[Magdalen] Brother headed for ordination

[Roger Stokes]

On 21/11/2017 16:13, ME Michaud wrote:
> It’ll be interesting to see who calls him actually.
> (He was one of those people who went to seminary without going through any
> process,
> and the UCC’s is almost identical to ours.)
> My prayer is that the church that calls him will have done a full
> background check
> :-D
>
> But siblings always know things about each other that no one else knows.
> -M

To me this links in with your earlier comment about having some 
unemployables who claim to be tentmakers. Obviously I do not know your 
brother so I cannot comment on his particular situation but I am 
concerned about people going to seminary without any process. There 
should be some discernment by the Church, in whatever form, as to 
whether or not someone appears to have a vocation to the ordained 
ministry. The sending diocese may not have an appropriate vacancy when 
they finish their studies but it, together with the reports from 
seminary on academic and pastoral performance, gives a measure of 
quality control to reassure a diocese where there may be an appropriate 
vacancy. Absent that the seminary-trained person may set themselves up 
as pastor of an independent church which they lead without any wider 
oversight. That way can lie all sorts of problems with the pastor 
potentially having an over-inflated idea of his own ability to teach 
Christian truth.

Roger