Question 3: Bishop as Teacher

What are your views about the role of Bishop as teacher?

 

Robert Hurkmans: Effective teaching is at the very heart of the church.  The first followers of Jesus were called disciples (not Christians) and the word “disciple” is a Greek word meaning “student”.  Therefore, “making disciples” (Matthew 28:19) means teaching and mentoring others in the Way of Jesus. 

We must all be lifelong students of Jesus, but it is important to remember that Bishops are called to be teachers as well.   In the New Testament we see that one of the vital characteristics of bishops (episkopoi) is the qualification and responsibility to teach.  (1 Timothy 3:2, Titus 1:9, 1 Timothy 5:8-13).  That is why in the Liturgy of Consecration, all Bishops are asked, “Will you boldly proclaim and interpret the gospel of Christ, enlightening the minds and stirring up the conscience of your people?”

Teaching is a passion of mine.  I trained as a teacher and my first career was as a high-school science teacher.  Initially it was this love of teaching that drew me into the priesthood.  As a priest I relish the role of teaching and I seek to craft my weekly sermons to communicate the gospel in effective and innovative ways, being sure to follow up Sunday teaching with weekly Bible studies and discussion groups. 

At St. J&B we deliver our Sunday teaching through the technology of live streaming, downloadable podcasts, video vignettes, follow up questions, and Home Group discussions.  These are exactly the means by which a Bishop in today’s church can creatively exercise their diocesan teaching role.

 

Robert Fead: When I was ordained the Bishop handed me the book of the Gospels and said, “Believe what you read, teach what you believe and practice what you teach”. Over the years I have been actively engaged in the ministry of teaching as a mentor and supervisor to numerous seminarians and curates. I am also the co-facilitator of the Niagara Continuing Education program for newly ordained clergy. As a parish priest I have a unique opportunity to teach the faith through the ministry of preaching and other parish education programs and studies. In a day and age when fewer and fewer people are exposed to the Christian faith I believe all of us need to be more proactive about teaching the gospel convincingly in word and deed. The bishop has the opportunity to teach the faith through preaching at various diocesan celebrations but perhaps most importantly through parish visitations across the diocese. The bishop needs to ensure that there are adequate diocesan educational resources available to clergy and parishes so that the faith is learned, lived and passed on to future generations. I really believe that one of the most important roles of the bishop and clergy is equipping the laity with the resources they need to pass on the faith to their children and grandchildren. Parents are the first teachers of the faith to their children so we need to ensure that they have what they need to fulfill this essential ministry. Ultimately the best teacher will be our lived example.

 

Stuart Pike: I think the Bishop has an important role as teacher in a particular sense. I do not think the teaching role of Bishop is as being some kind of know-it-all who has the right answer for everything. The Bishop’s primary role is to love the people. "Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up” (1 Corinthians 8:1.) However the bishop needs to remain disciplined in prayer, especially for grace and wisdom and the skill of oversight. It is with this grace, that the Bishop gets to experience a wider vision of the Church and of God’s will within the diocese and beyond. So, in this sense, the teaching role of the bishop is to impart wisdom and insight as the Bishop understands it in the day to day life of the Church. This is done through the sharing of our sacred story as the people of God as we are experiencing it. There is also much wisdom already in the Church, and excellently skilled teachers within our midst. The role of bishop is also to encourage and lead the education of the Church. Certainly knowledge is important in this, but the greatest things to teach are wisdom and insight.

 

Martha Tatarnic: Archbishop Rowan Williams says the role of the Bishop is “to interpret the strangeness of one part of the church to the strangeness of another part of the church.”  I love his description because it lifts up the various pieces of teaching that the church most needs today, if not always.  As God continues to send us out in ministry into a world that is changing as fast as ours is, we need to be learning from one another, from other parts of the Communion, and from other denominations about how our ministry is fruitful, where or why it fails, and how God is calling us together to serve our world.  But of course, there is also a temporal dimension to Williams’ words:  the Bishop must also be prepared to model and empower the spiritual growth of our people and congregations as we listen to and learn from the witness of Scripture and the wealth of wisdom passed down to us across the generations.  God’s greatest gift to the church of today is our stories – the stories of how God has been at work in our lives and why this has changed everything.  It is in the role of teacher and communicator of our collective stories that I believe I have the most to offer in the role of Bishop.   More than that, I see our role as disciples – students – and our willingness to learn and grow in faith as the most important piece of our collective ministry to nurture for the health and future of our church.

