Fall 1988 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry

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Q U A R T E R L Y R E V I E W / F A L L 1 9 9 8 S 7 .0 0

To Live or to Die in Battle:Clergy Self-CareGary E. PelusoTravail and Triumph in the"Parsonage Family"Leroy T. HoweTlte Life of the Preacher andKnow ledge of God


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Editorial Board

Ted A. Campbel lWes ley Theo log ica lSeminary

J i m m y C a r rGenera l Boardof Higher Educationand Minis tryThe Uni ted Method is t Church

Rebecca ChoppCandler School ofTheo logyEmory Univers i ty

D u a n e A . Ew e r sGenera l Board o f HigherEducation and Minis tryThe Uni ted Method is t Church

Roger W . I reson . Chai rGenera l Board o f HigherEducat ion and Min is t ryThe Uni ted Method is t Church

Jack A . Keller. Jr .The Uni ted Method is tPub l i sh ing House

Thomas W. Ogle t reeThe Div in i ty Schoo lYale Univers i ty

Harriet t Jane OlsonThe Uni ted Method is tPub l i sh ing House

Russe l l E . R icheyDuke Div in i ty Schoo l

Patricia FarrisDistrict SuperintendentSan Diego UnitedMethod is t Church

Gran t Hag iyaCen tenary Uni tedMethod is t ChurchLos Angeles , CA

John E. HarnishGenera l Board o f Higher Educat ionand Minis tryThe Uni ted Method is t Church

Marjorie Hewit t SuchockiClaremont Schoo l o f Theo logy

Li n d a Th o m a sIHff School of Theology

Trac i Wes tThe Theo log ica l Schoo lDrew Univers i ty

S h a ro n J . H e l s , Ed i t o rS y l v i a S t r e e t , P ro d u c t i o n M a n a g e r

T r a c e y E v a n s , P r o d u c t i o n C o o r d i n a t o r


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Quarterly ReviewA Journal of Theologica l Resources for MinistryVolume 18, Nu mb er 3

A Publication of The United M ethodist P ublishing Houseand the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry


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Quarter ly Review (ISSN 0270-9287) provides cont inuing educat ion resources for scholars .Christian educators, and lay and professional m inisters in The United M ethodist Ch urch and otherchurches. QR intends to be a forum in which theologica l issues of significance to Christian ministrycan be raised and debated.

Editorial dffices: 1001 19th Avenue, South, Box 871, Nashville, TN 37202. Manuscripts shouldbe in English and typed double-spaced, including notes.QR is published four times a year, in March, June, September, and December, by the UnitedMethodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry and The United Methodist Publishing House.

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Q R is printed on acid-free paper.Lection s are taken from Revised Common Lectionary (Nashvi l le : Abingdon Press , 1992) .Scripture quotations unless other wise noted are from the New Revised Standard Version Com mon

Bible, copyrighted 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council ofChurches of Christ in the US , and are used by perm ission.

Quarterly ReviewFall 1998

Copyr ight 1998 by The Uni ted Methodis t Publ ish ing Houseand The Uni ted Methodis t Board of Higher Educa t ion and Minis t ry


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Vol. 18, N o. 3 FA LL 1998

ContentsIntroductionSharon J. Hels 209

ArticlesSome Distinctive Characteristics of Methodist Theological EducationAllen J. Moo re 211To Live and to Die in Battle: A Nineteenth-Century Me taphorand Clergy Self-CareGary E. Peluso 227The Life of the Preacher as a Source of the Know ledge of GodRonald J. Allen 247"Casting Down Our Golden Crowns around the Glassy Sea":Travail and Triumph in the "Parsonage Family"Leroy T. Howe 261"A Strong, Effective Rem edy": Dealing Theologically with Clergy MisconductW. Paul Jones 275On the Spirit of Bondage and Adoption: Toward More WesleyanTheology for the Bishops' Initiative on Children and PovertyPamela D. Couture 287

QR Lectionary StudyWhat, Me Suffer? Women's Suspicions and the Servant Songs:Lectionary Readings for Epiphany, Year AL. Susan Bond 299


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Introduction

Age and Grace

For the past two years, I have been watching my father-in-law, 92,gradually succumb to dementia. It began with significant blockage inhis carotid arteries, which couldn't be fixed because it was too dangerous tooperate. After he had a few strok es, it accelerated. H e needs nursing carearound the clock now, and fortunately he has it. A gentleman to the core, he isendures his infirmities with uncommon grace. But it's not easy for his family,and it may go on for a long tim e.I suppose it was this situation that m ade me pay special attention to anannouncment of a book called Successful Aging by John Row e, M.D. and RobertKahn, Ph.D. (New York; Pantheon Books). Successful Aging is a report based onthe 10-year MacArthur Foundation Study of Aging in America. This studyadvises us to let go of our faulty assumption that the process of getting older isgenetically programm ed and inherently tragic. On the contrary, old age (brokendown by gerontologists into two groups, the "young-old" from 65 to 74 , and the"old-old" who are 75 or older) docs have positive aspects, which can be

reinforced through attention to diet and exercise, productive activity, and strongsocial support systems. The accent falls on actionmoving that body around,doing something useful, and spending time with people we like and respect. Evenchurch, the authors say, is a good thing for older peop le if they are activelyinvolved in its activities, rather than simply identifying themselves as believers.The strong element of choice in the quality of our aging is the best newswe could have. It could be good news for our parents right nowor, if theyare no longer alive, it could be good news for us. Our patterns of life may bewell established, but the "abundant life" of the gospel is not just somethingfor young people. We can all work toward and help each other with it.The key here is a healthy combination of action and reflection. Ouropening article, by Allen M oore, takes us all the way around the world, not as


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accidental tourists but as self-aware United Methodists recognizing andlearning from semina ries. That em phasis on action is echoed in the article onthe Bishops' Initiative on Children and Poverty by Pam Couture, who offers aroad m ap of activities to guide our church es. Next we have a set of articles onreflection. Gary Peluso reminds us that we all operate from a dominantmetaphor that organizes our perceptions and has the power to dictate what wedo. In the nineteenth century, one potent metaphor was the "soldier forChrist" adopted by many circuit riders. These preachers understood that theyhad better protect their own souls, to go ou t and save others from Satan.Nowadays, writes Peluso, that image no longer works for us. We need toconsider how not only our souls but ourselves can be protected for livelong,effective ministry.

Peluso sets the tone for Ron A llen's challenging discussion on how a pastormight go about searching her or his experience for traces of transcendence. Byputting our own experiences right in the center of our theological understanding(checked by the o ther criteria of good theologyscripture, tradition, and reason)we prevent ourselves from being an exception to all that we preach to others. Infact we may find new ways to express the spiritual journey of the entirecommunity. Next, we might extend our insights to our family situations, as LeroyHowe suggests. Projection, triangulation, and anxiety are familiar terms to manyof us . But it is hard work to apply them to ourselves, and because of this many ofus miss out on the rewards of a reflective life lived out in a parish setting. Finally,we have a lesson in the repair of a deeply troubled ministrythat is, when thereare valid accusations of serious misconduct. With characteristic warmth andtheological vigor, Paul Jones reminds us mat the church offers resources forreconciliation that have deep roots in our historical practice. We round out ourcycle on reflection with a fine analysis of Isaiah from a feminist perspective,asking a most troubling question: what do w e make of suffering, whether ourown or that of others? Susan Bond lets us consider this up-to-the-minute issue inthe context of some of our most beloved texts.

A long time ago in one of Doris Less ing's novels I read a good definitionof a friend: som eone w ho tells you who you are, especially if you forget. Sohere's to those who remind us who we are and those who ask us to rememberfor them like Arthur Reed , my dear father-in-law, w ho has forgotten somuch, but to whom the words of Tennyson's poem "Ulysses" still apply: , .Though much is taken, much abides; and though/We are not now that strengthwhich in the old days/Moved heaven and earth, that which we are, wearc/One equal temper of heroic hearts/Made weak by time and fate, but strongin will/To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."

Sharon Hels


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Allen J. Moore

Som e Distinctive Characteristics ofMethodist Theological EducationV V beginning of winter in the lower Pacif ic. The weather was cold

and wet , but we were greeted warmly b y Frank H ansen , the pr incipalof the Methodis t seminary in New Zealand , Tr inity Theo logicalCollege. Trinity is part of a larger campus that includes St. John'sCollege, an Anglican theological school , and Te Roa , a theologicalcol lege for the Mao r i , the indigenous peop le of New Zealand . T hesethree seminaries share a curr iculum, faculty, and administration. Asour acquaintance with Trinity grew, we learned more about theircommon l i fe ; weekly worship was conducted in the Maor i languageand tradition (all s tudents are expected t6 learn this language as a partof their theological education); a weekly luncheon enabled all s tudentsand faculty to share a pastoral concern and Wesley-styleaccountability for one another; and small groups met regularly forprayer and Bible study and to share a common life of service. Therewas a familiar pattern herewith its ecumenical spir it , i ts outreach tonative people, and its emphasis on piety and the practices of ministry,Trinity Theological College ref lected a distinct ethos of Methodism.Although we were on the other side of the world from North America,we felt r ight at home.A l l e n M o o re i s P ro fe s s o r a n d D e a n Em e r i t u s o f C l a r e m o n t S c h o o l o f Th e o l o g y ,C l a r e m o n t , C a l i fo rn i a .

e arr ived in Auckland, New Zealand, in early June, the


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Could this strong sense of kinship between ourselves and the NewZealand M ethodists derive from the influence of our com mo n theologicalancestor, Joh n W esley? And if so, wh at aspects of his ministry arerespon sible? We will try to understan d w hat sort of stamp W esley put oneducation and how this has been expressed particularly in the ethos oftheological educa tion, both historically and in mor e recent times. We willrely on published historical sources as well as on the field notes w egathered in a visit in 1993-1994 to Methodist theological colleges orschools in several countries and cultural contexts. Som e attention willalso be given to schools within the North A me rican and British context.

