First we must acknowledge that the world we are living in is a world of complexities and
confusion. Our country in particular is secular, thus religious views are not considered important.
Otherwise, life in this country is not informed by a vision of God or the church. Our values are what we prize and our value system is the order in which we prize them. For values often conflict.[1] Therefore values and principals are translated to guide and motivate ethical conduct, which are generally considered to be the rule to follow.
How does this affect the minister’s Vacation/ Profession? How does a minister act as professional different from other professions? The starting point is clear understanding of the minister’s call to the ministry which is different from other calling. This is a divine calling which requires divine guidance from above. Therefore the minister is required to have an understanding of his/her role in the community. Building a ministry of integrity requires that a minister’s sense of calling and concept of the service be a biblical, ethical, and Christlike[2] In this way the minister will fulfill his/her calling through service to a congregation of God’s people. One can not serve Christ without serving people. During this author’s ordination ceremony in 1994, the Bishop performing the ceremony, commissioned all the ordinates with these words, “Go forth to shepherd God’s flock and do not eat them.” [3] In other words the bishop was trying to say that a minister must be trusted in his ministerial duties to the people.
A minister has an ethical requirement to do what is required of him. Those that pass the truth
of the word of God to the people of God. Joe and James in their Book Ministerial Ethics give an
example of a man who confused his wife with a hat. They further point out that this man was
suffering from agnosia.This man who the authors say was a Doctor could not recognized things
that were familiar. It is the believe of this author that when the world or a country become sick, and so permissive or so to say lucid, the individuals living in it conform to the life style of the day.
confusion. Our country in particular is secular, thus religious views are not considered important.
Otherwise, life in this country is not informed by a vision of God or the church. Our values are what we prize and our value system is the order in which we prize them. For values often conflict.[1] Therefore values and principals are translated to guide and motivate ethical conduct, which are generally considered to be the rule to follow.
How does this affect the minister’s Vacation/ Profession? How does a minister act as professional different from other professions? The starting point is clear understanding of the minister’s call to the ministry which is different from other calling. This is a divine calling which requires divine guidance from above. Therefore the minister is required to have an understanding of his/her role in the community. Building a ministry of integrity requires that a minister’s sense of calling and concept of the service be a biblical, ethical, and Christlike[2] In this way the minister will fulfill his/her calling through service to a congregation of God’s people. One can not serve Christ without serving people. During this author’s ordination ceremony in 1994, the Bishop performing the ceremony, commissioned all the ordinates with these words, “Go forth to shepherd God’s flock and do not eat them.” [3] In other words the bishop was trying to say that a minister must be trusted in his ministerial duties to the people.
A minister has an ethical requirement to do what is required of him. Those that pass the truth
of the word of God to the people of God. Joe and James in their Book Ministerial Ethics give an
example of a man who confused his wife with a hat. They further point out that this man was
suffering from agnosia.This man who the authors say was a Doctor could not recognized things
that were familiar. It is the believe of this author that when the world or a country become sick, and so permissive or so to say lucid, the individuals living in it conform to the life style of the day.
A minister is required to stand out and be the example of the rest of the people since this is a divine call from God Himself. Ministers can easily mistake their role and find themselves in a world of confusion. Living in a community which is so sick with agnosia[4], which according to this presenter is communicable does not spare the Minister in his or her profession. Ministers must portray integrity a thing that the authors point that it does not come so simply and automatically. Clergy have to understand the minister’s vocation. Therefore, for those who are already ministers or in the making to become professionals, what significance does this have for ministerial ethics? We must follow the standards of professional practice that apply to the Christian ministry which include; an education person, the master of some body of knowledge.
This knowledge is neither esoteric nor mundane but essential to ministry and available through accredited educational institutions the minister will at all times prepare for Christian service by experiencing a broad liberal kind of education. Ministers will also be committed to a life long process of learning to be able to change with the times and also with the changing world; Competency in ministers will come as a result of them acting competently in any situation, gift and vocational skills; Autonomy- The minister is called to a life of decision making most of which involve dangerous consequence. Being responsible means being in charge of choices. It means being accountable for what we do and what we are.[5] Service- The mister’s motivation for the ministry should not be social status or money, but service to others. Dedication. Unlike other professions, a minister should provide something of greater value and worth, the word of God. Ethics- and the minister should live on the discipline of an ethic that upholds the highest standards must be a person of good behavior which is ethics in itself.
With these and others, the gospel makes ethical demands on the professional life of the
Christian minister. Thus a minister is a unique professional who should not conform to the patterns of the permissive society. Ethical codes demand that a minister should stand out to be different from the secular society. Thus ethics in ministry includes personal lifestyle, financial decision, family commitments, pastoral responsibility, congregational relationship, community involvement among others. Should we not agree with the author ministerial ethics when he proposes that, building a “ministry based on integrity requires that a minister’s sense of calling and concept of service be biblical, ethical, and Christ like.”[6]
Professionalism in ministerial duties
A minister is required to bring together the professional ethics model as a tool for the ministry.
