Here's the introduction:
The nature of power in
pastoral relationships
Introduction
Power exists as both a
personal and structural ingredient of pastoral ministry. It is present in any relationship of trust
where one person seeks advice, aid or guidance from another. Bishop Penny Jamieson (1997: 23) writes:
“There has
always been fascination with power - who has it, how they came about it, how it
can be used or misused, how it can change the course of history and how it can
be challenged. Part of that fascination,
I believe, derives from the potential that power has to hurt.”
Power is a difficult word to
define, and its relationship to authority makes it more difficult to offer a
definition that can separate the two words from one another, particularly in a
pastoral setting. In simple terms we can
start from the basis offered by John Harris (1977: 55), quoting Rollo May, who says power is, “…the ability to affect,
influence and change other persons.”
This is what pastoral encounters seek to do, to stimulate growth and
movement, to heal hurts and to offer aid to people seeking assistance, both in
times of trouble, and times of searching.
There is a dynamic
relationship for those in pastoral positions between the power one has to make
a difference in a person’s life and the authority that allows one to do
that. In the Church there are various
sources of authority - local, structural, global. Authority, in the church is founded in the
pastor’s office, title and/or function, and rooted in the community. These foundations give the minister the
ability to speak on behalf of the church, to offer an opinion that is somehow
‘bigger’, more meaningful than just the pronouncement of an individual
person. These three aspects of ‘office,
title and function’ are also in a dynamic relationship with one another which
will be discussed further in Chapter 3 as we consider the development of the
structures of the church.
Within the structures of the
church there is an authority given to those who have particular pastoral roles
that allows them to make pronouncement, to offer the view of ‘the Church’ to
those who seek their aid. The message
the New Testament gives seems to be that this a necessary and proper part of
the work of those who seek to ‘minister the Gospel’, but alongside this power
is a great responsibility, to act in the best way for those who seek such aid,
to remain within the Christian constants of love, care and concern, and to seek
to make the Gospel real to those who ask for help, meaning that the ‘good news’
of healing, liberation, joy, peace and hope are to be both the methods and the
aims of pastoral contact.
This authority, and the
power it bestows. enables those in emotional, spiritual or sometimes physical
need seek assistance from a pastor with the expectation that she or he will be
able to assist them in their need. This
authority may come from a number of sources but without it the pastor is unable
to connect with the client in such a way that change can be made and the
client’s needs may be met.
The bases for that authority
and the power that is concomitant with it are many and varied, and exist within
a complex web of personal, communal and structural networks.
This study is an attempt to look at the nature of that power, the basis
for such authority and at some aspects of the use and abuse of this power in
pastoral ministry. We will attempt to
unravel some of the strands of the web that makes it possible for a minister to
function in the pastoral encounter, we will examine the grounding of power in
pastoral relationships, and critique the power structures and the exercise of
power by those in pastoral ministry.
This study is primarily
concerned with the Church as a particular community within which pastoral power
is manifested on an everyday level. We
will therefore look at the sources of the authority that is given to pastors in
the Christian Church and how those who are responsible for pastoral ministry as
part of the Church might be aware of their own power and authority. We will consider the appropriate and
inappropriate uses of power and authority and how those who have this power
might bring about meaningful and helpful change in the lives of those who seek
their help.
The aim of this study is
threefold: to explore the foundation of pastoral power and authority in the
Christian setting. To consider the
nature of pastoral power and how it may be used appropriately or abused. To think about issues of accountability,
transparency and other ways in which power might be guarded and made safer in
its use and how this might be a part of the life of the Christian community in
a constructive way. This work is partly
a reflection upon this growing need to understand power relationships in
pastoral matters and partly an attempt to bring out into the open the need to
constantly examine issues of power in modern society.
The material used in this
dissertation is primarily concerned with
being a Christian critique of power and the authority that makes the use of
that power possible. It would, in many
places, I hope be applicable for anyone in a caring position, but it
intentionally focuses on Christian pastoral practice and the strengths and
weaknesses of the church’s pastoral work.
As Stephen Pattison (1993: 7) tells us “…it should be noted that the
historic pastoral care tradition very much revolved around the activities of
recognized church leaders.”
Pattison (1993: 7) goes on
to say that the many care agencies that now exist to promote well being all
offer forms of pastoral care. Of these
agencies the church is a distinctive one in offering pastoral care from a
certain perspective, tied up with ‘elements of healing, sustaining, reconciling
and guiding’ within a Christian understanding of wholeness in the light of
God’s love for humanity.
It must be said that this
study, by its very brevity and nature, cannot examine all aspects of the issues
it raises and in some ways this is a very inadequate document in relation to
the task facing pastoral agencies. This
dissertation does, however, seek to make clear the issues involved regarding
power and pastoral ministry - even if unable to go into the detail of many of
them.
Another area that lies
beyond the scope of this work concerns the correction
of abuses of power. Many of the ideas
discussed here consider how power might be used effectively and appropriately,
and looks at ways in which those in positions of power might be encouraged to
work and act appropriately and responsibly.
To that end we will consider ideas such as transparency, accountability
and openness in the exercise of power.
We do not, however, deal with issues concerning the aftermath of abuse -
physical, sexual, psychological or otherwise.
This would be the concern of another, much greater, study.
Because this has not been
the intention of the work, therefore, some of what is said might not apply to
those situations. Ideas such as
‘appropriate dependence’ and the very issue of the use of power for empowerment
might in themselves further the damage an abused individual might suffer,
especially in the case of child abuse victims - the considerations of this
study are therefore limited to the everyday life of the church as a pastoral
institution in a very general sense, recognising that in certain cases the
issues are of such depth that only professional counselling and assistance can
hope to take the abused individual through their experience to a place of
stability and safety.
It is also important to
mention that at no time do we examine in depth the types of abuse that are
possible in pastoral relationships.
There may be spiritual, emotional or physical abuse which may be
obvious. There are also more subtle
forms of abuse, such as using a client to fulfil the needs of the pastor in
such a way as is detrimental to the client.
There are, in fact, so many shades of abuse that this would constitute a
study in its own right. In this work we
will concentrate on how abuse may come about, with some examples of the results
of abuse, and consider how abusive relationships might be avoided and planned
against.
This study offers us the
opportunity to consider a model of pastoral power that works with the idea of
‘appropriate dependence’ and to look at how the structures of community might
facilitate and encourage this. With this
basis we go on to look at the existence of power in pastoral relationships, the
authority held by leaders in the church and the roots of this power and
authority in pastoral encounters. We will continue by looking at the Biblical
roots of issues of power in a Christian setting, namely in the life of Jesus
and the experience of the Apostolic and Post-Apostolic Church, before moving on
to look at how the concerns brought to us there might lead us on to a modern
critique, and indeed an apologetic, for the appropriate use of pastoral power
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