 | Thomas F. O'Meara, O.P. THEOLOGY [Paulist Press, 1999] |
Paulist Press has just published a new, "completely revised" edition ofmy book, "Theology of Ministry." "Theology of Ministry" was published in1983 and remained in print for fifteen years through 1997; it was widelyused in seminaries, graduate theology schools, and in courses for thepreparation of lay ministers.
The new edition retains, revises, and expands the earlier text. Theimportant sections and themes treating baptized and ordained ministryremain. Some sections have been edited and condensed. Two chapters, thefirst and the last, are largely new. The first locates the remarkableexpansion of ministry in the context of recent decades, while the lastchapter, "The Spirituality of Ministry," looks at the spirituality of thosewho minister.
Theology of Ministry was written after a decade in which thousands ofCatholics sought education and positions in church ministry. That book wasnot a prescription for what should be done in the church, nor a predictionof the future, but a reflection on the diocese and parish as they hadchanged after 1968 It tried to explain why the ministry in the CatholicChurch had been expanding since Vatican II, and how this new ecclesiologywas related to the New Testament's views of ministry. It did not at allchallenge the ministries of bishop and presbyter but located them centrallyin churches where other ministries were now present. Some found the bookrealistic and practical; both advocates and critics cited its definition ofministry.
Parishes have since the 1960s fashioned a new model of parish: notthat of pastor and assistants with sisters in the school but a new model ofcircles of ministry around the pastor or bishop. Theology of Ministrysketches a fundamental theology of ministry to explain that new model frombiblical, historical, and theological perspectives. Catholics are still,thirty years after Vatican II, experiencing a deep upheaval in churchstructure in terms of Christian history. This book seeks to explainlucidly why ministry has been changing under the aegis of the Holy Spirit sothat the church may serve more people in more cultures in more ministries.