W e s l e y a s P r a c t i ca l T h e o l o g i a nWe bring to this s tudy a practical theological perspective as i t hascome to be understood and practiced in our t ime. Practical theologianstoday seek to art iculate the theology that s tand s either in front of orbehind an event . 1 As David Tracy has suggested, every event growsout of a theory or theological assumption that may or may not havebeen ar t icula ted . 2 On th e other han d, reflection on the events candisclose a theory or a theology.

This practical approach will help us to understand the dis tinctivecharacteris t ics of Methodist theological education. To do this , we mustbegin with Wesley himself. As Madd ox h as argued, Wes ley was not atypical theologian even for his t ime, and he certainly cannot beunderstood as a practical theologian in the same genre as thedisc ipl ine is unders tood today. Wes ley ' s theology w as formed byevents and exper imenta l prac t ices ; he was ne i ther sys temat ic norconsis tent in his theological formulations. Rather than producing adogm at ic sys tem, Wes ley was eager to support a movem ent and leadpersons to an exper ience of God ' s saving grace . 3We should orient ourselves to Wesley's theory and practice ofeducation in a s imilar fashion. John Wesley's theology andeducational theory were explicit in what he said. But a theology wasalso implicit in wh at he did, that is , his education al practice s .Furthe rmo re , the two were not a lways cons is tent . For example , onemight conclude from Wesley's writ ings on education that he wasextremely harsh, especially in his att i tudes toward children. But inprac t ice Wes ley was very compass ionate toward his young er learners .


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Despite the limitations of his educational psychology, he initiatededucational reforms that were far ahead of his time.

4

W e s l e y a s E d u c a t o r a n d R e f o r m e rPoss ibly no one in e ighteenth-century England contr ibuted more to thereform of popular education than John Wesley. He was especiallysens i tive to the pl ight of the poor and disadvantag ed children andyouth who had lit t le hope for a worthwhile life and few opportunitiesfor education, as well as adults who had lit t le awareness of their ownhum anity. His effort to prom ote educat ion am ong these people hasbeen wel l documented . 5 In 1978 the City of London Museumdeveloped a special exhibi t on educat ion featur ing John W esley as theleading educat ional reformer in the e ighteenth century. Th e exh ibi thighlighted Wesley's contr ibution to the establishment of state-fundededucat ion for the chi ldren of com mo n peop le who could not affordpublic (private) schools and for children who did not have sponsors tosuppor t their a t tendance at the char i ty sc hoo ls . 6

While Wesley accepted the common eighteenth-century view of thepervasiveness of original sin and the psychology that advocated"breakin g the wil l" of the chi ld, he a lso maintained that a ll persons areof equal worth before God. Education, he believed, is a means ofgrace by which God enables people to grow in awareness andrecept ivi ty to God's love. Under Wesley ' s leadership, the Methodis tsfounded more Sun day sch ools than any other re l igious body inEngland. In founding Kingswood School , Wesley also sought toestablish a school specif ically for the children of miners and ofpas tors . Although Kingswood did not a lways serve poor chi ldren asor iginal ly intended, i t did beco me a mo del for other Chr is tian schoolsthat accepted all children, regardless of class and economic ability. Alltold, Br i t ish Methodism has founded more than 900 precol legiateschools ; Nor th and South Amer ican Methodism has es tabl ished morethan 1,000. Despite Wesley ' s ideals , open enrol lment was not a lwaysthe case and certainly is not the case today. 7

Just as important as Wesley's schools was his contr ibution topublishing and literacy. He believed that the ability to read and writewere essent ia l to a person 's sense of wor th and accomplishment; thus ,it , too, contr ibuted to his or her growth in grace. Wesley established asystem of publishing so that his followers could have books to


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stimulate their minds and spir its , and he urged his pastors to distr ibutethem f ree of charg e. 8 Sherwin writes about the impact that Wesley hadwith his book and tract ministry: "The desire of Methodists to readtheir Bibles and to improve their minds led to a restless search forknowledge and a profound reluctance to remain ignorant ." 9

Wesley ' s educat ional pract ices became a model adapted byM ethodis ts as they spread to other countr ies around the wor ld.M ethodis ts in a lmost a ll branche s of the Wesleyan movem ent haveregarded the es tabl ishment of schoolsprimary and high schools ,vocational schools, colleges and universities, and theologicalcol leges as opp or tuni t ies not only to prom ote learning but a lso tospread the good new s of God 's grace. In a lmost every country (morethan 63 dis t inct Metho dis t com mu nion s in mo re than 104 countr ies ofthe wor ld) , the M ethodis t im pact on the educat ional sy s tem has beensignif icant . In many ins tances , M ethod is ts have provided the onlyeducat ional oppor tuni t ies avai lable for the common people , includingthe poor and ill i terate, based on Wesley's key insight that in God'seyes the disadvantaged are "precious ," and their "souls wor thy ofsalvation."

Several contem porary ex amples of the impor tance of educat ion tothe Methodist movements are seen in the new Africa University inZimbabwe; the Methodis t College in Meru, Kenya, founded by theMethodis t Church of Kenya; a theological col lege forFrench-speaking s tudents in Lausanne, Switzer land; and thepar t ic ipat ion of S lovakian United Me thodis ts in a coope rat ivetheological col lege to educate the large numb er of persons wanting tobe pastors in Slovakia. These examples il lustrate 1) how deeplyeducation is rooted in the evangelical spir it of Methodism and 2) thebelief that education needs to be widely available to all people. ForM ethod ism, educat ion is a me ans of grace by which Go d's spir itgrows within pe rsons . For Wesley, and for Meth odis ts in general , the"develop ment of the mind w as cri t ical to fa i th ," 1 0 Here we arereminded of Char les Wesley ' s famous words that "knowledge andvita l pie ty" are uni ted and should never be s epa rated . 1 1

The f ir st Me thodis t theological school in Nor th A me r ica wasfounded in 1839 by John D emp ster a t the urging of lay people whowanted their pas tors to be bet ter t ra ined than them sel ve s . 1 2 L a yMe thodis ts advo cated that their pas tors be well schooled in theologyand Bible, as well as in the practical ar ts of ministry. This is verymuch within the spir it of Wesley, who insisted that his pastors be


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deeply called of the Spir it , make the best possible use of their t ime,and spend at least five hours per day in diligent reading and study inorder to be good preachers and teachers of the people . 1 3

M e t h o d i s t T h e o l o g i c a l E d u c a t i o nOne of the earliest means of minister ial or theological educationwithin the M ethodis t t radi t ion was the study of W esley ' s p ubl ishedsermon s , which Wesley des igned especial ly for " the nur ture andtheological educat ion of those within Methodis t societ ies ." 1 4 AlthoughWesley had a great concern for the training of pastors, he did not limittheological education to pastors; i t was part of the discipline requiredof al l M ethodis ts , including lay m emb ers , This inclus ive view oftheological educat ion remains a t radi t ion in most Methodis ttheological col leges and schools today. Wesley encouraged widereading by members of the societ ies by personal ly abr idging manyboo ks , including the c lass ics . I t was a lso poss ible to pursue on e ' straining for ministry without formal attendance at a school. A traditionof home-based study emerged in Wesley's t ime and is stil l asignif icant part of theological education in some places today. Oneexample is the Wellspr ing program in the Methodis t Church of NewZealand. I t includes home-based s tudy combined with courses andretreats for lay persons and lay professionals, as well as continuingeducat ion for pas tors . 1 5 Home study is also a signif icant part of theCourse of Study for persons in North America who serve as local orlay pastors.

Maddox and others have observed that the Annual Conferencemeeting was, historically, not an administrative meeting but aneducational event. In the early days, the sessions of the conferencewere more similar to a "catechetical school," with Wesley (and laterAsbury and Coke) as the teacher . 1 6 The Annual Conference as astrategy session emerged much later in British and United Stateshistory. Because of the nature of this meeting, lay persons were notadmitted to the Annual Conference until 1872, and this was a verycontroversal decision. In other churches, such as Tonga, the earlierWesleyan s tyle of the educat ional Annual Conference has beenpreserved.

In 1756, Wesley wrote what Bishop Herbert Welch called a"treat ise" on minis ter ia l educat ion. 1 7 In "An Address to Clergy,"


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Wesley outlined the knowledge that an effective pastor needed. I t ispossibly his earliest vision of theological education. He f irst placed anemphasis on what he cal led "com mo n se nse" and pract ical ski l ls . Thisinvolved a variety of skills and talents which today we would call the"arts of ministry," i .e. , minister ial ethics and practical theology.Wesley ' s concern was with good manners and sound judgment .(Ironically, during Wesley's ministry in Georgia, he seemed toexercise nei ther good man ners no r sound judg me nt , and he was forcedto leave or face a civil suit.)

