A Proposal
I've begun to float this proposal around to get feedback. It has come out of wrestling with various issues in Dr. Hall's Ethics class. I put it here both as an opportunity for feedback and as an invitation.
Peace,
Tom
April 9, 2008
Dear Friends,
Peace and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. I've been wrestling with an idea for some time now, and I think it is time to give birth to it.
Here's my dilemma: how does an itinerant Methodist Preacher (don't tune out, non-Methodists) live faithfully following Jesus amidst the pressures of materialism in our culture? Here's my proposal that I'd be interested in meeting with others to help flesh out and covenant together around: a new order, The Order of St. James. This would be a voluntary order of individuals who are willing to covenant around two practices (possibly three): simplicity and hospitality (and possibly evangelism/making disciples).
The mark of simplicity would be voluntarily living as a family (both salaries) no higher than the minimum annual conference standard for a UMC elder (those who aren't UMC would need to discuss how to set such a mark of simplicity).
The mark of hospitality would be to offer at least weekly hospitality in the parsonage (this could be as much as having someone live with you or as small as having a weekly meal for the single parents in your community).
The mark of evangelism/disciple making is a little more fuzzy to me. After speaking with Ron Sider (of Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger fame), he suggested this as a third discipline for this order. It's "mark" may not be as evident or clear-cut as the other two, but I think it is a central part of the mission of the church and thus, the mission of the church's elders. And it may help keep the other two disciplines rooted in the grace of the gospel rather than becoming ends in themselves.
This order would share deeply and openly with one another to help one another live in this manner. It would include regular national meetings (probably annually) and regular annual conference chapter meetings. It also could spread to include a lay chapter. It could also include chapters in several different denominations. I imagine several steps into this order (similar to a monastic novitiate, etc.) that would include a progression of becoming debt-free and learning to live at this level of simplicity. It will also have to include spouses in some way given that the commitment would be a family-wide commitment. I also imagine local annual-conference chapters meeting at their annual conference and sharing very openly about how they are doing (think: sharing income tax files, etc.).
Envision a church not hampered by the salary ladder where pastors regularly go “up” and “down” the ladder. Envision pastors living simple lives in such a way that their actions speak as loudly as their words in the pulpit. Envision building friendships with those who are different than we are, and in the process meeting Jesus. This is the kind of vision I have for an Order of St. James. I offer it to you, because I need your help, your community and covenant, to be able to live into it myself. I cannot do it alone. Let me know if you’re interested in further discussion.
Tom Arthur
posted by Tom Arthur at 4:35 PM
5 Comments:
Tom,
I think voluntarily choosing to live on a salary by UM pastors would be a step in the right direction of getting rid of the "ladder" system. So I'm for it in that regard. As to whether or not the entire income of the family should be the conference minimum, I'm not too sure.
It would be easily for someone like me, single, no car payment, no bills except cell phone and cable, to live (which I will be next year) on the minimum salary and still be wealthy, in the sense that I would pretty much be able to buy whatever I want after paying all necessary bills. But I know that when my mother quit working, my dad making just a little over the minimum conference salary, and three kids things were tight. Of course, that assumes there is a problem with being short on cash.
To the point: do you think that commitment is reasonable for couples who choose to have a lot of kids?
Also, what do you hoping will happen with the excess income. I, for one, plan on saving as much as possible to buy land and a house somewhere so that I won't be completely screwed like my parents probably will be when my dad retires. (Yes, this also assumes clergy should retire and so on. I'm not sure about that, but I know my conference demands it.)
Maybe we don't want go here, but I have yet to understand why so many people at Duke think that Christians should be poor? I grew up with an understanding that drew heavily on OT passages that talk about faithfulness to God resulting in prosperity. Of course, talking about what to do with that prosperity is another, and very important, question.
Dear Ben,
Great practical questions about money. First, let me suggest that thrust of the proposal is for a community of people who covenant together to talk about this kind of stuff. The specifics of the proposal, are just that, a proposal.
Second, I think the questions you raise about children vs. single folks is excellent. I suppose the minimum salary ought to be a ceiling. Thus, Sarah and I ought to be able to live on less than the minimum while those who have three kids will probably be tight. But this covenantal group should never frown on having children.
Third, I don't know what to do with the excess income. That would be up to the covenant group. But it would certainly be a place for discussion.
Fourth, this is not a proposal for poverty. Don't forget that as a pastor in the UMC you will have on top of the salary the following: a parsonage (often with the utilities covered), continuing education funds from your local church, travel expense funds from your local church, health insurance for your entire family (my church back home also did disability and life insurance), and a pension. This is no poverty.
Lastly, I tend to think that some of these issues are more a crisis of imagination. After living in Isaiah House for a year and a half I can imagine things I couldn't imagine before. Living in community with others makes that possible.
Feel free to push back. There are still lots of loose ends out there.
Peace,
Tom
Tom I'd like to talk more about the idea with you sometime. As a non-Methodist obviously I'm in slightly different circumstances but it sounds really interesting.
Tom,
You might look at Don Kraybill's The Upside Down Kingdom. He has a similar proposal for a maximum income, but with a more nuanced calculus indexed to local cost of living (i.e. UMC minimum in NYC is different in terms of actual purchasing power than it is in Durham), educational loans (Med school debt is larger than community college), children (two cost more than three), etc.
I've begun a new blog: www.orderofstjames.blogspot.com. I've posted and responded to various questions I've received including those here.
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