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It's hardly news to readers of catholica to appreciate that the Church, perhaps Christianity generally at least in the Western world, is in serious trouble. One of our long-time contributors to catholica, Dr John N Collins (who usually writes under his lifelong nickname, herbie, on our forum) recently launched a valuable book that seeks to address the crisis, and in particular the problems of clericalism and our entire understanding of Ministry which is often cited these days as being at the heart of the crisis. This commentary today is by Dr Claire Renkin who heads the Department of Christian Thought and History at the Yarra Theological Union at the University of Divinity in Victoria. It is the address she gave to launch Dr Collins' book and provides a good overview of why this book is valuable and timely. ...Brian Coyne, editor
A Gateway to Renewal in the Church
Address given by Dr Claire Renkin to launch Dr John N Collins' book, Gateway to Renewal
It's a very great pleasure to launch this wonderful book by my friend and colleague Dr John Collins. I have been honoured to serve on the YTU faculty all these years in the company of such a productive and distinguished scholar. Many of us here do not realise how widely German colleagues respect John's work and its ecumenical impact. John is a significant international scholar in our midst.
John has made it his life's work to investigate the institution of diakonia in the earliest church. More recently he has spelled out the implications for ancient diakonia in the church to-day.
Dr Collins book is available in paperback edition from the print-on-demand publisher, Morning Star. It can be ordered online at Morning Star HERE. |
The new book Gateway to Renewal: Reclaiming ministries for women and men compiles nine articles published across the past twenty years. The four-page index lists more than one hundred fifty names of theologians and scholarly authorities. These articles concern issues in the contemporary church such as "Women in Ministry," "Deacons and Diaconate," and "Function of Ministry." His scholarship builds on a mastery of ancient languages, profound knowledge of classical Greek and Latin, acquaintanceship with the Patristic tradition, and fluency concerning theological debates around the meaning of ministry. Happily this book makes all of this expertise available to us, the people of God.
John's fundamental insight is that diakonia in the early church did not mean the performance of humble or merely slave-like service. Until John's ground-breaking study historically, the ministry of the diaconate had been largely interpreted as one where the deacons of the Christian community performed acts of charity among the poor and the marginalized within the Christian community, ministering beyond the confines of church buildings. During the 19th century German Lutherans developed this scripturally authorised role into faith-infused social work financed by the State church. This continues to be the template for the diaconate in both the German Lutheran and Catholic churches.
The nine essays together with John's Introduction and two appendices take the reader on a journey which introduces us to the big questions challenging our churches: As John puts it bluntly "Who does what in the church and how and why?" [p. 5]
The implications for theologies of vocation are profound...
As the book proceeds, these questions take on an urgency and at times pose a thrilling challenge to our imaginations. The implications for theologies of vocation are profound as we learn more and more about the theological and pastoral consequences of John's scholarship. His exploration of Paul's letters reveals how in the context of his letters to early Christian communities, Paul's use of the word diakonia conceived this role as that of "ambassadors in the cause of Christ". The call to be mediators of God's word places the ministers of Christ between the divine and the human: as John sums up "the word he has spoken becomes a word of revelation between the believer and God." [p.156] This kind of ministry demands not sacrifice or intellectual assent or obedience to rules, but rather speaking heart-to-heart in mutual relationship. The implications of this challenge to traditional models of ministry and priesthood are indeed far reaching. Instead of a discourse inherited from Trent and earlier which defines ministry as an exalted priestly caste performing sacrifice on behalf of the people, John reveals how on the contrary the making known of God's love and presence in our lives ought to place relationality at the centre of ministry. [p.155] His pages on relationality as "heart-to-heart" engagement in mutuality re-define diakonia for our era.
Now with the publication of Gateway to Renewal John's meticulous and ground-breaking scholarship will surely find its way into the hands, hearts and minds of so many of us. His book answers our longing for signs of hope in the current crisis engulfing our church communities.
It seems to me, and probably to many of you, that the questions and challenges John poses to us are timely indeed. Our churches and the church which I call home, the Catholic Church, confronts a crisis that many informed commentators believe the institutional church has not confronted since the Reformation. John's contribution addresses this situation head on. Think back over the last fifty plus years, since the closing sessions of Vatican II in 1965; the story of the Church in this period at least in Australia, is now overshadowed by the terrible revelations of sexual abuse and the efforts of the Institution's leaders to cover-up and protect itself. The sin of clericalism is now being discussed in the Australian environment in which his book lands, and amidst this on-going debate John provides us with a most indispensable resource. Of course I think that we as a faith community have a long way to go before we fully confront our own complicity in allowing an unhealthy propping up of pomp and privilege to distort how ministry has been interpreted and practised. John has gone a long way toward meeting the desperate need for good, accessible writing that points a way beyond the current mess.
 After reading John's book cover-to-cover my abiding response is one of gratitude. Firstly for making available to lay people like me a text that takes the reader with him through all the semantic, scriptural, theological and historical twists and turns of a very complex subject. Secondly as a Catholic lay woman, I feel heartened that John's passionate arguments will help to move us beyond Church leaders' determination to ignore, belittle or "manage" a woman's call to participate fully in the life of the church.
The publication of Gateway to Renewal delivers the fruits of many years of thinking, probing and reflection about the meaning of ministry in the early church. John gives us the kind of resource that renews us. For those like me who are not theologically educated John's clear, direct style, and unmistakeably Australian dismissal of pomposity and sloppy thinking make this a compelling read. It is an honour hereby to declare John Collins' book Gateway to Renewal launched.
Claire Renkin. Submitted to Catholica 13 May 2017
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
 Claire Renkin B.A., Dip. Ed., A.Mus.A., M.A. (Art History), Ph.D. is Head of the Department of Christian Thought and History at the Yarra Theological Union at the University of Divinity in Victoria. She has degrees in English, voice, education and art history from such diverse institutions as La Trobe University, University of Melbourne, University of Massachusetts and Rutgers — the State University of New Jersey. Her teaching passion is art history, but in addition to teaching she has curated a museum exhibition of art, and is currently researching the gender imagery of Donatello's statue of Mary Magdalene.
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©2017Claire Renkin
[Index of Commentaries by John N Collins]
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