He also encouraged "classical learning" for Methodist preachers ofal l backgrou nds . The ordinary parson in the Church of England had anextremely limited theological education and was trained primarily toread the liturgy and to conduct the services required for life events,such as, baptism , marriag e, and burial. The situation was no differentin the free church movements (e.g. , pastors in the Baptist churches) ,where the emp hasis was placed on the Sunday sermon and pas toralvisitation. The standards Wesley set for his pastors greatly exceededthose of the clergy of other religiou s gro up s. In his treatise, Wesleyinsisted upon a knowledge of the scriptures, including the originallanguages of the Bible; church and w or ld his tory; logic , includingmetaphy sics ; know ledge of science; and an awareness and pract ice ofspir i tual discipl ines . 1 8 In addition, he encouraged the study ofsociology or what he called "knowledge of the world."Wesley's view of theological education was largely shaped by hisown experience. To his mother he gave the credit for instil l ing in hima love for learning and a desire to know. His own education at Oxfordwas classical in the best sense, although he had a lot to learn abouthuman relationships and pastoral concern for others. Wesley knew hehad received the best education to be had in England in his day, and henever hesitated to give advice or to counsel persons based upon hisknowledge. Wesley read widely and did not restr ict himself torel igious l i tera ture . 1 9 But the religious writings he did read included abroad, ecumenical range of thinkers , including Roman Cathol ic ,Greek Or thodox, and Pur i tan scholars .

We shall return later to this "cath olic spir it ," but i t does dem onstra tewhy M ethodis ts have usual ly not been know n for their nar rowness .Rather than being doctr inaire or ideological, Wesley and his followerscan be characterized by their ecumenical spir it and efforts atreconciliation. In fact, Methodists have often been better known fortheir or thopraxy than for their or thod oxy . 2 0 One hallmark of their


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or thopraxy has been the pract ice of ecumenical educat ion. From theirear l ies t work in higher educat ion and theological t ra ining, Methodis tshave sought a c l imate of learning w hich was non sectar ian andcatho lic, or universal, in spir it . Fo r ex am ple , the f irst college foundedby Amer ican Methodis ts enrol led s tudents and employed facul tyregardless of religious aff iliation. 21

Wesley ' s commitment to a l ea rned minis t ry , combined wi th thelimited opportunities for minister ial education in the eighteenthcentury, led to the founding of schools or colleges to promote learningand growth in faith for all followers within the Methodist movement.Many of these students later became lay pastors and circuit r iders.Home s tudy was a lso encouraged for Methodis t pas tors and preachers .Very early, Wesley established a f if ty-volume collection in practicaldivinity for his preachers ( the forerunner of the Course of Study forlocal pas tors) , and before 1756, he es tabl ished the Boo k Ro om(forerunner of the M ethodis t P ublishing H ouse) for the publ ishing anddis tr ibut ion of books and t racts . 2 2

Because of W esley's belief that everyone should have an opportunityto experience their hum an wo rth and Go d's grace, Methodists hav ealways understood that education was one of the most effective ways ofbringing persons to Christ and of undergirding the Methodist mov emen ts.Edu cation w as essential for affirming the dignity of every person andleading people to awareness of their vocation in service to hu man kindand society. 23 In my judgment, many of these beliefs, values, andeducational practices of Wesley and the early M ethodists have continuedwithin the ethos of the Methodist churches and in the theological schoolsand colleges in a variety of national and cultural contexts.

F i e l d S t u d i e s : C o n t e m p o r a r y M e t h o d i s t T h e o l o g i c a l S c h o o l sIn the 1994-95 academic year , I traveled with my family around theworld, visiting theological schools and colleges for the purpose ofprepar ing a s tudy on comparat ive theolog ical educat ion . With the useof f ield notes, videotapes, publications of the institutions, and libraryreseach, we have formed some conclus ions and general izat ions , 2 4 T h epurpose of my study was to identify similarities and differences inMe thodis t theological educa t ion, to note s igns of a shared etho s , andto consider whether such ethos can be called distinctively Wesleyan.Our t r ip took us f rom Los Angeles to the United Kingdom, France,


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Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, New Zea land, Tonga, and back to LosAng eles, with a stop in Haw aii. We also gave attention to the ecum enicaltheological colleges in England, Scotland, and parts of Eastern Europe,particularly attending to the work of the United Methodist Church inSlovakia and the educational needs in that part of Eastern Europe. Thetheological education needs of pastors serving Polynesian churches andcongregations were also noted. A mo re in-depth study was made oftheological schools located in Malaysia, Australia, and New Zealand andthe churches located in Tonga and Hawaii. In most places, we visitedsites and interviewed religious leaders in addition to reading.

We do not claim to have conclusive f indings. Further research isneeded by and with people in those diverse contexts. Our research wasqualitative in approach, and we sought to look at practices anddescr iptive mater ia l in addi t ion to his tor ical and academic docu men ts .We relied heavily on interviews and consultations with church leaders,faculty and students, and ecumenical leaders. We attended andobserved classes , com mu nal even ts in the schools , wo rship, externalprograms outside the formal school setting, and so forth. From thispar t ic ipant-observation s tudy, we have ma de som e broadgeneralizations that are applicable to most of the schools we visited.

Demographically, almost all of the schools report a shif t in studentenrollment or census. At the time of our visit , the average age ofseminary students was higher than it was a decade before, and manystudents were beginning a second career . Many had been active laypersons in churches for some time before responding to the call toordained ministry. In addition, the schools report an increase in thenumber of women enter ing minis try. 2 3 Most schools are also involvedin a larger role of educating the whole people for service in the churchand the world. This means that a growing number of lay people areenrolled in theological college solely for the purpose of becomingtheologically t ra ined, without any plan to beco me o rdained. Theybelieve that theolog ical training will help them serve more effectivelyas volunteers in churches or as providers of social and civil services. 2 6

C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s , T h e m e s , a n d E t h o sWe now turn to identify some distinctive elements and themes that arecharacteristic of Methodist theological colleges and schools within thewor ld community.


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I. Methodists are generally tolerant of diverse theological andsocial views and are ecumenical both in spirit and in practice. A s w enoted abov e, Me thodis ts have not formed a creedal or con fess ionalchurch in the sense of requir ing adherence to a particular creed or setof doctr ines. They have not been narrowly sectarian and haveintent ional ly recrui ted and appointed non-Methodis ts to theirtheological faculties. These qualities are evident in the schools westudied, as well as in their active cooperation with otherdenominational schools in offering minister ial education. This spir itwas especial ly s t rong with Anglicans and Roman Cathol ics . TheMethodis t Theological School in Kuala Lumpur , Malays ia , is broadlyecumenical in the selection of its faculty and in its cooperation withother Chr is t ian groups .

His tory demonstrates that Methodis ts have of ten wavered betweenbeing a church and being a sect . In the ecumen ical m ovem ent , theyhave served as a br idge between the "cath ol ic" branch of Chr is t iani tyand the "f ree-church" movement . Wesley never encouraged ideologyor doctr ine to e l iminate people f rom the Methodis t movements , andthis e thos has t ransferred into theological ed ucat ion . The "cathol icspir it" that Wesley writes about has influenced the spir it of theseschools . This universal spiri t which has spread with M etho dismaround the world can be illustrated by the following words from thegraduation service of one of the theological schools in North America:

We are God's PeopleAll kinds and conditionsMany races, many creedsGathered todayIn one spirit and joy. 21

Scholars debate the intent and implicat ions of Wesley ' s famoussermon on "The Cathol ic Spir i t ." 2 3 Most people interpret the contentto f it their assumptions and biases, although he clearly advocates a"universal love" and clearly states his own concern that the beliefs ofothers should be tolerated. He acknowledges that beliefs to a largeextent are the product of one ' s bi r th . 2 9 He wri tes , "Every wise man[sic], therefore, will allow others the same liberty of thinking, whichhe desires they should allow him; and will no more insist on theiremb racing his opinions , than he would th em to ins ist on his em bracingthe i r s . " 3 0


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In the United States, religious historian Conrad Cherry suggests inhis recent study of university divinity schools that the Methodisttheological schools have always shown a high tolerance for diversityand theological pluralism and have been successful in providing aminister ial education that was "directed simultaneously todenominational specif icity and Christian catholicity." 3 1 The Nor thAm er ican scho ols have tended to employ facul ty regardless ofdenominational aff iliation, and two or three schools have alsoincluded Jewish and Buddhist scholars on their faculty. 3 2

Almost every school we visited is currently engaged in developingan ecumenical base for theological education. In Slovakia, thesuperintendent/pastor in Bratislava drives weekly 175 miles each wayto teach and support United Methodist s tudents who are enrolled in atheological college composed of Reformed, Pentecostal, and severalother Chr is tian groups . In Sabah, M alays ia , the Sabah TheologicalSchool (near Kota Kinabalu in the Malaysian state of Sabah) wasfounded by the Basel Christian Mission, and it enjoys a relationshipwith the Luth eran Fed eration as well as a strong M etho dist aff iliation.Th e UM C Board of Glob al Ministry not only provide s f inancialsupport but also provides and funds a full- time United Methodistfaculty member. This institution is seen by many persons weinterviewed as a pion eering sch ool and one with signif icant influencein Southeas t Asia . Although Chinese-spe aking s tudents are enrol led(Malays ia ' s m ajori ty group am ong the Chr is t ians) , 60 percent of thestudents come from tr ibal lands and will return to their people aspastors with indigenous people. Instruction is offered both in Chineseand Bahasa M alays ian languages , and this is the only theologicalins ti tution in M alays ia w here teaching takes place in the com monBahasan language of the country.

