THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST AND US
by Bea Spelman
Many people only think of the presbyter as the Priest. For that reason, they do not know that Jesus Christ is the Priest and that they all are called to participate in Christ's Priesthood. Fr. Alexander Schmemann describes the institutional priesthood as a ministry which has "no vocation." (Of Water and the Spirit) The presbyter exists solely to coax into being the priestly vocation of all. A presbyter has "the vocation which, by making Christ's unique Priesthood present, makes all other vocations truly the fulfillment of man's royal priesthood." In being the father of a local church, a bishop or priest (or in being the mother of a convent, an abbess) empties himself (or herself) to help others fulfill God's high calling. In being the father or mother of a family, parents likewise empty themselves to enable their children to live a godly life. The words of Saint John the Forerunner and Baptizer of our Lord can be applied here "he must increase, but I must decrease." (John 3:30)
The bishop or presbyter is first and foremost a member of the Church. He is one of the laity, the people of God. Although no one can ever take Christ's place, he stands in the place of Christ as head of the Eucharistic gathering. Christ only is the head of the Church, yet by the same gift by which we all participate in any ministry, the bishop or presbyter participates in Christ's headship.
Near the end of the second century, Saint Ignatius of Antioch wrote to local churches about the ministry of the bishop as the head of the Eucharistic gathering. Saint Ignatius sees the bishop as a type for God as a source of unity in the local church. The bishop and the clergy are to have authority. "...you should give glory to [Jesus Christ]; and this, if sanctification is to be yours in full measure, means uniting in a common act of submission and acknowledging the authority of your bishop and clergy." (To the Ephesians, 2) The members of the local Church should operate according to the will of the bishop. "For we can have no life apart from Jesus Christ; and as He represents the mind of the Father, so our bishops...represent the mind of Jesus Christ." (Ephesians, 3) Often more is read into Saint Ignatius than is present in the texts. The hierarchy which he describes is not one of privileged rank or degree. If it were, his texts could be misconstrued as putting the deacons in a "higher degree" than the other clergy. The imagery is not a one-to-one correspondence. In his letter to the Magnesians Saint Ignatius says, "Let the bishop preside in the place of God, and his clergy in place of the Apostolic conclave, and let my friends the deacons be entrusted with the service of Jesus Christ..." (Magnesians, 6) But in his letter to the Ephesians he says that the bishop represents the mind of Christ. In one place he uses the bishop as a type for the Father; in another place he uses the bishop as a representation of Jesus Christ. The emphasis is not on a one-to-one correspondence, "b" stands for "x," but on relationship. The bishop is a focus of unity of belief that is manifested in the Eucharistic gathering. Much has been said of Saint Ignatius' writing about the bishop as being an icon for God. Although this concept is present in the texts with his use of the words "type" and "represent," such an iconic representation does not decrease the extent to which all Christians can be an icon of Christ. Moreover, the bishop is not above or separate from the Church. "...you, who are inseparably one with him [the bishop] as the Church is with Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ with the Father." (Ephesians, 5)
Such an idea of episcopal and presbyteral ministries as neither separate from nor above the Church avoids both clericalism and congregationalism. Most people think of clericalism and congregationalism as two extreme opposites and feel a solution to either of these problems is to find a balance or middle ground. This is false. Both clericalism and congregationalism spring from the same source. They are different manifestations of the same deeper problem. In fact, they may both be present at once! For example, suppose a parish feels that a priest must do whatever the parish council tells him about the budget, yet the whole parish does not participate fully in the Eucharistic concelebration because they see themselves as spiritually less worthy than the priest, then there is both congregationalism and clericalism present at once. An antagonistic separation between the clergy and the rest of the laity is the root of both clericalism and congregationalism. If the people (including the presbyter) forget their high calling from God to live a priestly life, or if either they or the presbyter forget that all is a gift from God, the unity is broken.
The opposite of clericalism/congregationalism is hierarchical concil-iarity. The members of the Church live in unity instead of separation, disunity and antagonism. Although the Holy Apostle Paul was writing about the Christian household in Ephesians when he said, "Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ," (Ephesians 5:21) he could have said the same about a parish family. People, be subject to your bishop. Bishop, be subject to your people. Everyone, throw yourselves under one another to honor Christ. It is this mutual submission to Christ and each other which gives the Church conciliarity.
In the Divine Liturgy, we pray for our bishops that they might "rightly handle the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15). Not only our bishops, but all Christians are called to speak God's word of truth. All Christians are responsible in all love and submission that bishops do teach the truth. There have been times in the history of the Church, such as during the Arian controversy, when many bishops held falsehood. It is only with struggle that the whole Church listened to the Holy Spirit and articulated the truth. Hierarchical conciliarity is the living and creative mode of life in the Church which involves struggle.
(Bea Spelman is a parishioner at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Boston.)
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