A professional is someone with high degree of specialized skills. A professional is faced with the
task of rendering services that pose serious possibilities. Life or death- doctor, poverty or wealth
(lawyer), Salvation and damnation (minister)[7] Professional ethics is a requirement for the
ministers. The authority and identity of the professional person should not be in question for
minister for this is what the ministry entails. This is because ministers render services that are both unique and essential for the building of the kingdom of God. They should live to the standards of what they preach from the pulpit. They should not preach water and drink wine. Richard Gula in his book Ministerial Ethics asserts that this book is for ministers who have pastoral responsibility a professional ministerial capacity. The author offers a theological framework for reflecting on moral responsibility of pastoral ministry as a profession. He develops some moral dimension to pastoral ministry[8] which is a requirement for minister. As Jesus proclaimed that he is the way the Truth and the Life John 14: 6, the minister should bear the responsibility to point the way and the truth to others. The message that the ministers preach reveals the real meaning and purpose of life, which a minister should be living himself/ herself, as well as knowledge of the one who is “the way and the truth and the life”. Like other professions the minister’s vocation is to make serious decisions that involve life and death. Being a minister is not a vocation merely to help people. Minister are called to help people in the name of Jesus Christ . We should notice however that the problem the minister faces in a social context is that of determining who he and what he is doing within the complexity of his functions. He frequently lacks, more than anything else, awareness of what he is about.
Pastoral’s Relationship as an ethical requirement.
Although as discussed earlier, ministers are professional’s like others; church work is different
from any other kind of work. Unlike other professional, church members work with the clergy. Church leaders and members are colleagues with the minister. Therefore good relationship is vital for better working atmosphere. The roles of any Pastor is to create a climate of cooperation, trust, support, communication, love, and mutual understanding.[9] Ministry is presented to the people in such a way that they will fell that the minister has ethical concern over them. Pastoral integrity must be the byword of every minister. There are several things that the minister is required to do in order to portray concern in ministerial ethics. Ways to guard integrity are: applying ethics is promotion, avoiding the exploitation of vulnerable members, applying the highest in promotional material, avoiding undue influence, and using the right method of pastoralism.
Richard Gula states that keeping confidence is one of the firmest rules of professional ethics. It
is clear that like doctors and many other professionals, ministers know so much about people.
Ministers need to respect the dignity of individuals by maintaining confidentiality. A minister should never make illustrations from the pulpit of things that he/she found or known about his members. This will break the trust that he has been entrusted by them. Pastoral ministry is a link between God and human kind, on the same hand it strengthens the mission of Christ in the community of believers.[10] Therefore, a minister should at all times be able to commit himself or herself to the task of pastoral ministry. Approachable and available to the people he or she serves. Ministers have to promote and preserve through behavior the way to love God and neighbors. They have also to exhibited a deep to the church and loyalty to its traditions and teachings.
Summary
Every minister is a symbol of religious authority. By virtue of the pastoral office a minister
interprets religious truth, meaning of life, the way of faith and even the reality of God. When the
power of a pastor’s presence through ministry is added to that status, the special influence a
minister holds among his or her congregants become evident. Ministers should recognize that
ministry has its own complexities and should handle them in a sensible manner. Like other
professions, the ministry is full of temptations to do the contrary. As Clinton Mclemore states that “Life is filled with exciting and mind-boggling challenges, especially ethical ones. These challenges should be approached humbly but at the same time with certain exhilaration and sophistication[11]
[1] Michael Josephson. Making ethical decision: The basic primer on the using the six pillars of character to make better decisions, and a better life Ed by Dan McNeill ( Cover and design publication 2002) p 4
[2] -Joe E. Trull. Ministerial ethics: Moral Formation for church Leaders. (Michigan, grand rapids,2004) p 24
[3] Ordination ceremony held on August 8, 1994 at Kaaga Methodist church.
[4] Joe Trull Ministerial Ethics. Moral formation for Church leaders. Michigan, Grand Rapid, 2004) p22
[5] Michael Josephson. Making Ethical decision: The basic primer on using the six pillars of character to make better decisions and a better life, Ed by Dan McNeill ( Cover and design publications, 2002) p 11
[6]Joel Trull. Ministerial Ethics: Moral formation for church leaders (Michigan, grand Rapids, 2002) p 24
[7] Ibid p 18
[8] Richard M Gula MSS; Ethics in Pastoral Ministry. (New York Mahwah, NJ. Pualist press, 1996) p 7
[9][9] Joe Trull. Pastoral Ministerial Ethics: Moral formation for church Leaders. ( Michigan, Grand Rapids, 2002) p 126.
[10] It is easy to love humanity than love people. People who consider themselves ethical and yet lack a caring attitude toward individuals tend to treat others as instruments of their will. They rarely feel an obligation to be honest, loyal, fair or respectful except insofar as it is prudent for them to do so, as a disposition which itself hints at duplicity and a lack of integrity.
[11] Clinton Mclemore. Street Smart ethics: Succeeding in business without selling Your Soul. (Louisville. London, Westminster John Knox Press, 2003) p Xi