Anothe r example of an ecumen ical and cul turally inclusiveapproach to theological educat ion is in New Zealan d, where Anglicansand Methodis ts now share a com mo n cam pus, a unif ied cur r iculumand faculty, and a shared Maori program in theological education. 3 3This cooperative relationship has been developed over a period ofyears and builds an ecumenical spir it in a country where churchesonce were more competitive, sometimes even bitter , in theirdenominat ional re la t ionships .2 . Methodists have always given attention to practicalconcernsfield education, arts or practice of ministry, and socialaction. In one of his tracts , Wesley gives advice to ministers about


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preaching that shows as much concern with voice, dict ion, anddelivery in preaching as with content and the study of history,theology, and philosophy. Methodists have tradit ionally been asdedicated to the deed as the word. Such is also the case in theologicaleducation. In Cherry's study of divinity schools in the United States,he found tha t M ethodis t schools had led the way in de velopingprograms in practical ministries, such as urban sociology (including"theological cl inics") , and in field work in rural ministry. 3 4

The concern for the practical needs of people and their socialwelfare is also deeply embedded in Methodist history, and JohnWesley himself set examples by his work on behalf of the poor, hisdirect and indirect efforts for reforms in education and prisons, andthe frui ts of his and others ' work among miners and laborers, thuscult ivating the ground for the labor movement in Bri tain. Further, theMethodists in both Bri tain and the United States were leaders in thenine teenth-century Socia l Gospel movement . The Centra l Missionsestabl i shed by Bri t i sh Methodism and the leadership by AmericanM ethodism in establ i shing educat ional oppor tuni t ies for e thnicminor i t ies a re only two ex amp les .

Almost without exception, the schools we visi ted placed strongemphasis on social mission and the practice of ministry. Methodistschools and colleges have general ly led the way in developingprograms to serve the human needs of people and in developing acurriculum that at tends seriously and creatively to the arts of ministryand the practice of preaching, worship, Christ ian Education,counsel ing, and church adminis t ra t ion. The emph asis upon prac t ica ldivinity can be i l lustrated by a special program for students at SabahTheological School. Among the faculty is a professor whose expert iseis agriculture. The school has a farm where students learn the scienceand skil ls of good farming. They also learn "handicrafts," especial lyhow to m ake essent ia ls out of s imple resources . We were to ld tha tmost students wil l return to the vi l lages where they and their peoplewill have l imited resources. I t is important for the students to beself-support ing because the congregations wil l be able to pay only al i t t le toward the support of their pastors. Also part of the pastor 's roleis to help parishioners with farming methods in order for the vi l lage tosurvive .

3. Methodists have always had high regard for the place of theBible and the role of scripture in theological education: Scholars andchurch leaders continue to debate what John Wesley and the Wesleyan


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churches have real ly intended by speaking of scr ipture as having apr imary role in theolog ical though t , and they have sought tounders tand and ar t iculate how the quadr i la teral funct ions to s t irinteraction and br ing ba lance am ong the sources of theological t ruth(scr ipture , reason, t radi t ion, and exper ience) . 3 5 What is impor tant tonote, however, is that for Wesley, the Bible was an important sourcefor both his preaching and teaching. This seems to be true also formu ch of the theological ed ucat ion in the Wesleyan t radi tion.M ethod is ts bel ieve that scr ipture holds a central place in the edu cat ionof pas tors and other m inis ters . In most schoo ls , Greek and Hebrew aretaught as important tools for pastors in the study of the Bible. Wesleywas a s tudent of these bibl ical language s , and he encourag ed andexpected his pas tors to have "a knowledge of the or iginal tongues ." 3 6

In almost all of the schools we visited, the Bible was central to thetheological cur r iculum. In most of the schools , Greek and Hebrewwere taught as a requirement in the school . Especial ly in co untr ieswhe re the schools w ere re la ted to a develo ping church or a miss ions i tuat ion and where Protes tant Chr is t ians were a minor i ty group,s tudents had a s t rong sense of what Wesley m eant wh en he cal led hispastors "to spread scriptural holiness over the land." A pastor isexpected to have a good knowledge of the scr iptures and to beeducated in bibl ical preaching and teaching.

In our mee t ing with faculty a t the Semin ar i Theoloj i M alays ia(Methodis t Seminary in Kuala Lumpur , Malays ia) and with the bishopand other church an d conference leaders , we learned that in a M usl imstate (with an Islamic majority) , Bible study is not an option; it is anessential if Methodist Christians are to form a Christian identity and ifpersons are to find a vocat ion in Chr is t ian leadership and m inis try . 3 7Similar needs seem to exis t in other areas , including the Me thodis ts ta te of Tonga, where Methodism is the dominant church. The Bible isc lear ly unders tood and appreciated as the church ' s book. The B ible ismore than a book for intellectual study; it is used by faculty andstudents in schools around the world for spir itual enrichment andformation.

4 . Methodist theological schools and colleges also serve to p romotea distinctively active Christian piety w hich is characteristic of theMethodist movement around the world. John Wesley highl ighted thisemp hasis on piety in his t ract cal led "A Plain Accoun t of the Peop leca l led Methodis t s . " 3 8 He stated that orthodoxy, or r ight belief, is asmall par t of being re l igiou s . Do ing g ood, l iving in grace, and


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practicing acts of devotion and chari ty are ways of describing themarks of a Methodist . Most important is to experience just if icat ionand to learn to l ive a "holy and happy" l ife . 3 9 Wesley himselfdiscovered that knowledge alone and orthodoxy in belief were notsufficient for just if icat ion. F or him, a "he art-w arm ing" exp erience atAldersgate w as the turning po int .

Methodis ts have a lways placed as much emphasis on deed as onword. This is why Wesley formed classes and societ ies where personscould serve in mutual benefi t to one another and where persons couldbe accountable to one another for a l i fe of personal goodness andservice. In our study, even the ecumenical schools ( i .e . , Sabah,Nungalinya in Darwin, Austral ia , United Theological Faculty inM elbourne , and St . John 's /Te Roa/Tr ini ty) have preserved theM ethodis t emph ases on pie ty and the doing of good w orks. In thesescho ols, spiri tual formation, com mu nity w orsh ip, and a com m on l ifewere expectat ions, not options, for students and faculty. In NorthAmerica, and possibly in the United Kingdom, the formation of pietyseems more optional , or at least more mechanical , less forthright , anda less visible priority. At least in the West, the attention to piety issomewhat compromised by modern demands of l i fe and the loca t ionof theological education in relat ion to needs in the church and i tsmission. Many s tudents com mu te , for example , and many divide the irt ime among their families, churches, and theological studies, f indingli t t le t ime or encouragement to practice piety with intentionali ty.Similarly, the practice of piety is not necessari ly common in students 'families ei ther; we can no longer assume, for example, that a husbandand wife have a sense of shared call ing or a common understanding ofreligious life.

In Sabah we part icipated in family groupings (a faculty member,s tudents , and fami ly me mb ers) . These groupings w ere centers forrecreation, study, worship, and devotional l i fe . At Sabah, the studentsalso met morning and evening for Bible study and prayer. In othergroupings, students prepared the meals for the entire school, takingturns in gathering and preparing the food, serving the meals, andcleaning the dishes. At Nungalinya, families worshipped in chapelservices and shared in spiri tual formation groups. The school alsoprovided vocational t raining for the spouses. In Melbourne, studentsand faculty met every Friday afternoon to eat sack lunches, to shareand lift up concerns and highlights in their lives, and to participate in aservice of Eucharist . What we might learn here is that piety is learned


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not in isolation but in a religious community in which life is rooted inintentionality and discipline. Both of these are traits rooted in theWesleyan her i tage .

C o n c l u s i o nWh ile all the theological colleges and schools have claimed the traditionand heritage of John Wesley, they have all done so in their own uniqueway. Although located in different countries and cultural settings, theyunderstand th emselv es as Method ists and as standing in the rich traditionof Wesley. M ethodists have always p laced an empha sis upon scripture(within the context of other sources of theology ), upon the doing oftheology versus reliance upon rigid and sterile doctrines, and upon thedeed (competent acts of ministry, acts of charity, and a life of piety) . Inthis sense Wesley w as a practical theologian w ho himself learned fromthe changing situations and from the needs of his societies. Th edistinctive ethos of Meth odist theological education is groun ded in w hathas come to be called practical divinity.

N o t e s

1. Th is dist inction was ma de by Rando lph C rum p Miller in a lecture a t theCla remont School of Theolog y, 1976; see a lso Theory of Christian EducationPractice (B irmingham: Re l ig ious Educa t ion P ress , 1980) , 157; and The Clue toChristian Education (New York: Sc r ibne r ' s , 1955) , Iff.

