The longer I am ordained and in ministry the more I realize how much a parish priest in the continuing Anglican tradition has to do that is not related strictly to theology. Many folk think they will have successful ministries simply if they can master St. Thomas, teach a class once a week, and lead a pretty mass. But it takes so much more than that, and people who think that having an academic interest in theology automatically translates into a vocation to Holy Orders (at least in our tradition) are sadly mistaken.
Today's parish priest is not only the spiritual father of his parish but also the CEO of a small business. As leader of the parish he has to think up activities that need to be done, and inspire others to do the same. He has to be attune to the needs of the physical plant. He has to advertise and go out and "beat the bushes" to spread the word about the church. He has to be computer literate. He has to be an outgoing "people person", or at least be able to fake it. He has to help generate an overall vision for the church and steer it in that direction. He has to be available to do parish ministry 24/7. In short, he cannot just sit back and wax eloquent on philosophy and theology and dress up in pretty clothes on Sundays - at least not in a continuing Anglican parish.... maybe in a TEC or Roman parish with some massive endowment clergy can afford to do that. But by and large, those days have long since passed. In continuing Anglican parishes clergy have to get their hands dirty and do real work, otherwise the parish will die. Being a parish priest is an all-consuming vocation.
Those who are interested in ordination should first and foremost be interested in parish ministry, and not academic theology. A thorough knowledge of philosophy and theology is indeed important and vital to the ordained ministry, but that is only part of it. If you can't communicate it well, or put it into action, or inspire others with it, or even worse if you are not that interested in ministry or dealing with "common people", then you probably have a different vocation... to be a theologian perhaps, but not necessarily a deacon or priest.
