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Ecclesiastical Autoimmune Syndrome – Part 5

Today’s post is part of a multipart series on Ecclesiastical Autoimmune Syndrome.
Click here for last week’s post.

The DMin-ization of the Clergy
By Ken Howard

Have you noticed that more and more clergy are getting DMins these days: going back to seminary for a part-time advanced degree program that culminates in an additional honorific before their name on the church bulletin?

While some might think this positive development, I’m not so sure that this DMin-ization of clergy is entirely a good thing. In fact, I think this proliferation of Reverend Doctors may well be another symptom of Ecclesiastical Autoimmune Syndrome.

By DMin-ization I mean the increasing numbers of ordained, working clergy pursuing DMin degrees. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t have any problem at all with clergy seeking DMins, IF that’s what God is calling them to do. And while I do not doubt that the vast majority of DMin-seeking clergy believe that’s the reason they are in the programm, my guess is that many (if not most) have merely convinced themselves that is what God wants them to do. [Read more…]

Ecclesiastical Autoimmune Syndrome – Part 4

By Ken Howard

E.A.S. in Post-Seminary Ministry and Governance

Today’s post is the fourth of a multipart series on Ecclesiastical Autoimmune Syndrome
Click here for last week’s post

In this series of blog posts, we are reviewing the signs and symptoms of Ecclesiastical Autoimmune Syndrome so that we can learn to spot it before it becomes terminal. So far, we’ve explored how E.A.S. often works in ministry discernment and in seminary. However, Ecclesiastical Autoimmune Syndrome is not limited to pre-ordination church systems and processes, but remains just as prevalent after ordination.

Post-Seminary Ministry

In the Episcopal Church, clergy ordination vows include a pledge to be loyal to one’s bishop. Unfortunately, a symptom of E.A.S. in Episcopal bishops is that many seem to almost subconsciously think of that a vow of loyalty is a promise never to express unwanted, yet truthful criticism.

[Read more…]

Ecclesiastical Autoimmune Syndrome – Part 3

By Ken Howard

Today’s post is the third of a multipart series on Ecclesiastical Autoimmune Syndrome
Click here for last week’s post

In this series of blog posts, we are reviewing the signs and symptoms of Ecclesiastical Autoimmune Syndrome so that we can learn to spot it before it becomes terminal. After Commissions on Ministry, the next opportunity for E.A.S. to set in is in seminary.

Seminary

Near the end of my seminary experience, as I sat in front of the Commission on Ministry for my final interview before approval for ordination to the transitional diaconate, my bishop (God bless him) asked me if I could share a metaphor that would honestly capture my seminary experience. My response was that “It felt like a cross between kindergarten and boot camp. They assume you enter without relevant opinions about ordained ministry, and if they find out that you do, the quickly and thoroughly disabuse you of them.”

[Read more…]

Ecclesiastical Autoimmune Syndrome – Part 2

by Ken Howard

Today’s post is the second of a multipart series on Ecclesiastical Autoimmune Syndrome
Click here for last week’s post

Last week we began a discussion of Ecclesiastical Autoimmune Syndrome (or E.A.S.):  an emerging, infectious, but poorly understood pathology afflicting an increasing number of churches. E.A.S. occurs when the body of the Church turns against its own, perceiving healthy agents of corrective change as threat to “the way things are” and activates the organizational immune system, which then expels those threats from the organizational body. Like its human namesake, Ecclesiastical Autoimmune Syndrome drives churches to screen out of their leadership and its followership the very people who could bring life-giving, health-renewing change, while screening in those less likely to bring the discomfort that change – especially healthy change – inevitably brings with it. E.A.S. is slow-moving and almost unnoticeable, but is very frequently a systemic slide into death. The result of untreated E.A.S. is a church that would rather die than change

But what are the signs and symptoms of Ecclesiastical Autoimmune Syndrome and how do we learn to spot it before it becomes terminal?

Perhaps it would help to share some real life examples of how E.A.S. functions in various church organizations and processes.

[Read more…]

Ecclesiastical Autoimmune Syndrome – Part 1

by Ken Howard

Ecclesiastical Autoimmune Syndrome

Today’s post is part of a new multipart series.

Autoimmune Syndrome is one of the least-understood of human pathologies. The human immune system is the body’s active defense against infectious disease. When working properly, it responds to invading microorganisms, such as viruses or bacteria, by producing antibodies or sensitized lymphocytes (types of white blood cells) that attack the invaders and either kill them or expel them from the body. Under normal conditions, the body’s immune system cannot be triggered against the healthy cells of the body it protects. Autoimmune Syndrome occurs when the body mistakes perfectly healthy cells, tissues, or organs of the body for pathogenic threats, causing the body’s immune system to attack the perceived “invaders,” and kill them and/or expel them. It can lead to a wide variety of diseases include Crohn’s disease, juvenile diabetes, endometriosis, fibromyalgia, lupus, multiple sclerosis, narcolepsy, rheumatoid arthritis, and hundreds more.

Like its human equivalent, Ecclesiastical Autoimmune Syndrome (E.A.S.) is also a poorly understood pathology. It occurs when the body of the Church turns against its own. [Read more…]

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