2 . David Tracy, The Analogical Imagination (New York: Crossroads , 1981) , 69-82 .3 . S e e R a n d y L . Ma d d o x , John Wesley-Practical Theologian. Unpubl ished paper ,

n.d. ; Alber t Outler prefers the term "folk theologian" to character ize Wesley'stheology. See Outler , ed. , John Wesley (New York: Oxford, 1964) , vii .4 . Meth odism 's reform of popular education in e ighteenth-century Eng land is descr ibedby Maldwyn Edwards in John W esley and Eighteenth-Century England: A Study of his

Social and Political Influence (London: G. Allen & Unwin 1933) , 140-143.5. Manfred Marquard t , John Wesley's Social Ethics (Nashvi l le : Abingdon, 1992) ,4 9 - 6 6 ; Oscar Sherwin , John Wesley: Friend of the People (New York: Tway ne , 1961) ,141 -146 ; V. H. H. Green , John Wesley (London: Thomas Ne lson , 1964) . Green wr i te s

tha t no o ther pe r son in England o the r than Wesley "gave such encouragem ent topopula r educa t ion , " 155 .6. We sley's reforms in educa tion we re mo tivated both by a re ligious concern for

souls and by a human i ta r ian concern for the d isadvantaged . The M ethodis t in f luenceon the reform bil l of 1870 led to universal education. See Marquardt, Social Ethics, 5 1 .


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7. Education: The Gift of Hope (Nashvi l le ; Genera l Board of Higher Educa t ion andMinis t ry , The Uni ted Methodis t Church , 1966) , 66 .

8 . On e of the bes t and most -de ta i led accoun ts of We sley ' s publ ish ing wo rk i s foundin Sherwin , Wesley: Friend of the People, 1 4 5 - 1 4 6 .9. Ibid, 145.

10 . Education: the Gift of Hope, 10.11. This expression is of ten a ttr ibuted to John Wesley, but Charles Wesley actuallyauthored the words in a 1748 hym n for the openin g of Kingsw ood Schoo l . Th e hym nreads, "Unite the pair so long disjoined, knowledge and vita l pie ty."12. Cher ry , Conrad , Hurrying toward Zion: Universities, Divinity Schools, andAmerican Protestantism (B loomington and Indianapol is : Ind iana Unive r s i ty P ress ,1995) , 22 . Dem pste r founded wha t i s now Boston U nive r s i ty School of Theo logy a tNewbury , Vermont . He la te r gave leadersh ip in founding Gar re t t Theologica lSemin ary a t Nor thwes te rn Unive r s i ty in Evans to n , I l l ino is , in 185 5. I t should be notedtha t Amer ican Methodism came s lowly to gradua te theologica l educa t ion , a l though i ta lways had an emphasis on study and practical tra ining for people engaged in "savingsouls . " See A. J . Moore , "Methodis t Educa t ion" in Kendig Cul ly , ed . , Encylopedia inReligious Education (San F ranc isco : Harpe r , 1990) , 409-410.13 . G r e e n , John Wesley, 2 9 .1 4 . Ma d d o x , John Wesley, 17.15. Wellspr ing i s a house of s tudy re la ted to Tr in i ty Theologica l C ol lege , A ucklan d ,New Zea land . The leaders of Wel lspr ing express some des i re to expand th is programto inc lude o lder pe r sons and o th e r s who cannot leave hom e to do a r e s ident ia lprogram of s tudy but who could prepare for minis t ry in a hom e-s tudy prog ram. S eeMary El izabe th Moore , "Book of Readings : Educa t ion in Br i ta in , Aus t ra l ia , Southeas tAsia and the Pac i f ic . " Unpubl ished case s tud ies , (1994) , 7 -8 .16. M a d d o x , John Wesley, 2 0 .17. Herber t W elch , ed ., Selections from the Writings of the Rev, John Wesley, M. A,(New York and Nashvi l le : Ab ingdo n-Co kcsbu ry , 19 93; r ev ised ed i t ion) , 26 2-2 68 .Wesley makes i t c lear that his counsel is not l imited to Methodist c lergy but is forc le rgy in genera l , r ega rd less of denom ina t ion (263) . In th is t r ea ti se , he conc ludes byaff irming that he has no plans to leave the Church of England and will oppose theMethodis ts ' sepa ra t ing (290) .18 . Thi s s tandard of a h igher educa t ion h as long been an expec ta t ion for Me thodis tc lergy, and i t was possibly inf luenced by Wesley's Oxford education. Marty writesrega rd ing Methodis t theologica l educa t ion in Nor th Amer ica : "Methodism is the onlydenomina t ion tha t cons is ten t ly e s tab l i shed d iv in i ty schools a s components of i t suniversit ies." Cited in Martin Marty, "Divinity and the University," The ChristianCentury (7-14 Feb . 1997) ; \41ff.19. Th e va lue of a l ibe ral educa t ion was s imply assu med by Wesley and , in t ime , i tb e c a me a c o mmo n e x p e c ta t i o n a mo n g M e th o d i s t s a r o u n d the w o r ld .20 . John Cobb , Grace and Responsibility: A Wesleyan Theology for Today (Nashvi l le :Abingdon, 1995) , 142 .2 1 . Education: The Gift of Hope, 14 .22 . See Sherwin , Wesley: Friend of the People, 1 4 6 - 1 4 7 ; cf: Education: The Gift ofHope, 9. Sherwin g ives an account of Wesley ' s pu bl ish ing ac t iv i t ie s. Wesley publ ishedmore than 400 or ig ina l and abr idged works .
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2 3 . See the very st imulating ar t ic le by John Deschner . His main thesis is thatMethodis ts engaged in higher educa t ion for theologica l r easons . Deschner , "WhyMethodis ts Be l ieve in Higher Education;* SMU Magazine (Fall , 1994): 15-17.2 4 . Our summar ies were submit ted to the theologica l schools and col leges to test ourconc lus ions and for their approval. They are cur ren t ly conta ined in a " B o o k ofReading s , " ed i ted by Ma r y E l i z a b e th Mo o r e , 1995.2 5 . The Methodis t churches wor ldwide arc r epor ted to have educa ted , o rda ined , andappoin ted more women than any othe r Chr is t ian grou p. Methodis ts are a lso open toand encouraging of lay pe r sons to ente r orda ined and specialized ministr ies, even at amature age .26 . The W C C p r o g r a m on "E d u c a t in g the People" has seemingly had an impac t onthe schools and colleges, especially in the deve loping churches .2 7 . C o m m e n c e m e n t : A Service of Dedica t ion , One-Hund red-Twelf th G radua t ion ,C la remont School of T h e o lo g y , May 1 7 , 1 9 9 7 . The service was writ ten or iginally bythe la te President Ernest C. C o ld w e l l and is revised from time to t ime by the faculty inconsulta tion with the adminis t r a t ion .2 8 . Welch , SelectionsJmm Writings, \06ff.29 . Ibid. , 11 1. Wesley do es modify his pos i t ion he re , and he indicates that personsmay change their beliefs , as in the Reformat ion .3 0 . Ibid. , 109.3 1 . C h e r r y , 2 6 1 - 2 6 3 . 2 6 8 .3 2 . Will Herbe rg , a Jewish schola r , taught for ma n y y e a r s at D r e w T h e o lo g i c a lSchool ; cur ren tly M arvin Sweeney , a lso a Jewish scholar , teaches at C la r e mo n t .C la r e mo n t and I l if f have also inclu ded a Buddhist scholar among their faculty. Thetheologica l schools a ssoc ia ted wi th r e l ig ion depar tments of universit ies, includingthose named here , offer st i l l more diversity in faculty and poin ts of view.3 3 . Mo o r e , "B o o k of R e a d i n g s " V I : 5 .34 . C h e r r y , 1 8 8 - 1 8 9 , 1 9 5 - 1 9 6 ; Ma r q u a r d t , Social Ethics, 21ff.\ anothe r example isthe role of Boston Unive r s i ty School of Theology in Boston ' s South End and itsfounding of Mo r g a n Me mo r i a l and the Goodwil l Indus t ry for disabled pe r sons . SeeNata l ie J. Mc C r a c k e n , "Mis s io n to Boston , " Bostonian (Winter , 1995): 30ff.3 5 . S ee the U n i t e d Me th o d i s t Discipline. Compare the unders tanding of the p lace ofscr ipture in the quadrila teral in the two edi t ions of the "Theologica l S ta tement" in the1972 and 1988 ed i t ions (Nashvi l le : Uni ted Metho dis t Publ ish ing Hous e ) .3 6 . Welch , Selections from Writings, 265.3 7 . Mo o r e , "B o o k of Readings , " lV:4-6 .3 8 . Welch , Selections from Writings, 1 7 1 - 1 9 8 .3 9 . J o h n C o b b , I39ff. C o b b ' s b o o k c o n ta ins an exce l len t d iscuss ion of Me th o d i s tp ie ty which , accord ing to him, r equi res " r igorous d isc ip l ine" ( adherence to strictme th o d s for l iving is the s o u r c e of Me th o d i s m as a n a me ) . Me th o d i s ts w e r e ,accord ing to Wesley, to live for G o d and ne ighbor . He encourag ed h is fo l lowers to "doal l the g o o d we can while avoid ing ev i l" The cha l lenge for theologica l educa t ion is totransla te this emphasis on piety into minister ia l formation. See a lso Ruper t E. D a v ie s ,Methodism (London: Epwor th , 1963) , Uff.
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Gary E. Peluso

To Live and to Die in Battle: ANineteenth-Century Metaphor andClergy Self-Care

.. . be it ours to follow the Christian pilgrim warrior overthe fields of his labor, an d toil, and sacrifice, and recountthe victories achieved by the cross. 1

Cergy, on the wh ole, do not care well for themse lves. At leastanecdotal evidence suggests this. If one listens to clergy at theirlectionary groups, denominational gatherings, and local ministerialassociation lu nches, one w ill hear an array of topics, most of themnegative: the excessive hou rs they wo rk; the vacation days they did no ttake; the exercise sche dule they neglected; the reading and reflection thatadministration squeezed from their schedule; the emergencies thatpreempted family time; and the emotional needs that went unattended.When one gets more intimate with them and learns about the emptinessof many of their spiritual lives, the picture grows even dim m er. 2

While there are many theories, mainly derived from the humansciences, about clergy burnout, depression, and loss of morale, mysuspicion is that the practices of clergy self-care are grounded insteadin Christ ian theology and church tradit ionin practicalunderstandings of God, what i t means to be human, and what i t means

G a r y E . P e lu s o i s D e a n a n d A s s o c i a t e P r o f e s s o r of P r a c t i c a l Theology a t P h i l l i p sT h e o lo g i c a l S e min a r y i n T u l s a , O k la h o ma . H e i s a n e ld e r i n t h e O k la h o ma A n n u a lC o n f e r e n c e o f t h e U n i t e d M e t h o d i s t C h u r c h .


