Abstract
David Hoyle’s title comes from the introduction of the Church of England’s 2007 ordination rite. It epitomizes all that follows in this remarkable book which should become a classic. History, theology and narrative combine to weave the pattern of ministry that has developed throughout the two Christian millennia. Hoyle begins with a powerful personal vignette, and happily that personal thread never disappears but equally never over-intrudes. It is partly the richness of the treasury of authors and exemplars that gives the book its challenge and depth. Certainly within the Church of England and, probably in all the mainstream churches, a loss of confidence and accompanying identity crisis have too easily sapped our ministerial energy and resilience over the past century.
Hoyle takes us back and forth from patristic times to the contemporary Church, ransacking the tradition which forms the vertebrae of Christian ministry. The ever-increasing danger of individualism and egocentricity reappears in subtle rondo form throughout the book: the priest too easily inhibits ministry rather than prospers it. Cyprian, Irenaeus, Ignatius of Antioch, Gregory of Nazianzus, John Chrysostom, Clement and Ambrose are among the witnesses called from patristic times. From the modern period, Charles Gore, J. B. Lightfoot, John Keble, Henry Parry Liddon, Michael Ramsey, Wesley Carr, Roland Allen and Robin Greenwood are called to testify. In between, John Fisher and most prominently George Herbert enter the courtroom. Herbert is treated with the respect and admiration he deserves but not uncritically.
Out of this enormous range of witnesses is distilled a rich theological wine which at times is seen as almost dangerously potent and heady even by Hoyle in his account. It offers an aspiration that is certainly daunting. Our contemporary preoccupation with leadership, goals, focus and strategy is seen to obscure and even pervert the key elements that have come to shape Christian ministry. These include character, the clothing of holiness, a life of prayer and worship, a commitment to study, a knowledge and care for one’s people and community: ministry belongs to the Church and the ‘vision of God’ points us away from ourselves and towards God. Michael Ramsey’s key themes of theology, reconciliation, encounter and the Eucharist summarize much of this, as does his reflection that with the crucified Christ, the Church should have its heart broken: ‘We are here as a church [and so as ministers – my gloss] to represent Christ crucified and the compassion of Christ crucified’ (p. 141). Ministry is not about unalloyed success.
This is a book which every ordinand should read either on ordination retreat or just before; it is too sophisticated to recommend to those first discovering a sense of vocation. If there could be any criticism, it might be that a drawing together of threads in the conclusion would focus the argument still more clearly. But it would be churlish to end on a note of criticism with a book that crystallizes Austin Farrer’s classical description of ‘the priest as a walking sacrament’; on reflection, it’s curious that Farrer himself receives no mention.