Identity Quests, Indebted Diversities, and Serving “The Church”: Living the Questions of Ministerial Formation

Abstract

Identity Quests, Indebted Diversities, and Serving “The Church”: Living the Questions of Ministerial Formation C. Melissa Snarr As a Christian social ethicist, I most often begin analysis with a scan of the institutions in a particular social ecology. What's there? In what organizational forms? What are their primary practices? How do they form persons’ and communities’ moral/political/spiritual agency? Whose forming whom? For what end? And how is necessary accountability and resistance also fostered? Yet this essay is not a grand Dan Aleshire‐style piece that maps the landscape of theological education or even theological schools. Rather this is small reflection on the institution in which I have worked for the whole of my post‐doctoral career. I spiral out from Vanderbilt Divinity School (VDS) in this essay because I think some of the key challenges of the changing U.S. religious landscape are embodied at this non‐denominational, historically progressive, university‐related Divinity School where we are very much “between the times.” We may not be the canary in the coalmine, but climate change is certainly challenging our nesting and migration patterns. In what follows, I explore key questions related to this context: the decline of denominational identity, rise of religious nones, increased diversity, vocational expansion, and doctoral training. I conclude by noting what leadership qualities might also be needed “between the times.” The denominational identity quest While VDS has always been denominationally diverse, we have seen a consistent decline of denominational identity in applications to the school over the last ten years. Our admissions’ demographics actually track the overall decline in denominational identity and loyalty in the United States as a whole. Yet surprisingly, our MDiv graduates have a higher rate of denominational affiliation than our matriculants. In other words, our students are more likely to gain (or revive) a denominational identity while they sojourn with us. When we begin to recognize that theology schools are now often places to discern denominational identity, how does/should this change our understanding of formation for congregational ministry? Two of the students in my recent Sr. Seminar are planting churches for the Disciples of Christ (one a progressive rural church, the other in a medium security prison). Yet, they've both have been Disciples of Christ for less than two years. Is that the hopeful future of denominational renewal or is it further concern for the crisis of denominational identity? Simultaneously, some denominations are pulling certifications from theology schools which are not denominational enough. In what ways can we take denominational formations seriously while offering the flexibility for discernment and ecumenical formation that is the reality for growing numbers of persons in the United States? Formation and religious nones Intertwined with the question of denominational loyalty is the rapid rise of religious “nones.” While United Methodists are still the largest percentage of our student population, our next two affiliation categories are non‐denominational and “none.” Religious Nones are the third largest population in our theological classrooms and the fastest growing. Of course, identifying as religious none does not mean persons are unreligious. While indications of religious practice and belief are different, they are not absent but rather reconfigured. But three markers are quite noticeable among the religious nones we teach: (1) Their religious formations are episodic, (2) they are quite wounded by traditional ecclesial structures, and (3) many seek VDS as an alternative church. As I read through applications, I notice how discreet and time‐defined experiences inform these student's religious longings and questions. Immersion in a community for a long period of time rarely stands at the center of their biographies; rather, they are sojourners who move among communities often and have intense turning points. Many of those turning points are also often woundings by ecclesial communities. As a recent application attested, “After this profound rejection in high school, I didn't find God again until my undergraduate religion classes…I want to keep finding that God at VDS.” What kind of formations should theological schools provide these students? What are the risks or even possibilities of trying to be an alternative church? In what ways are we also becoming a therapeutic community? Should we be pressing...