© 1997 Rebecca Kantor
© 1997 The Christian Fellowship of Students of The Urantia Book
| Significant Books: Reclaiming the Church by John B. Cobb, Jr | Fall 1997 — Index | Our Major Responsibility: Disseminating the Fifth Epochal Revelation |
Vancouver Summer Session, 1997
This talk was written to inform Fellowship members of some of the many challenges which face religious groups when they employ a salaried leader. Information has been gathered over the years from graduate studies in the psychology of ministry, with an emphasis on pastoral care and counseling. Therefore, much of the information below comes from the literature of psychology and studies of Christian ministry. Readers who, for whatever reason, do not identify with Christianity and the Christian Church may find the language troubling. I hope, however, that all who read this material will make an attempt to separate the underlying ideas about leadership and group dynamics from the terminology.
In this talk I neither condone nor condemn the building of religious organizations within the Urantia community. My desire is merely that those who wish to do so will have access to the wisdom gleaned over time by religionists who also have desired to foster their own organized religious groups.
Until recently, the Urantia community has been characterized by a general disinterest in anything that resembles organized religion.
This disinterest has helped to shape the current Fellowship into an organization without authorized teachers, leaders, or church-like religious groups.
Until recently, the Urantia community has been characterized by a general disinterest in anything that resembles organized religion.
Some forty years ago, the first Brotherhood constitution instructed the Education Committee to “find, prepare, train, and ordain teachers of The Urantia Book.” But the resulting Brotherhood School was relatively unsuccessful, and in 1976 the Education Committee specifically oriented itself toward the fostering of Study Groups and periodic, regional, national, and international conferences while recommending an amendment to the Brotherhood constitution which would remove an earlier provision for the ordination of Teachers.
Historically there have been few attempts to organize Urantia-based churches, and up to the present moment these attempts have met with little enduring success.
As a result, the Fellowship lacks significant experience with the dynamics of organized religion, a religious style of expression which posses a great potential for magnificent service and an equal amount of potential for great evil.
Except for the important contributions of professional clergy such as retired United Church of Christ minister Meredith Sprunger, there appears to be relatively little information and collective understanding of the pros and cons of organizing and managing religious groups.
In his 1981 paper titled, “Problems and Potentials: The Role of Religious Institutions in Society,” Dr. Sprunger reviewed the 1976 position taken by Urantia Brotherhood toward organized religion.
Let me share parts of his summary with you in order to help place in context the present call for Fellowship assistance in building Urantia religious groups and an engagement in evangelistic activities:
Any comparison of the wisdom of the Brotherhood’s 1976 position and that of the Fellowship today is complicated by numerous sociological and organizational changes.
What we do know is that good decisions about Fellowship policy require an abundance of knowledge, experiential insight, and wise judgment.
The revelators tell us that “as the self matures, it reaches further and further back into the past for experience, while its wisdom forecasts seek to penetrate deeper and deeper into the unknown future. And as the conceiving self extends this reach ever further into both the past and future, so does judgment become less and less dependent on the momentary present.” (UB 118:1.5)
We can apply this concept to the group process as well. Because we desire to make good decisions based on experience from the past, adequate knowledge of the present, and with concern for the future, it behooves us to examine with great care the underlying reasons for the Brotherhood’s 1976 reversal in attitude as we contemplate any changes in Fellowship policy today.
And we must do even more to develop our decision-making process.
There is a wealth of wisdom and advice available to assist you in your efforts to build a strong and vital religious organization. Among your resources are leaders from other religious communities who are trained and experienced in religious group dynamics and in the tasks of religious leadership.
If you inherited half a million dollars form your Aunt Ruth’s estate, and if you want to invest the money but have no knowledge or experience in investing, would you undertake this project without expert advice concerning the strengths, risks, and appropriateness of your various options?
How many of you would hand your half million dollars over to a broker who displayed great enthusiasm but who lacked experience or a sound track record? Or would you attempt to make your own decisions without a significant self-study of investment opportunities, procedures, and policies?
