Apropos of our current discussion, alert reader Sara sent me this terrific article by Carol Howard Merritt.
http://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2012-04/power-games
Spot on, young ‘un. Wise words. [THIS JUST IN: Carol Howard Merritt is not a young ‘un, she is a 40-year old with 14 years in the parish. Which makes me feel much better, as I was kind of astounded that a 20-something would have already achieved that level of wisdom regarding ministry. My apologies to CHM, and to all of you who think that “young ‘un” is a perjorative expression rather than a term of endearment. – PB]
Carol was indeed young in 1998 when she was ordained, and her words in the post to which you linked are very wise. But she is no “young ‘un.” Why would you use that patronizing descriptor for a colleague who has been an ordained minister almost as long as you have? I find this perplexing. [Because I thought she was in her late 20’s! Wow! My bad. But please give me a break on the hand-wringing over “young ‘un.” Someone who spends as much time mentoring newbies as I do doesn’t deserve it, and they don’t need you to be offended on their behalf over my use of an endearment. – PB]
Psst, PB… that “young’un” is 40 years old with 14 years of parish experience. [DANG, girl looks like a 20-something! I hope she’ll let me know what eye cream she uses. LOL – PB]
Good reminder for us not-so-young-‘uns too. Time for me to pay some attention to my office furniture.
Great article – thanks for sharing.
GREAT article. It’s entirely true; you need to know how to talk the talk and walk the walk in order to make an impact. The rules might not be “fair”, but once you claim that authority and power, you are in a position to make changes for the better.
Excellent. It’s like the thread about makeup a few posts back. We have to know the rules of the game that’s being played, as best we can. We may challenge them, identify them, break them, or use them, but being ignorant of them will get us nowhere fast. Thanks for sharing this.