A word from our Warden, Revd Dr Nick Moore

How do you regard Christian ministry?

Is it primarily a series of tasks, a set of competencies, or a state to inhabit, or something else? In September we began a new year together at Cranmer by reflecting on craft as a model for theological formation – and by extension for the whole of Christian ministry. Craft is a skill at making something in a bespoke way, often by hand, through a traditional process. It is a wide-ranging concept yet something we recognize instinctively.

In Scripture, God is portrayed as a worker of craft, whether a potter or artisan; so too is his Wisdom in Proverbs; and so too, of course, is his Son Jesus, who was a teknōn, traditionally a carpenter though applicable to a range of trades. Our imaging of God makes us, too, into craftsfolk or artisans.

In order to think about the work of ministry as a craft, it helps to recognize that craft involves several elements. First, there is commitment to a particular product or form: for the work of ministry, this is the forming of Christ within others and ourselves. How can you direct all of your work towards this end? Then there is the sheer investment of time required to master an area: a never-ending task, though estimates of mastering a craft tend to be around 10,000 hours of practice. How have you been formed as a master-minister through many hours of prayer, teaching, pastoral care, and interactions with those you serve?

Finally, there is a community of practice: apprentices, journeymen, masters, alongside whom a craft is taught, learned, practised, developed, and changed. Who is alongside you in what you do, and how are you learning from and supporting them so that together you become even better at what you do?

In all of this, there is a wonder at the unique and incredible way in which God involves each and every one of us, with our flaws and failures as well as our strengths and skills, in his overarching purposes, so that at the last we will truly be able to say ‘He has done all things well’.