Let me ask the same question to those of you who want to start a religious organization. Are you willing to invest the spiritual, intellectual, and emotional wealth of your local community without taking the time to gather as much information and experiential wisdom as you can find?
There is a wealth of wisdom and advice available to assist you in your efforts to build a strong and vital religious organization. Among your resources are leaders from other religious communities who are trained and experienced in religious group dynamics and in the tasks of religious leadership.
For example, liberal Christian seminaries have libraries and faculty who can provide invaluable information on both the opportunities and the challenges of religious organizations. We must not assume that all Christian organizations will reject us or our requests for assistance, even if we propose a model of religious community far different from the Christian Church. From personal experience I can confirm that there is at least one outstanding seminary which welcomes students of The Urantia Book and has expressed a willingness to enter into conversation about the book and its organizations.
I am not suggesting that Urantia groups mimic the models of the Christian Church. I am saying that it would be naive to think that the Urantia movement is exempt from the challenges and pitfalls of religious leadership and group dynamics, of which there are many.
Nor can we afford to assume that, as readers of the Fifth Epochal Revelation, we do not need the advice and counsel of wise and experienced religious leaders. I personally have experienced an event within the Urantia community which, despite spiritual idealism and a wholehearted desire to be of service, devastated the lives of many persons (including innocent children) because of a combination of wholly unqualified leadership and group naivete.
I am not suggesting that Urantia groups mimic the models of the Christian Church. I am saying that it would be naive to think that the Urantia movement is exempt from the challenges and pitfalls of religious leadership and group dynamics, of which there are many. We may be students of the Fifth Epochal Revelation, but we are also ordinary human beings. As individuals and as a social group, we share the same frailties and social challenges as everyone else, with few exceptions. Unless we educate ourselves about group dynamics, we will be in danger of repeating, at least to some extent, some of the same group pathologies which led to the demise of the Family of God Foundation in 1985.
In spite of the formal position assumed by the Brotherhood in 1976, and the opposition of many Urantia Book readers who abhor the idea of the Fellowship becoming involved in organized religion, there is a growing interest in forming religious communities in the Fellowship. It seems no longer relevant to ask, “Shall we have religious groups within the Fellowship?”
The fact is that organized religious communities are happening within the Urantia community because a growing number of readers yearn for a more formalized way of worshiping and living in community. So, instead of asking, “Shall we have religious groups,” the question is rapidly becoming, “What kind of religious groups shall we have?”
Dr. Sprunger’s 1981 paper forecasts the current situation when he makes the following observations:
Followers of the Fifth Epochal Revelation have two basic options in the cult evolving process:
- We can create something new. The history of religion demonstrates that man periodically does initiate new cults and new religious institutions. It is highly probable that individuals and groups will take this path in the future as the result of inspiration received from reading The Urantia Book.
- We can reform or revise existing religious institutions. Most of the religionists of the world, after reading and recognizing the superior teachings of The Urantia Book, are likely to take this path, as least initially.
