The precarious enterprise of ministry

The effect of the cultural values of rationalization and individualism upon the status of the parish minister is discussed. These values make the minister's status precarious because role behavior is difficult to interpret in terms of them. Some defenses against precariousness are outlined.This paper was read at the session, Ministry Studies: The Contribution of Samuel W. Blizzard, convened at the annual meeting of the Religious Research Association, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, October 1975. The late Samuel Wilson Blizzard was Maxwell M. Upson Professor of Christianity and Society at Princeton Theological Seminary.