A correspondent asked yesterday (surely not in relation to the post on whaling!) " Do you have any comments on the Revd Owers resignation?"(see here and this important story on the current state of play here)
I can in no way speak for Don Owers who is a priest of my vintage, ordained around the time that I was. So I am interested, and more than a little perturbed when such a one resigns because of frustration and a tiring workload. We can all sympathise. One of the caricatures of the increase in pressure for the 21st century priest is being asked to make "Bricks" with less and less "straw" (see reference).
I am in no way surprised that Owers has done this, he is not the first and will not be the last. I have thought of it myself.
What compounds this whole sorry mess is not just that the church is in trouble, but also that there are certain internal cultures which contribute to the whole problem. One of these is a confusion between confidentiality and secrecy.
"Confidentiality" is a key mechanism in assuring confidence. Confidence that personal matters will not be disclosed beyond the bounds of appropriate relationship. It is an important mechanism in helping people to address deep matters of embarrassment and hurt with confidence that opening the matter up is safe and will not precipitate wilder (sic) consequences.
"Secrecy" ( a strategy much beloved by the Diocese of Adelaide) is a mechanism the powerful use to control and to prevent criticism.
We often implement secrecy in the name of confidentiality, but I don't think we are entirely honest in this regard.(......to be continued)
No comments:
Post a Comment