — Alles in Ordnung 😀 © Ricky Yates

It is fascinating, some of the quirky things you can sometimes see from a vantage point such as this. I loved the way all these bicycles had been dutifully parked in neat rows. Very much, Alles in Ordnung 😀

When either ascending or descending the dome, you also get some amazing views of the Church interior. Here you can right down into the Hauptraum – the main worship space.

In the evening, I caught tram 11 out to Sommerwirtschaft Saloppe, the venue of the Sommerfest. It is an outdoor terrace with seating, and of course, a bar 😀 , situated in an attractive wooded area alongside the Elbe. Here we were treated to ein sommerliches GrillBuffet, together with a variety of drinks. It was wonderful to spend a little more time with some of the Frauenkirche people I already know, as well as to meet new people. It was also inevitably an evening for improving my limited German too 🙂

Frauenkirchenpfarrer Sebastian Feydt welcoming everybody to the Sommerfest © Ricky Yates

My chocolate dessert and appropriate liquid refreshment © Ricky Yates