I was called to the priesthood within the Roman Catholic Church so my own reflections are biased and may be skewed.  These are my own opinions which may not be wholly accurate.  Independent Sacramental Ministry clergy face numerous challenges.  The four largest challenges I see are:

1. lack of formation

2. lack of existing ministries/laity

3. lack of funding

4. lack of appeal to many

 

Lack of ministry formation.  Large mainline denominations such as the Roman Catholic Church have extensive ministry formation programs.  The church can pay for seminarians to study academic theology full-time for numerous years.  Moreover, seminary incorporates human formation, spiritual formation, and ministry formation on top of retreats, CPE, and more.  Independent Sacramental Movement jurisdictions cannot afford to provide this kind of formation to their prospective clergy.  Furthermore, ISM clergy often have competing demands of family and full-time employment on top of formation.  ISM formation frequently is inferior, less intense, and shorter than the formation of more mainline clergy.

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The lack of existing ministries and laity adds additional vocational challenges.  This means that you will likely need to create your own ministry.  Certain kinds of ministry are difficult to start such as a parish since you will need a critical mass of laity.  

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Funding is needed for most kinds of ministry.  The ISM community often lacks funding.  I remember an ISM bishop telling me about his own experiences of collecting funds to pay ministry bills.  Often, there was nothing in the collection basket from 20 people attending mass because he was appealing to lower-income individuals who had nothing.  This meant that he could not provide other types of ministries, such as relief for the poor, as he was funding his own parish ministry.

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Finally, the ISM movement does not have name brand appeal.  I have known some incredible ISM clergy but there is a bias among many mainline believers that ISM clergy are inferior.  If people are not attending mainline churches, why will they attend or support your ministry in a jurisdiction that they never heard about?  How will you positively attract attention to your mission and ministry?

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Despite the challenges, I also see immense opportunities for ISM vocations.  The three largest opportunities are:

1. Increase in unchurched and non-religious people along with believers alienated from their home church

2. The creativity found within the ISM community

3. Small intentional communities

 

The first point is an important demographic commentary.  Religion is no longer having the cultural force it once played.  There is a rise in people not attending a church or people who are alienated from the religion they were raised.  People who are not churched may not feel comfortable visiting more mainline jurisdictions for fear of being judged.  Moreover, there are a number of people alienated from their home church based upon varying theologies or life circumstances such as divorce and remarriage.  The Independent Sacramental Movement can appeal to individuals who long for the Sacraments but may not be able to access these in more mainline ways.

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The ISM movement is extremely creative.  As a Roman Catholic priest, I was sent to existing faith communities and ministries.  That also meant what I could or could not do was limited by a number of other factors.  ISM jurisdictions often love creative individuals who see a need that is not being addressed and find ways to bring God’s presence to meet this need. 

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Finally, small intentional communities were important in early Christianity and I would argue they remain important to this day.  Sadly, larger mainline churches are merging parishes and communities thereby creating larger and more distant communities.  These mergers, closures, and consolidations cause some to leave their community or feel lost in larger communities.  The ISM movement can be a source of hope to these individuals by providing a community where people can truly get to know each other and support one another.