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Editorial

By Paul Beasley-Murray.

Celtic spirituality has been all the rage for several years. For those who have yet to become familiar with this phenomenon, I dare to believe that no better introduction could be offered than that by Alun Brookfield, one of our RBIM Board members.

One of the down-sides of charismatic renewal in the non-liturgical sector of church life has been the virtual disappearance of intercessory prayer in public worship. Philip Clements-Jewery's article on "Persons in Prayer", in which he outlines the philosophical and theological basis for prayer, will hopefully act as a corrective to those who to all intents and purposes have given up on praying for others as well as an encouragement to those who still do.

Robin Greenwood is one of the theological heavy-weights of the Anglican communion; what is more, he is a theologian with a passion for ministry and mission. His Transforming Priesthood (SPCK, London 1994) was a distinguished contribution to Anglican thinking relating to the role of the ordained priesthood. It is good therefore to have this further thought-provoking and wide-ranging examination of present and future understandings of ministry

With ministerial appraisal in its infancy, we have yet further reflections on appraisal. In the last but one issue John Simmonds of the Methodist Division of Ministry shared with us the thinking behind the Methodist system of self-accompanied appraisal. Harvey Richardson writes from the grassroots and tells us how it really is.

A confession. To my great embarrassment I realised recently that -in spite of all my talk of excellence in ministry -I have probably tended to be a little sloppy when it has come to visiting the bereaved prior to a funeral. Unlike the times when I follow a fairly rigorous checklist to agree details of weddings, with funerals I have simply had a blank card in my hand and flown by the seat of my pants. But now I have now remedied the situation and produced a formal bereavement checklist, listing the things which I normally raise with the bereaved. A copy of this checklist is reproduced in this issue. Needless to say, I would be delighted to improve on the checklist, so any critical comments would always be welcome!

An offer. Readers are reminded that membership of RBIM entitles members to a free, but limited, consultancy service. In response to written queries relating to issues arising from the practice of ministry we are more than happy to put members in touch with relevant resource material and/or people. Please direct all enquiries to me at: BeasleyMurray@compuserve.com.