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to be church. Ministry that is based on belief in a God who demandsself - sacr if ic ing obedience, wholike an ancient kingownseverything in his realm and can do with it as he pleases, and who willuse people to the point of exhaustion and even death to win battleswill look one way. Ministry based on belief in a God who lures freebeings toward a balanced, "healthy," abundant life in the saeculumwill look quite different.

In addition, there is the historical dimension of our experience.United Methodist clergy in the U.S. often feel tension when they try tocare adequately for them selves . This tens ion can ar ise wh en clergyfeel themselves bou nd b y deeply held ves t iges of ear ly nine teenth-and the la te- twentie th-century unders tandings of God, humanity,church, and ministry. To illustrate these views, I will use thereflections of antebellum nineteenth-century itinerants in theMethodis t Episcopa l Church . 3 Although we tend to think of these menas hardy souls who "wore themselves out" for God and the MEC, theydid in fact sustain themselves in ministry in ways that we wouldunders tand as "self-care " Ninetee nth-century c ircui t r iders usedcertain metaphors for ministry that i l luminate their practices. With thisperspect ive, we will be in a pos it ion to m ake so me observat ions aboutthe nature of ministry and clergy self-care today.

N i n e t e e n t h - C e n t u r y C i r c u i t R i d e r s i n T h e i r O w n W o r d sTh e journals and rem iniscences of it inerants in the M ethodis tEpiscopal Church, mostly written from the 1840s to 1860s, togetherwith late nineteenth-century biographies of these f igures, tell the storyof the church in terms of decl ine and h eroism . The se m en bel ievedthat the Golden A ge of the i t inerancy w as pass ing. T hefront ier -conquer ing, so ul-winning , warr ior - l ike preach ers of yes terday( themselves included) w ere a dying b reed. Each journa l I read judgedthe younger generations as inferior to the preachers active in earlieryear s . The preachers of old were holy Paul Bunyans; the youngergenerat ion was merely mor tal . 4 The journal keepers publ ished theirwork intentionally in order to keep alive the memories of theimmortals and to make them avai lable for inspira t ion.

5

The Metaphor of Conques t . For these clergy, the focal point ofminis try w as the process of winning souls for Chr is t . Conv ers ion was


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referred to predominantly in terms of conquest , from the eventsleading up to conversion, to conversion itself, to the progress towardsanctif icat ion, and to the hour of one 's death. 6

Eac h of the i t inerants, mor e or less explici tly, framed theirexper ience in te rms of ba t tle , unders tanding them selves as God 's soulwarr iors . The biographe r of John B . M cFerr in descr ibed his minis t ryin the fol lowing terms:

He started out as a preacher with the notion that this is an evilworld that must be righted, a world in error that must becorrected, a rebellious world that must be subdued, by thegospel of Jesus Christ.... McF errin's nature was a harp ofmany strings, its dominan t note the battle-call.7

Of circuit r ider Edward Morrison i t was writ ten,W ith him life is a conflict. The world, with its pag eantry, tinsel,and glare; the flesh, with its corruptions and evil propensities;the devil, who has contended with him in every advance he hasmade in a religious lifea ll have been conquered. .. ..8

In his d iary Maxwel l Pierson Gaddis wrote :/ wish to live and die in the service of God, w ith my armor on. 9... I lifted my hat and prayed to the God of battles to give meevery unconverted soul in the place. j

Jesse W alker: j

/ have come, in the name of Christ, to take St. Louis, and by thegrace of God, I will do it.uThom as Webb ' s b iographe r wro te :

He wielded the sword of the Spirit as successfully as he had hissword in defense of this country}1 \

After his conversion at the Ca ne Rid ge revival in 18 01 , Jam es B .Finley wrote that he soon learned that to j


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... reign as a king and priest with G od and the Lamb forever, Imust fight; that the only way to the crown was by the cross.

It would b e hard to find a preacher w hos e l ife wa s more defined byconquest than Peter Cartwright . His autobiography is ful l of debates.H e loved to bait Baptists into heated argum ents, and he referred todebate helpers as "armor-bearers." He was famous, sometimes to hisem barrass men t, for f istf ights and near duels. M ore than onc e heli teral ly knocked people over, including women, in the name of Jesusand "defeated the schem e of the devil once mo re ," 1 4

Bishop Tho ma s Mo rr is descr ibed the ent ire work of the Methodis tEpiscopal Church in batt le imagery:

Our thirty thoitsand churches, like so many ortifications, wellsupplied with heavenly munitions, are weekly filled with somemillions o f soldiers of the cross armed with the shield of faith andthe sword of the Spirit.... Bible societies are driving a million ofbattering rams against the bow ing walls of the devil's kingdom ....In the mean time, thirty thousand pulpits are filled withambassadors of heaven, exhorting millions to yield to the scepter ofmercy, and render obedience to the King ofZion... By our owndivision of the Christian army, during the past year, more thanthirty-two thousand of souls were made joyous prisoners of hope.15

The language of conversion as these i t inerants used i t is language ofconquest . Winning souls to Christ . Surrendering to Jesus. Slain in thespiri t . David Lewis, who i t inerated in Ohio, claimed at the moment ofconversion that "an indescribable flood of glory overpowered mysoul." A good sermon for him, and for many of his colleagues,resulted in people fal l ing "l ike men slain in batt le ." 1 6 Maxwel l Gadd i sframed his own conversion experience, with an emphasis on surrenderfully and freely offered, with a passage from Livy. 1 7

Leroy Ludeman Lane 1 8 noted that John Nessly, a circuit r ider inPennsylvan ia , Ohio, and Kansas in the middle- to- la te n ine teenthcentury, fol lowed the Apostle Paul in grounding his language inmetaphors of war and athlet ic contests. Lane argues that this isbiblical and that such rhetoric made sense to the farmers andex-soldiers of post -Civi l War cong regat ions.

This may be true. But Lane does not account for the fact that Nesslyappeared to fol low a well-established Methodist pat tern. So the


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quest ion remains: Why did the metaphors of conquest appeal sostrongly to Methodist i t inerants through at least the first three-quartersof the nineteenth century? It is worth considering the possibi l i ty thatthe metaphor of spiri tual warfare fi t perfectly with the westwardexpansion of the U.S. expressed in the emerging m ythology ofconquest , which applied to the land, i ts indigenous people, and even tothe new sett lers, who were always in danger of succumbing to theundisciplined, chaotic evils of frontier l i fe .The Metaphor o f Cul t ivat ion . More than souls needed conquer ing.The re was a lso something fundamenta lly wro ng wi th the world; a l lcreation had been corrupted by sin. For these clergy, landscapesneeded to be conquered, tamed, cult ivated, and transformed. Without aradical t ransformation, the world and the souls that dwelt therein werenot useful to God. In fact , in their world, nothing was useful to Godunti l i t was conquered and cult ivated.The re was a me taphor ica l cohe ren ce 1 9 between the frontier and thewilderness of an unconverted soul . Both needed cult ivation, bothneeded order to be brought to them from without in order to berendered useful . Stephen Beggs viewed his hard early l i fe as"preparatory for the hardships of the uncult ivated fields of hisvineyard"; as an i t inerant , he was "sent into the wild wilderness tocul t iva te Immanuel ' s land." 2 0 Lane includes a tel l ing quote from aNessly sermon wi thout not ing the coherence of metaphors of fa rmingand soldier ing:

.. . how pleasing it is to the husbandm an after hard labour inpreparing the ground and sowing the seed, to see first theblade, then the ear, and after that the full corn in the ear....Now [sic] delightful it must b e to the soldier after themarchings, privations and all the perils of the field, to returnhome in peace to enjoy the spoils and rewards of victory.21

The Metaphor o f Satan. The pr imary enemy was Satan, the Pr ince ofthis World. Protestant evangelicals shared the perspective that God andthe devil were locked in mortal bat t le and that the human soul wasboth the batt lefield and the trophy. Because of God's victory in Jesus'c ross , the ba t t le 's u l t imate outcom e was assured.

