Abstract
It is hard to write about vocation without slipping into the personal confessional model, which risks repulsing as many readers as it captivates, or retreating to a rigidly academic, often arid approach. Richard Burridge has cleverly negotiated his way through this minefield by reflecting on the aspects of Jesus’ ministry found in the four gospels and using his findings to explore vocation and ministry as understood by the Church of England today. Based on his earlier book, Four Gospels, One Jesus?, Burridge examines in detail the understandings of Jesus found in the gospels and the aspects of ministry he believes to be prioritized by each evangelist: teaching, pastoral care, suffering and prayer. He then relates his findings to the selection criteria used by the Church to discern vocations to ordained ministry, applies them to the ordination services, and considers how they can be used and sustained in ministry. Effectively a compilation of four short books focusing on each gospel, the text is completed by five very practical appendices. An analysis of the processes used by the Church to select its future ordained ministers will be invaluable to those preparing for bishops advisory panels (the means by which would-be priests in the Church of England enter training), while the words of the legal oaths and declarations made by ordinands, together with the liturgy of ordination, a list of Bible stories referencing calling and suggestions of other resources will aid individuals examining a vocation.
Although clearly aimed at candidates for Anglican ordained ministry, the book deserves a wider audience. Burridge wears his scholarship lightly, but his knowledge of the New Testament is woven so seamlessly throughout the text that each study of Jesus’ ministry has the potential to reveal new depths of understanding or inspire fresh insights into familiar stories. With a nice line in imagery and the straightforward practicality forged in over 30 years of ordained ministry, Burridge offers sensible advice both to those wondering if they could be called and those questioning how to refresh an existing ministry. The insights gained from long service as a bishops’ adviser allow him to challenge complacent assumptions about Christian vocation (his chapters on Mark’s Gospel and the way of the cross remind readers that ministry is likely to be exhausting and at times overwhelming) while offering helpful suggestions of topics for prayer and reflective practices to underpin the discernment process and help candidates prepare for a panel.
Many of the questions Burridge raises are asked of candidates by those who examine vocations, or of clergy by spiritual directors, and are crucial markers of a mature and disciplined faith. It is enormously helpful to have them set down in the context of wise spirituality and theological acuity. I will be encouraging candidates for ordained ministry to read this book and will also return regularly to it myself.