It's Time to Stop Talking About 'Vocational Priests'

More and more, I’ve heard people talk about ‘vocational priests’ as if this was the future of ordained ministry in Newfoundland. It’s time for that nonsense to stop. The expression is ignorant, offensive, and does very little to further the conversation about trends in ministry.

People who talk about ‘vocational priests’ usually mean something like ‘vocational deacons’: clergy who work in a parish without being paid, or only receiving a small travel allowance. But vocational deacons are those who are called specifically to be deacons, as opposed to transitional deacons, who are ordained with the intention of eventually being ordained priests. By that logic, a ‘vocational’ priest would be someone who doesn’t expect to ever be made a bishop. Last time I checked, that was most of us!

Calling some priests ‘vocational’ might also suggest that the others are somehow not vocational...

This post originally appeared in the October 2021 issue of Anglican Life.

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