Never the less , Sa tan was s t i ll a formidable oppon ent . Lucius H olsey,an Afr ican-American Colored Methodis t Episcopal leader who was


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ra ised in the Methodis t Ep iscopal Ch urch, South , potent ly por t rayedthe Enemy ' s p rowess :

As a warrior, he stands at the head and is the dictator of amultitudinous, powerful, and well organized army, epipped[sic] and skilled in all the military tactics o f diabolica l andspiritual warfare. The weapons of this warfare are mighty,formidable and tried upon the spiritual battlefields of thenations an d ages.... Messiah on the one side and the devil onthe other are great leaders and captains.22

What self-respecting soldier could rest with such a powerful enemyafoot? Every t ime an i t inerant relaxed, the devil and his forces wonanother beachhead. This belief created an urgency, and even a crisismenta l ity , tha t goes a long way toward expla ining why so many youn gmen proved to be swords too sharp for the i r scabbards (see be low ).To ma ke mat ters w orse , Sa tan had a l l ies who w ere disguised asangels of l ight wi thin other churches. Thei r gener ic name s we repredest ination, quiet ism, universal salvation, popery, and salvation bywater; their family names were Presbyterians, Baptists, Calvinists ofa ll s t r ipes , Universa l i s t s, Cathol ics , and Cam pbel l i tes . D uring theseyears, very few Methodist i t inerants evidenced a "catholic spiri t ."

They thrived on this war. And if a Methodist were ever defeated inthis batt le , we would not know it through their journals. Each batt lewa s a kind of divine confirmation that the M ethod ist E pisc opa lChurch was super ior to al l o thers . N o church w as more blessed, wonmore vic tor ies , was awarded more t rophies .

S e l f - C a r e f o r S p i r i t u a l W a r r i o r s 2 3If we approach the subject of self-care from a contemporaryperspective, we find the nineteenth-century practices sorely lacking,perhaps even dest ruc t ive . But if we ask what Metho dis t c le rgy thoug htthey were doing, and if we look to the basic metaphor from whichthey l ived, then we find a r ich assortment of practices analogous toself-care.In order to be fair to the nineteenth century, at this poin t the lan guage must shift from self-care to soul-care. This is not to suggest thatthe rhetorics can be neatly divided. Maxwell Gaddis in particular

t


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provides a fascinating example of how the languages could be mixed.Gaddis, describing his state immediately prior to his conversion, wroteof his "bitterness of . . . spirit, and the deep mental agony of my soul..." Struggling with his cal l to preach, he "could not make known thesmothered emotions of my soul!'24

But the soul , rather than the self, was thought to be the primarylocus of God's concern. The importance of the eternal far outweighedthe temporal . This world is only the vest ibule for l i fe in the next .Mortal l i fe is but a preparat ion for eternal l i fe . Practical ly speaking,this theology was dualist ic , dividing body and soul , f lesh and spiri t .

I t was the soul that matured and was made ready for the next l i fe bybeing formed and tested in bat t le . Th e soul was the temp ora lbatt lefield contested by God and Satan. Soul-caring persons did whatwas necessary to be protected from the devil and enabled others to dothe same. Given this understanding, these i t inerants cared deeply fortheir souls. Even those who died in the batt le , al though they neglectedthemselves, cared for their souls, because to die at one 's post was anhonor (not uncontested); i t also was considered evidence of theul t imate redempt ion of one ' s soul .

The i t inerants who persevered in the work believed that they weredoing something important not only for the souls of others but fortheir own souls as well . Lewis spoke for many when he wrote: "Iconfess I never could feel sat isfied without being made happy in myown soul , while trying to preach to others." 2 5 Certainly, theseMethodists were working out their own salvation by taking up theircal l ing and cross.Support for Batt le . The ear ly Method is t system was famous fors t rongly discouraging marr ied preachers . Francis Asbury consideredmarriage a fate worse than death, and he mourned the loss ofpreac hers to married l i fe . Th e circuits, especial ly in the first d ecad esof the nineteenth century, often preferred single preachers becausethey were much cheaper to keep. 2 6

Before long, preachers regular ly marr ied. But minis try unde rstoodas warfare places an extra burden on marriage and family l i fe .I t inerants were absent from their homes for long periods. F. M.Moore, a missionary in the Oklahoma Indian Terri tory after the CivilWar, traveled a circuit so large that he saw his family only twice in awhole year. In one of his absences, a young son died; the familywould not bury him unti l his father returned home. As a consequence,


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Moore asked for an appointment the fol lowing year that required himto be absent no mo re than s ix weeks a t a t im e. 2 7 Moreover , deadsoldiers for Christ left widows and orphans with few materialresources .

Nevertheless, having a wife and family, even if they were rarelyseen, was a source of comfort . They could also be, and often were,al l ies in the batt le . At t im es, jou rnal w riters emplo yed the languag efrom Proverbs 31 on the va lue of a good wo ma n. Mo re in terest ing,however , i s the com parison of a good w ife wi th Aaron and H ur , wh oheld up the hands of Moses in the wilderness so that the Israel i tesprevailed in batt le (Exodus 17).

If the preacher who has bo rne aloft the ensign of the cross, andcarried its crimson banner over moun tain and plain, deservesthe gratitude of mankind, she who held up his hands in thefiercest of conflict, and uttered words o f cheer when he wasready to fail, merits well of those in whose interest she hasencou ntered difficulties and suffered privations .... Ge ntlyreared, she makes man y sacrifices, and denies herself manycomforts that other women enjoy, that she might hold up thehands of him who m inisters at the altars of the Church, andpoints perishing men and wom en to the Saviour.2*

Peter Car twright c redi ted many wives wi th prevent ing the i r husbandsfrom deser t ing the i r "post [s] ." 2 9 Between enabl ing the i r husbands toremain fai thful to their cal l ing and otherwise upholding their hands inbatt le , wives played support ive and caregiving roles. In this way,marr iage was a form of c lergy soul -care . 3 0

TVaining Body and Mind. While they cared most for their souls,these circuit r iders real ized that not jus t anyo ne w as p hysicallyequipped for the work they did. They wrote often of the physical andmental consti tut ions necessary for i t inerant l i fe . Their descript ions ofeach other are replete with word-portrai ts of their physicalcharacterist ics, musculari ty, and endurance. Cartwright l i teral lymeasured new recruit George Richardson (over six feet andwel l -muscled) and judg ed his d ime nsions "suff ic ient ly imposing."M orr is , employing the language of dec l ine , be l ieved the ear lypreachers were superior to the present generat ion, "not only of


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vigorous and well-discipl ined minds, but l ikewise in iron consti tut ionand t remendous muscular force ." 3 1

Woe to those who were not sufficiently endowed for the work! Onedid not need great physical strength, but endurance and mentaltoughness were absolutely required. After twenty years of labor,Francis Poythress took a supernumerary status for three years due tohis health. When he returned to i t inerancy in 1800, he rode alone,which

preyed heavily on his system, shattering his nerves, andmaking fearful inroads up on a mind naturally of a toocontemplative, if not somber, cast; and seasons of doom anddarkness gathered around him.

Broken in mind and body, he died. 3 2Training Necessary for Batt le . Educat ion was c lear ly considered oneof the implements of batt le . But the kind of education required by asoldier in the midst of battle is different from that of a resident pastortending a garden. A resident pa stor has t ime for reflection, evenleisure time when he can legitimately rest from his labor. A soldier inbattle is in a very different place. To foot soldiers under fire, a coursein the history of warfare in the West would be irrelevant. But basictraining, where recruits could learn practical skil ls and survivalstrategies, would be eagerly sought out . I t inerant preachers who spentso l i t t le t ime at home and had such l imited carrying capacity while inthe field had to be very judicious about what to take along. Resourcesfor contemplation and study had to be portable.

Each of the men I read was opposed to seminary learning. Theydeeply preferred the brush colleges and the training system of classmembers, class leaders, exhorters, local preachers, and the levels oftraveling preachers. I t was education as paideia, as formation. I t waslearning by watching and doing; the batt lefield was also a practicefield. In this way they effectively outfitted their minds for battle withtheir enemies.The Heal ing Power of the Woods. Morris 's journal includes a sectionenti t led "Our Enjoyments." At the top of his l ist was the woods, wherehe loved to retreat for meditat ion and prayer. W hile the devil wa sstrongest in the woods at night (camp meetings, l i t at night by torches


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and f laming rhetor ic , were loci of bat t le agains t Sa tan 3 3 ) , dur ing theday the wo ods we re a re treat , holy g round, near to the Garden. F inleywrote :

Alone in the deep solitude of the wilderness a man cancommune with himself and Nature and her God, and realizeemotions and thoughts that the crowded city never canproduce* 4

I tinerants found not only loneliness and danger in those long r idesbetwee n ap pointm ents but often care for their souls .Shore leave. Rare w as the minis ter wh o did not have to spend a wholeor part of a year away from itineracy in order to recover his bro kenhealth. One could liken their t ime off to shore leave for sailors. Likesailors, they were entitled to rest and relaxation (but not to the sailors 'legendary excesses) in order to gain the strength to return to battle.Althoug h the i t inerants sough t to burn w ith gospel energies , theycould not be burning bushes that were never consum ed. Rather , a tt imes they knew they were burnt up and needed t ime to heal .