 

David Anderson: The role of the bishop as teacher remains important and relevant for the church today. We speak about Christian discipleship. Disciples are learners. Learners need teachers and teachers must themselves be learners, disciples of Jesus. The ordinal speaks of the bishop’s role to “boldly proclaim and interpret the gospel of Christ” (BAS, 637).

Bishops are often called to speak. I believe it was Archbishop Rowan Williams who said, “generally speaking, bishops are generally speaking.” A bishop should always be ready to convey a word of hope and encouragement, a message of good news. In order to speak the good news in a relevant way, interpreting the gospel, the bishop as teacher must also be a learner. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12.34).

Throughout my ministry, I have found daily and weekly rhythms of scripture reading, together with regular reading and continuing education helpful to me as both a learner and a teacher. The importance of this led me recently to complete a doctoral degree in Congregational Mission and Leadership. My research interest led me to explore how the local parish is learning community engaged in God’s mission in the neighbourhood. All of this has helped me not only as a learner, but also as a teacher.

“Every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of their treasure what is new and old” (Matthew 13.52).

 

Susan Bell: In the ordinal for the consecration of a bishop, the Metropolitan prays that God would make them “wise as a teacher, and steadfast as a guardian of its faith and sacraments.” From the earliest descriptions of the office in 1 Timothy, it’s clear that the bishop must be an “apt teacher” preserving unity and continuity with apostolic teaching. Equipping leaders to hand on the faith, acting as guardian of the Church's unity, and being able to lead in confessing that faith were essential skills of the bishop.  In addition, the episcopal ministry of oversight is itself indirect teaching. 

It’s a joy to me that this is in the list of charisms for the office of bishop. I have naturally developed my vocation as a teacher of the faith – and have thoroughly enjoyed it. I have spent the last ten years in an Anglican school teaching the faith through apologetics. However, in order to effectively teach, it is important to first be a learner. This is one of the reasons I pursued a PhD in Anglican church history and I am delighted to be invited to be a retreat leader and keynote speaker, as well as engaging in conventional teaching.

A prayerful episcopal teaching ministry is a very practical way through which the church receives the energy and direction for mission as we have seen by the example of bishops in the Anglican Church of Canada and around the Communion who act for justice in the name of Christ.

 

David Burrows: "The first duty of the Church is to be sure that it knows how to present the truth of God so as to reveal its adequacy to the knowledge and the needs of to-day. We must do this in our teaching.” William Temple, Thoughts on some Problems of the Day, 1931.

William Temple, Desmond Tutu, and Jack Sperry help me understand the role of Bishop as teacher.

Temple enabled learning emphasizing the reading of Scripture, engaging communities through missions, and the opportunity for clergy learning. For Temple, conferences conferred knowledge and enabled all voices to be heard.

Tutu proclaimed wisdom and teaching worldwide. His words brought God’s justice to parishes, communities, and beyond. The Bishop’s teaching must never solely be offered in the vacuum of sanctuaries. Rather, it must reflect the church’s role within creation, society and culture.

Sperry took time to connect with clergy, their families and the community, building relationships based on trust. Bishops enter into relationships such as these learning what gifts and skills are present and discovering areas of enhancement.  Sperry learned the language and culture of the Inuit, by doing so he spoke, taught, and responded pastorally. 

The role of bishop sets the tone for teaching and growth in a diocese. A bishop must receive spiritual direction in order to offer counsel. A bishop must recognize personal limitations and enable others with differing gifts to shine, so as to enhance the teaching capacity of the family of God within the care of the diocese.

 

In the lead up to the election, the Electoral Synod Nominations and Planning Committee is asking candidates to respond to a final series of questions. We’ll post the responses to two questions each week on our electoral synod webpage and share those responses on Facebook and Twitter too.