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The Reverend Vern Barnet, DMn
bio page CRES minister emeritus vern@cres.org
Dear Friend: Because of the volume of requests I receive, my staff is authorized to send this response to you. If your request is of a truly personal nature to which this response is inadequate, please accept my apology and write me again with "Vern, this is a second request" in the subject line. Thanks for understanding.
RESPONSE #83
Interfaith Ministry Training
Dear Inquirer:
It is difficult for me to recommend unaccredited schools for interfaith ministry.
My concerns are several.
1. Some institutions focus on what is thought to be common to all or most faiths when in my opinion faiths are best approached with openness, to appreciate their differences. Only by a mature comprehension through lived experience can deep similarities be considered because they are not obvious to the novice, and a superficial approach to similarities is misleading.
2. Book-learning and lectures are insufficient for interfaith ministry. Actual supervised intern experience with at least several different faith groups would be as important as mastery of scholarly material.
3. Much that is written about various faiths in popular books is incorrect. Academic competence in fields such as psychology, world history, American religious history, sociology, theology, education and religious phenomenology should be required as preparation for interfaith ministry. Further, active membership in organizations such as NAIN or the IARF are valuable.
4. In addition, skills in teaching, communication arts, group process, and negotiation and mediation are essential.
Such preparation should be regarded as graduate work.
I recommend seminary work at Harvard Divinity School, the University of Chicago Divinity School, the Hartford Seminary, and the Gradauate Theological Union at Berkeley where it is possible to obtain both the knowledge and the skills to do interfaith ministry. In addition, local seminaries can provide a good portion of training to which, if practical and supervised experience is added, can become the basis for interfaith ministry. I also recommend the Interfaith Academies, in cooperation with Harvard's
Pluralism Project and Religion for Peace-USA, which, while an insufficient course, provides enough exposure to the problems and opportunities of interfaith work to inform one of whether to pursue a more thorough course of training.
It is also true that in some professions, such as hospital chaplaincy, one begins where one is and learns through experience.
5. Finally, I do not understand how a person can be ordained into interfaith ministry any more than a person can decide to speak without selecting a particular language in which to speak. It is wonderful if we can speak several languages, and it is wonderful if we can be comfortable in several faiths. And there are cases where persons have been ordained in two or more traditions. But I cringe at "interfaith ordination" because to me it sounds like pabulum.
While I myself do interfaith ministry, I was ordained in a particular tradition which in no way inhibits me from participating in the singular character of other faiths, any more than having a painting by Rembrant in my home prevents me from being profoundly moved by paintings by Mu Ch'i or Picasso. But I would hate to have them mangled together into one picture.
This said, I recognize that a number of friends have benefited greatly from their experiences at unaccredited interfaith instititions. As the field matures, my reservations will become less important.
Each person has special backgrounds, energies, and resources. Please accept my gratitude for your interest in doing interfaith work, whether or not you seek ordination or certification. There are many ways to be involved locally with over two dozen organizations in the metro area, and certainly including CRES.
Vern Barnet
