Given that the authority of the local church is to ‘interpret and administer His laws’ as set out in the Declaration of Principle, any understanding of church governance makes the local church, and not the Baptist Union of Great Britain (BUGB) or the accredited minister, the final arbiter of its theology of ministry. A lot of time has been spent by the BUGB writing about what ordained ministry is.1 Baptist ministers have written extensively on the subject too (see Chapter Four in Garland, An exploration of Baptist ministry [2022]) and ministers have been surveyed on the matter (see Garland, Ministry and you [2019]). But what do local churches actually say about ministry?
A way to sample the theology of the local church on the matter of ministry is to consider what churches are writing about ministry in their Pastoral Vacancy documents that feature on the BUGB’s Pastoral Vacancies List (PVL) document. This list is published and updated at regular intervals by the BUGB and is used by churches with a pastoral vacancy to help find an accredited minister. The list contains a section entitled ‘The Ministry’, which gives some details about the theology of ministry that the particular local church holds. It is from this document that we can learn something about the theologies of ministry that local churches desire.2
The word that relates to a theology of ministry that occurs most frequently in the PVL is ‘Lead’ or ‘Leadership’. In total, these words appear 80 times. At times, this word describes the ecclesiology of the church the minister will be joining (i.e. as part of a leadership team) or it describe the church’s expectation of their minister to be the leader.
There were only 14 out of 61 churches who made no mention of the word(s) ‘lead’ or ‘leadership’ in the PVL. That ministry as Leadership features so prominently, gives a strong indication that accredited ministry and a theology of leadership are rooted in the theology of a majority of local churches. The main difference across these 61 churches is that in some cases the word(s) ‘Lead’ or ‘Leadership’ represented the most prominent theology espoused by the church, whilst in others, a theology of Leadership was being held in tension with other theologies. One example of this is how a theology of Leadership is held alongside a ministry of Word.
The combination of Leadership with Word is indicative of 29 out of 61 of the churches featured in the PVL. While these churches espouse ministry in terms of Leadership, they also explicitly espouse a ministry of Word alongside this. This is evidence of what might be an understanding of ministry in terms of Biblical Eldership.3
Descriptors of a theology of Word are deeply engrained in the PVL document. The words ‘preach’ or ‘preaching’ are used 22 times; ‘teach’ or ‘teaching’ are used 28 times; ‘evangelism’ 12 times; with ‘Word’ itself featuring 11 times. In total there are 73 obvious references to a theology of Word in the PVL, with 41 out 61 churches explicitly espousing a theology of Word for their minister’s desired ministry from within their ministry section. This makes a theology of Word the second most commonly held of the theologies expressed by churches in the PVL.
A third theology of ministry that is prevalent in the PVL is Pastoral. In 16 churches, this is explicitly expressed alongside theologies of Leadership and Word. In 23 churches, this is expressed alongside a theology of Leadership. In 25 churches, this is expressed alongside a theology of Word.
In total, 29 churches out of 61 explicitly referred to the Pastoral theology of the office of minister in the ministry section of the PVL, with the words ‘pastor’ or ‘pastoral’ used a total of 42 times. This is all evidence that a Pastoral theology of ministry features significantly across a large proportion of local churches. In some churches, it is held in tension with one or more theologies of ministry. However, there is evidence that in some churches a Pastoral theology of ministry is the primary theology of ministry espoused.
It is notable how many of the churches are searching for a minister who shows proficiency in multiple areas of ministry from across the theological spectrum. In fact, only 17 out of the 61 churches on the PVL are seeking a type of ministry in terms of either Leadership, Pastoral or Word alone. Of the remaining churches, 21 are searching for a pastor-teacher type (combining Pastoral and Word); 29 are seeking a leader-preacher type (combining Leadership and Word); 21 are looking to appoint a lead-pastor type (combining Leadership and Pastoral). Furthermore, 17 churches are wanting to find someone who can be a pastor-leader-teacher type (combining Pastor, Leadership and Word).
In summary, the PVL demonstrates: First, that an understanding of ministry in terms of a theology of Leadership is prevalent and explicitly expressed by local churches. Second, that a large proportion of churches want a minister who is ready and able to engage in a ministry of Word, whether by teaching and preaching to the church, and / or by engaging the wider community in evangelistic endeavours. Third, that many churches highly prioritise a Pastoral theology of ministry. Fourth, that across the churches who explicitly state one of these three theologies of ministry (Word, Leadership and Pastoral), this theology is often held in tension with at least one other, and sometimes both other theological constructs – most notably Leadership and Word, which is dually expressed by nearly half of the sample.