Where possible, it is usually best to build on historic foundations and traditions. The authors of The Urantia Book seem to imply that the best approach to evolving a relevant religion on our planet harmonious with the Fifth Epochal Revelation is to work toward a revision of Christianity. The following statements are made by the revelators:
- Christianity is the best of the religions of the twentieth century. (UB 195:9.8)
- Jesus fostered the church as the best exponent of his life-work on earth. (UB 195:10.9)
- The Christian Church is the larval stage of the spiritual kingdom, the cocoon in which Jesus’ concept of the kingdom of heaven now slumbers. (UB 170:5.21)
- The hour is striking for a rediscovery of the true and original Foundations of present-day distorted and compromised Christianity — the real life and teachings of Jesus.” (UB 195:9.5)
- The kingdom of heaven which Jesus taught will someday be proclaimed to the Christian Church — and all other religions. (UB 170:5.8)
- In the paper on “The Faith of Jesus” the authors express the hope that someday a reformation of the Christian Church will bring it back to the unadulterated teachings of Jesus. (UB 196:2.1)
- We are called to build a new and transformed human society by means of the spiritual rebirth of Jesus’ brotherhood of the kingdom. (UB 195:10.6)
- The Urantia Book spends more time commenting on Christianity and making suggestions or its improvement than on any other religion. It is one of the greatest powers for good on earth and we should take it seriously. (UB 195:10.12)
- There is great hope for the church which worships the living God and dares to remove all creedal conformity from its members. (UB 103:5.12)
- The greatest hope of our world lies in the possibility of a new revelation of Jesus to unite in loving service the numerous families of his present day professed followers. (UB 195:10.16)
And I would add one more comment, this by a Brilliant Evening Star of Nebadon: “The early Christian cult was the most effective, appealing, and enduring of any ritual ever conceived or devised, but much of its value has been destroyed in a scientific age by the destruction of so many of its original underlying tenants. The Christian cult has been devitalized by the loss of many fundamental ideas.” (UB 87:7.4)
So, Urantia Book readers have at least two choices before them when they contemplate the formation of a religious community: 1 . the creation of an entirely new cult, or 2 . a revision of one of the evolutionary religions, with a revelatory bias toward Christianity.
… Urantia Book readers have at least two choices before them when they contemplate the formation of a religious community: 1. the creation of an entirely new cult, or 2. a revision of one of the evolutionary religions, with a revelatory bias toward Christianity.
Regardless of which choice is made, however, another kind of choice must be made by those wishing to start a religious organization. Do we want a minister to lead our religious organization? And if we want a minister, what kind of minister do we want? There are many kinds of ministry:
We are all in volunteer, every-day type of ministry as we attempt to act out our understanding that God wants us to be of service to our fellows.
There is the volunteer, extraordinary type of ministry, exemplified by many of you here today, in which material, intellectual, and spiritual gifts are bestowed upon the community in uncommon quantities.
And then there is the so-called “professional” ministry. In organized religions this is called the clergy. These are individuals who are paid to be in the service of a congregation, or community of religionists.
Until recently, it has been the volunteer ministries which have occupied our time and resources. But that is changing now with the decision of at least two groups to create religious organizations designed to facilitate group worship and foster religious community.
By looking more closely at the nature of paid, professional leadership, I want to address some of the issues our community must face when it moves from being an organization with strictly volunteer ministry to an organization which has full-time, professional ministers in its midst.
For those of you who want to participate in a Urantiabased religious group with a paid leader, let me ask you the following questions:
As to the first four questions, let me offer this perspective from a well-known Christian minister and psychologist: “Every genuine pastoral relationship ought to be therapeutic or healing; that is it should contribute to the wholeness of the person.”[1]
As to the last question, about what roles do you expect your minister to play, let me give you a list of nine types of roles and responsibilities delegated to a typical minister in a small church: [2]
As group leader and group member, as preacher, teacher, administrator, care-giver, counselor, and personal friend, the minister is expected to react professionally to all persons in a great variety of circumstances and social environments.
Adding to the stress of this on-going situation is the fact that the persons whom the leader meets in these various circumstances will represent a broad range of intellectual and emotional maturities. And each person brings with him a variety of behavioral expectations and role demands which are delegated, consciously or unconsciously, to the minister. No wonder one overworked minister of a parish said, “90% of church ministry is invisible to 90% of the people involved in the church.”
Another problem which frequently arises for the inexperienced or emotionally immature group leader is the unconscious, but common, inclination of the community to place the leader on what may be called a “pedestal of perfection” because professional religious leaders are expected by their group to “practice what they preach.”
And herein lies one of the greatest dangers of religious leadership: unless the professional religious leader is both well-trained and exceptionally mature, he is in danger of reacting to the pressure to perform flawlessly by constructing a false professional persona, a social mask, which may differ greatly from his private thoughts, feelings, and desires.
