Tears for the church

I know why Jesus wept over Jerusalem.

There's a very persistent and very vocal group of people in the United Church who have been trying to organize a clergy union. They've aligned themselves with the Canadian Auto Workers. Most people thought it was a joke when they started three or four years ago, but there's nothing funny about it.

I'm looking at the latest newsletter sent out by the union organizers. It's filled with old labour union jargon like "Clergy Unite" and "Solidarity forever!" They claim that there is a groundswell of support among clergy that makes a certification vote in the near future a certainty.

What's really sad is the reality that has motivated this drive. The church seems to have lost its ability to order its life and care for its members and leaders. We're hearing more and more stories about churches where the relationship between pastor and congregation (or members within the congregation) has completely broken down. There are charges of bullying, harrassment, abuse and even death threats against clergy and their families.

But some of the rhetoric of the organizers is really, if you think about it for a minute, quite shocking.

"Uniting together [with the CAW] will give us the confidence and collective empowerment to live out our ministries as we feel called to do." What?? "You will never know security and protection until you sign your union card." Excvse me?

I know there are heart-rending stories of clergy whose ministries have been derailed and destroyed by the sky-rocketing anxiety levels of churches in decline. I know the church attracts and enables some pretty nasty people. And that's cause for weeping.

But the naivete of clergy who think that unionizing is going to solve their problems and give them "true security" is simply breath taking.

It's enough to reduce you to tears.