Maxwell Gaddis wrote extens ively about his heal th. He saw aphysician often and frequently received orders to go to the springs orto New Orleans to regain his heal th. Even here , however , his b at t lemental i ty would n ot re lease him to res t. While on vacat ion to recoverhis health, he wrote that his travels and preaching "robbed me of allm y little stock of strength." When he f inally had to take asuperannuated re la t ionship, he lamented that he was "no long er ableto s tand with [his brothers] on the bat t le- f ie ld." 35

The Po wer of Conferenc ing . Conferencing was essent ia l to thei t inerants ' t ra ining, survival , and m or al e . 3 6 The wr i t ten records ofindividual efforts of the it inerant heroes must be balanced by the clears igns of mutual bonds b etween b rothers in bat t le . The ir love for eachother was of ten profound . F inley depicted conferences as placeswhere many hear ts "were uni ted as David and Jonathan."

When the preachers met from their different and distant fieldsof labor, they had a feast of love and friendship; and w hen theyparted, they wept and embraced each other as brothersbeloved.*1


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At conference , some dead or superannuated i t inerants were eulogizedas fal len soldiers. The conference memoir for Joseph Oglesby (d.1852) read: " 'He died with his armor on, and fel l in sight of glory.M any shall r ise up and call him bles sed / " 3 8

Lew is depic ts annual conference as mi l i ta ry headq uar ters :Like as the officers of an army, after a successful engagem entwith an obstinate fool, meet and detail their progress in battle,as it transpired u nder their imm ediate supervision, in differentparts of the extended field of strife, so these m inisters of truth,officers in the army of the Lord, report at their annualconvocation, the advancemen t made at different points, and thetrophies won under the banner of the cross, and shout togetherthe praises of the Captain of their salvation, through whosewisdom and power they have been led to achieve their gloriousvictories. 39

Taking Care of Business . Poverty affl icted many. More than onediarist lamented the pl ight of his colleagues who were "starved intolocation," ei ther for want of food or of clothes. Some sold boots orgreatcoat for food (for themselves or their families) , substi tut ingblankets and rags. 4 0

Early warriors were seldom bit ter toward the system, but the subjectof their own financial suppo rt set their teeth on edge . W hile hedefended the hardy souls of the old days, Finley also wrote with anger:

[The] great mass [o f itinerants] live poor, die poor, and leavetheir families to the charities of the Church. Some I know whohave spent a fortune for the privilege of traveling circuits, at asalary of twenty-five dollars a year, while their wives lived inlog cabins, and rocked their children in sugar-troughs.

Toward the end of his l i fe , when salaries had risen to $1,500, Finleycomp la ined tha t superannuates w ere given but $20 to $40 per year ."None seem to care for my c i rcumstances now." 4 1

On occasion, they fought poverty by challenging the authori ty ofthe circuit stewards. Morrison, writ ing a generat ion later than Finley,tel ls two success stories regarding batt les with the circuits he served.In one, with the presiding elder 's support he obtained a substantialincrease in salary. In another, the parsonage was in a place he


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considered unsuitable for his wife. When the stewards refused toaccommodate him, the presiding elder supported his "right to consulthis own feelings and the happiness of his family as to the select ion ofthe place of residence within his circuit ." 4 2

Another way they cared for themselves material ly was to publishtheir jou rna ls in hop es of prov iding for thems elves and the ir families.Their motivations for writ ing included keeping al ive the memories ofheroes inspi r ing andsomet imesscolding younger c lergy. But theyalso wrote to make money. Gaddis, who wore himself out in twentyyears of service and could no longer speak ei ther loudly or withoutpain, wrote, almost pathetical ly, about his need to make money withhis s tory . 4 3

Others took care of themselves and their families by locating. Theworks consulted in this study are punctuated with complaints,sometimes bit ter , that the parsimonious circuits drove some of the bestmen to locate in order to support their families. Mo ore went furtherthan most , a rguing the chu rches ' "unut terable s t inginess . . . hascaused it to lose many of its ablest and most efficient ministers and intheir places they have often to put up with cheap, shoddy preachersV44

This bein g said, the drive for so me to be engag ed in battle, for the sakeof others and for themse lves, was so powerful that they located for a fewseasons and, as soon as they could, returned to the traveling ran ks. Agood example is David Lewis. He located to farm in Ohio and therebybetter provide for this family. Althoug h he preach ed frequently, however,he felt compelled to return to the traveling ranks because " . . . Iconcluded I must be a traveling preacher, or lose my soul." 45

A T h e o l o g y i n T h e i r P r a c t i c e"And he fell like a soldier he died at this post" 46... his brethren urged him to rest, that he might recover hisstrength for new contests. "How can I rest" said he, "whenthe prince of darkne ss is mo re vigilant that all the ministers ofChrist, when sinners are standing on the verge of ruin, an dwhen hundreds are daily falling into hell?'* No! he would notpause amid the glorious scenes in which, under G od, he was aprominent actor 41


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Th e i tinerants preached a gospel of grace . But one w onders wh ethertheir behavior and, occasionally, their rhetoric, betrayed a differentunderstanding of sa lva t ionnam ely, heaven as reward for hard laborrather than a gift of grace, something earned through moral batt l ingra ther than granted through God 's grac iousness in Jesus Chris t . 4 8While they may have kept clear of "earned" language in the theologiesthey affirmed and the sermons they preached, when i t come to thedest iny of their own souls, the rhetoric of reward stands out . Morrison,reflect ing on the end of a conference session, mused that "beforeanother annual meeting some of them would be cal led from labor tor e w a r d . " 4 9 Finley related the case of Richmond Nolley, worn out oneconference , who was "a f laming hera ld of the cross" who "pressed onto the mark of the heavenly pr ize ." 5 0

What kind of theology drove large numbers of early i t inerants toexhaust ion? What mot iva ted men l ike Alexander Cummins (d . 1823) ,wh o was a "sword [ that ] proved too sharp for the scabbard . . . h isflaming spiri t consumed the earthly tabernacle in which i t wasl o d g e d " ? 5 1 It is difficult to conceive of a soldier's life as a life ofgrace . These preachers were drafted or impressed as much as theywere called.52 Language of t rophy, winning and losing, conquest ,v ic tory the language of ba t t le is hard to mix w i th sa lva t ion bygrace .T h e G o d u n d e r W h o m T h e y S er v e d . W ho is th is ba t t l ing G od?Early Methodist i t inerants occasionally referred to Jesus as captain,al thoug h they did not refer to Go d as gene ral , com ma nder-in-ch ief, orthe l i ke . 5 3 Instead, they adhered to biblical metaphors for God,especial ly King. Despite their set t ing in the young republic of theUnited States, nothing of democracy had penetrated their piety. Godremained the a ll -powerful , a l l -know ing, and benevolent m onarch . TheKing batt les for souls. Souls belong only to God or to Satan. Once theKing w on a soul , tha t soul i s Go d 's to do the Kin g 's b idding . O nehears the prayer of consecra t ion f rom John W esley 's WatchnightService. The King who owns al l could act in ways that , i f done by onehum an being to another , none would to lera te .

Thei r God owned souls and could use themand use them upashe saw fi t , however mysterious his motives. The earthly task of humanbeings, in this age, was to surrender to the soul-batt l ing God of JesusChris t and to jo in G od 's mi l itant movem ent know n as the M ethodis tEpiscopal Church. The traveling ministers were set apart to discipl ine


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the troops with mercy, compassion, and love, for the sake of growth inChrist ian maturi ty but also with truth and moral str ingency. Inaddit ion, t raveling preachers joined with class leaders and localpreachers to equip the troops/church for batt le , whether against Satan,rowdies , or adherents of o ther denominat ions.

Methodists were set apart , a dist inctive people, especial ly in theirprac t ice . They were as much f ight ing M ethodis ts as they wereshouting Methodists. And their f ighting practice was undergirded anddriven (not exclusively but substantial ly) by the metaphor of conquest .

L o o k i n g i n t h e M i r r o rAs I reflect on the United Methodist Hymnal debate of a few yearsback, I chuckle and pause . The hymnal commit tee dec ided tha t "TheBat t le Hymn of the Republ ic" and "Onward Chris t ian Soldiers" oughtto be excised. Many, many Uni ted Methodis ts had another opinion;and ult imately, they won. Apparently, the theologically reflect ivehymnal commit tee members be l ieved tha t these hymns, por t rayingfaithful Christian living as battle, no longer fit the ethos and theologyof Uni ted Methodism. One can a lmost fee l the ground quake wi th therage of hundreds of n ine teenth-century Methodis t preachers who diedat their posts or wore themselves out in batt le .

This i s not to say tha t the hymnal co mm it tee was w rong . Indeed, Ienlist myself with those who hope and work for Christ ianity to be akinder, gentler presence in the Third Millennium than i t has been sincethe victory of Constantino in the fourth century, I stand withtheologians such as Walter Wink who, with the intel lectual and moralhelp of Rene Girard, re-imagine Christ ianity apart from the myth ofredempt ive v io l ence . 5 4 Furthermore, our piety, st i l l based largely onthe metaphors and understandings of God as omnipotent King, needsto take into account the now virtually worldwide cal l for and l ivingexper iments in democracy. In what ways can and shou ld our ways ofimaging and approaching God be a l te red i f we image God innon- rega l t e rms? 5 5 What if God values freedom, personali ty, diversi tyof opinion, and the secular as much (and, most l ikely, more than

Fall 1988 Quarterly Review - Theological Resources for Ministry

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