…herein lies one of the greatest dangers of religious leadership: unless the professional religious leader is both well-trained and exceptionally mature, he is in danger of reacting to the pressure to perform flawlessly by constructing a false professional persona, a social mask, which may differ greatly from his private thoughts, feelings, and desires.
Unless he is aware of this danger and is equipped, through training and experience, to deal with the various pressures to perform, he is on the road to professional burnout. And the community will suffer because it gradually loses a sense of contact with the minister as a person. This is because the leader’s relationships, behaviors, and roles become increasingly identified with the professional persona and not with the authentic person, whose true feelings and thoughts are hidden.
But how does a person acquire the skills needed to succeed at paid religious leadership, given the number of roles and responsibilities required of him. What is skill? Skill emerges when knowledge is tempered by wisdom and shaped by experiential insight. But professional ministerial skill requires all of these factors plus a healthy, active spiritual life consisting of private prayer and worship of the living God.
Rodan, the Greek philosopher said, “Even though you are effectively armed to meet the difficult situations of life, you can hardly expect success unless you are equipped with that wisdom of mind and charm of personality which enable you to win the hearty support and co-operation of your fellows. You cannot hope for a large measure of success in either secular or religious work unless you can learn how to persuade your fellows, to prevail with men. You simply must have tact and tolerance.” (UB 160:1.9)
What will supply the necessary wisdom of mind and charm of personality which enables your leader to prioritize and successfully perform his numerous delegated roles while winning the hearty support and cooperation of your religious groups?
It cannot happen through spiritual idealism.
It cannot happen through a sense of being called.
It cannot happen through the experience of being chosen.
It can happen, however, when these factors — spiritual idealism, an inner sense of calling, and the experience of being chosen — are combined with sufficient education and training for the many tasks of professional leadership. This, as I see it, is the minimum requirement for effective leadership in any religious group. The importance of these basic requirements have been demonstrated time and time again in the documented experiences of institutional religions that have paid, professional ministers.
Again, let me admonish all of you who desire to bring a professional religious leader amongst you: If you think that the Urantia movement is exempt from the challenges and pitfalls of other organized religions, let me tell you, WE ARE NOT!
Again, let me admonish all of you who desire to bring a professional religious leader amongst you: If you think that the Urantia movement is exempt from the challenges and pitfalls of other organized religions, let me tell you, WE ARE NOT!
We must not let idealism and willingness to serve be the main criteria for selecting our leader. The roles of professional ministry are highly complex and special training and exceptional emotional maturity are required in order to manage them successfully.
To acknowledge the truth of this is vitally important, not only for the health of the church and its leader, but there may well be legal ramifications as well. A religious organization that hires an incompetent minister is at risk of legal liability. In many states the church and its ministers are subject to an employment law called, “Vicarious Employer Liability.” Under this law, religious employers and religious organizations may be held responsible for employment decisions and employee conduct. It allows the victim to sue the employer of the perpetrator as well as the perpetrator himself.
Your group and its leader must be very conscious and very clear about what is appropriate professional behavior in the differing tasks of religious leadership. If she is not trained in pastoral care and counseling, or if he is not aware of the potentially dangerous imbalance of power which exists in most care-giving relationships, great harm can be done to unsuspecting church members and their families.
As long as I’m on the subject of leadership liabilities, let me add two more cautionary notes:
Because church members tend to distance themselves from ministers and their immediate families in all but strictly pastoral relationships, this type of person can hide, as least for a while, behind a mask of professional competency while wreaking havoc in the lives of church members and community. I wish I could say that type of person doesn’t last long in the ministry, but often he can and will if he can keep the attention of the membership focused on the pedestal persona instead of his true, emotionally immature character.
Well, I’ve been focused on some of the down-sides and dangers of professional ministry. Let me lighten up a bit by sharing what may be some food for thought for those of you who want to create a religious community. While I was working on the rough draft of this talk, I found myself wondering if The Urantia Book might offer some advice or instruction in managing the many tasks of religious leadership. So I decided to examine Jesus’ model of role management against the nine roles typically delegated to today’s professional minister. And what I found was quite surprising!