Furthermore, there is evidence from the PVL that a ministry that combines Word with theologies of Leadership and Pastoral, might capture the essence of the ministry that the local churches are seeking to be characterised in the role of ordained / accredited minister as pastor-teacher and / or leader-preacher.
Nevertheless, there remain three obvious areas of divergence between ministers who took part in the Ministry and you (2019) survey and the local church that require urgent attention, whilst a third area needs careful navigation. First, although ministers highly espouse ministry as Word, this is not reflected in their practice, where it is ranked last of all. This is a significant hurdle to be overcome, as the local church is indicating that a theology of Word should be exercised by its minister, whilst other duties such as meeting the pastoral needs of a congregation may crowd this out.
Second, although ministers operationalise a Pastoral theology with high priority, they do not espouse its importance. In many local churches a Pastoral theological understanding of ministry is espoused, and so this represents a gap in theologies between minister and church that requires attention.
Thirdly, an understanding of theology as Leadership represents a challenge to classical Baptist ecclesiology of congregational governance. It may be worth further consideration and research being conducted about how leadership is exercised by ministers in the local church. For example, there may be those ‘at the front’ types, where sermons and teaching are used to direct a congregation. Or it might be that it is time spent working with others to empower and direct them. One would fit with Word, the other is more Pastoral. However, if a particular theology of Leadership becomes dominant amongst ministers, or is adopted by the BUGB who are increasingly adopting the language of leadership in their ministerial documents (see The Ignite Report and An Introduction to Accredited Ministry), it raises the question of how a healthy tension could be struck to maintain a classical Baptist ecclesiology that represents the minister as no more than first among equals within the priesthood of all believers.4
A key component to the dissemination of the full picture of Baptist theology around ministry to the local church could come from the colleges and the regional associations. Anthony Clarke in Forming Ministers or Training Leaders (2021) has laid much of the groundwork for the colleges to consider again the theologies that underpin ordained / accredited Baptist ministry. Perhaps this will result in this area being given closer consideration by the colleges, their ministerial students and the local churches in the following ways:
- In urging colleges and ministers to reflect on accredited ministry carefully, and to consider the ministry into which they are entering – its biblical precedent, its past, its present and its future.
- Now that regional ministers in their associations are less involved in the official process of settling ministers and churches than they used to be, they can in conversations with both church and minister exercise more freedom to explore the minister’s and the local church’s need to consider theologies of ministry that are not mutually espoused to the same degree and so bridge the gap and provide the ministry that the local churches are indicating a need for.
- For churches to separate clearly the role of the minister from that of the ministry of the whole church, so that realistic expectations of a minister’s function can be expressed and realised within a well-thought-out biblical framework of ministry.
- BUGB Ministry documents: The Baptist Doctrine of the Church (BUGB, 1948); report The Meaning and Practice of Ordination among Baptists (BUGB, 1957); The Doctrine of the Ministry (BUGB, 1961); Ministry Tomorrow (BUGB, 1969); Forms of Ministry Among Baptists: Towards an understanding of Spiritual Leadership (BUGB, 1994); Patterns of Ministry among Baptists: A Review of the Register of Covenanted Persons Accredited for Ministry: A Report of the ‘Review of the Register Working Group’ (BUGB, 2010); A Guide to Pastoral Practice and Ministry (BUGB, 2011); Called to Pastoral Ministry (BUGB, 2014); The Ignite report (BUGB, 2015); Marks of Ministry (BUGB, 2016); Continuing Ministerial Development Handbook (BUGB, 2021). ↩︎
- The PVL I used is from a recent but past list. The churches in this document are from across the associations that make up the BUGB. ↩︎
- Although the title ‘elder’ might not be used by ministers in their particular context, ‘Eldership’ could be used to express the theology behind what constructs Leadership and Word jointly espouse. I am defining ‘Eldership’ as being those ‘who rule… especially those who labour in the preaching and teaching’ (in Elwell’s, Baker’s Evangelical dictionary of biblical theology (1996)). The role of elder can be found in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:6-9. ↩︎
- For example, James McClendon Jr in Doctrine: Systematic Theology Vol. 2 (1994), contributes to this discussion. ↩︎
Gareth Garland has been an accredited minister with the Baptist Union of Great Britain since 2013 at Rickmansworth Baptist Church. He has a PhD in Practical Theology from the University of York St John and studied for a Masters in Applied Theology at the University of Oxford and for a Masters in Religious Studies at the University of Wales, Bangor. Gareth has previously worked as a teacher, and as a missionary in Rwanda. He loves spending time with and going for walks with his wife, four daughters and dog.