Let me explain.
Jesus chose six men to be a part of his team. They, in turn, chose six additional teammates. Later, he expanded his teaching and ministering group to include seventy more evangelists and ten women, an act that was scandalous in his culture. In other words, Jesus, like his Father in heaven, was a delegator. He delegated every conceivable aspect of group management to his twelve apostles. And although they initially lacked training in Jesus’ particular methods of teaching and preaching, they were collectively well versed in the knowledge of the day. The midwayers tell us:
Do not make the mistake of regarding the apostles as being altogether ignorant and unlearned. All of them, except the Alpheus twins, were graduates of the synagogue schools, having been thoroughly trained in the Hebrew Scriptures and in much of the current knowledge of the day. Seven were graduates of the Capernaum synagogue schools, and there were no better Jewish schools in all Galilee. (UB 139:0.3)
Let’s look a little closer at the roles delegated to the apostles, keeping in mind the nine tasks of ministry I described earlier:
What became very clear to me as I did this comparison was that Jesus utilized 13 individuals to accomplish the leadership tasks which today are typically thrust upon one person. What can we learn from this? Is there reason to consider Jesus’ model of group management as a model for our religious organizations? It may be a model worth exploring.
What became very clear to me as I did this comparison was that Jesus utilized 13 individuals to accomplish the leadership tasks which today are typically thrust upon one person. What can we learn from this?
In closing I want to suggest a model for the training and education of every candidate for paid leadership in Urantia religious groups. Let me emphasize: This preparation is vital to the health and well-being of everyone in your group, and even to the Urantia Fellowship as a whole. So I call these the “non-negotiable’s” of religious leadership training.
First, your candidate should participate in a minimum of two years study at a high quality, liberal seminary or other type of religious leadership training school. There are several reasons why this is non-negotiable. One is that seminary experience provides basic training in the various roles your minister will be expected to perform in your church. A good seminary expects their students to become skilled at what they do.
But just as important, a high quality religious training school will test the personal and social maturity of your candidate, forcing her to achieve a new understanding and appreciation for not only her “gifts and graces” but also her psychological weaknesses and vulnerabilities. A good school is not judgmental; instead it encourages the spiritual idealism of its students while it fleshes out her particular immaturities and provides opportunities for appropriate self-examination and personal growth in those areas which need further development.
Course work at the school should include the following:
(We may like to think that the overall story given in The Urantia Book is new and shockingly revelatory, but in reality it is a spectacular retelling of the old Judeo-Christian story, with a new cosmology, some important corrections, a few entirely new ideas, and a lot of creative interpretation of ideas already on the planet.)
Another reason for acquiring such knowledge may seem subtle, but it is nonetheless important. Your religious leader will interact not only with your community, but inevitably with other ministers and members of religious organizations in your neighborhood. A religious spokesperson who does not have a working knowledge of traditional religious scripture will not be taken seriously by the ministers and rabbis in his community, and those relationships will be vital to the on-going health of your religious group as it interacts with the larger community.
There is so much more to say about the challenges and opportunities of organized religion, but that will have to wait for another time. Let me close with this perception of the minister’s role contained in a prayer of Martin Luther, who as you know, was a key figure in the Protestant Reformation:
I do not worship my pastor, but he tells me of a Lord whose name is Christ, and makes him known to me. I will be attentive and listen to his words as long as he will lead me to the Master and Teacher who is the Son of God.
Rebecca Kantor has a Master of Arts in Religion, with special interests in the psychology of religion and the psychology of ministry. She has been a student of The Urantia Book for over 25 years.
"The call to the adventure of building a new and transformed human society by means of the spiritual rebirth of Jesus’ brotherhood of the kingdom should thrill all who believe in him as men have not been stirred since the days when they walked about on earth as his companions in the flesh.” (UB 195:10.6)
| Significant Books: Reclaiming the Church by John B. Cobb, Jr | Fall 1997 — Index | Our Major Responsibility: Disseminating the Fifth Epochal Revelation |