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Living Theology inthe Metropolitan ChicagoSynod
Volume 9, Number 1
Spring 2004
The Vocation of the Laity

StandingBetween God and the World:

Reclaiming thePriesthood

SethMoland-Kovash

 

“The priesthood of all believers,” “the ministry of thebaptized,” “the call of the baptized”: all phrases andconcepts for ministry that are rightfully the source of much conversation andreflection as we seek to order the ministry of the church for the 21stCentury.  These phrases and concepts canalso be the source of much misunderstanding and disagreement when we movebeyond the quoting of well-worn theological phrases and move into concreteexpressions of priesthood, ministry, and call. 

These misunderstandings and disagreements generally becomethe most heated when we begin to talk about the distinctions within thecall/ministry of the baptized: the call/ministry of the laity and thecall/ministry of clergy.  There truly are(and need to be) distinctions between those calls, though we often seem toattempt to diminish them out of democratic or egalitarian impulses.

In my capacity as Associate Pastor for Youth and Family Ihave the privilege to lead the catechetical ministry for our congregation as weprepare young people for the Affirmation of their Baptism (typically calledConfirmation).  As part of this ministry,I spent some time with our confirmands beforeReformation Sunday talking with them about the promises they were about to makeand what those might mean in real life. 

I focused each of these individual conversations on oneportion of the liturgy for Affirmation of Baptism, the address to those makingaffirmation (rubric #14 on page 201 for those of you following along inLutheran Book of Worship).  If someonewere to ask me for the most concise and complete statement of what the “call ofthe baptized” really is, I would point to this address.  The call of the baptized as expressed in thisliturgy includes the call of the laity as well as the call of clergy. However,it is instructive to observe what things specific to each of these groups wemight learn from reflection on this address.

 

You have made public profession of your faith.  The call of all of God’s people begins withthe public profession of faith. It is the call of all the baptized, lay andclergy, to make public profession of faith, to bear the redeeming Word ofChrist with them wherever they are called. All of the baptized are called to follow in the footsteps of Mary(called Theotokos: God-Bearer) in bearing Christ tothe world and pointing the way toward Christ.1  This is done through the publicprofession of faith.  All of God’speople, whether clergy or lay, are called to make public profession of theirfaith, to be God-bearers in the places in which God has called them to live,worship, work, and play.

 

Do you intend to continue in the covenant God made with youin Holy Baptism: to live among God’s faithful people... It isthe call of all the baptized to live as a part of the Christian community.  That means that it is the role of thebaptized (for our purposes at the moment: the laity) to gather together withthe rest of the baptized.  The primaryway that Christians gather together to express and to experience their unity isin the Eucharistic celebration.  It isthe role of the laity to gather.  Clergyclearly have a special role to play in this gathering. 

I would maintain that the primary role of the clergy is togather the people together: to issue the call to worship and to preside overthe gathering.  Perhaps we need to bereminded of the image of the pastor as the president/presiderof the Christian assembly.  The clergy’scall in relation to the weekly gathering of the people is to ring the churchbell, to issue the call to gather and to issue theproclamation of what it is that we gather around.

Sometimes in our modern era of hyper-egalitarianism and the(rightful) fear of the misuse of authority, pastors (ones given authority bythe community) are afraid to or do not wish to exercise their authority.  But the call and the role of clergy is toissue the call to gather and to proclaim to the community what it is that wegather around.  If the gathering of thecommunity were left to the democratic impulses of the community, there is notelling when, how, or around what the community would gather.  It may be the latest social-justice issue,the latest technique or need for self-help or societal help, or a desire tosing the old favorites and get to brunch on time. 

As it is the call of the people to gather together around thelife-giving Word of God, it is the job or call of the clergy, no matter whetherthey wish to do it or not, to issue the call and to remind the community thatwe gather around that Gospel alone. Surely a pastor who exercises quality leadership with a listening earwill issue the call to gather around the Word of God in a way that speaks tothe needs of today’s Christians.

If the pastor doesn’t issue the call, how will the peopleknow when, where, and how to gather? Just as dangerous and pernicious to true Christian community as a pastorwho misuses personal authority in the call to worship is the pastor who refusesto exercise any authority at all.  Thisdifferentiation of roles and calls is nothing more or less than goodorder.  It has nothing to do withhierarchy or personal pride.

 

To hear his Word and share inhis supper… Here is where the role of the clergy aspresident/presider is most helpful as we seek todiscern the differing roles of clergy and laity in the life and ministry of thechurch.  It is the call of the laity tohear God’s Word and to share in the Lord’s Supper.  As baptized Christians, pastors need to continueto hear God’s Word over and over in new and old ways all the time.  Pastors also need to continue to find ways ofsharing in the Lord’s Supper, sometimes in roles other than as the presider.  But thereis a distinction to be made here: the pastor is also charged with a specificfunction, to preside over the hearing of God’s Word and the sharing of the mealwithin a congregation. 

As presider over the teaching andproclamation ministries of a congregation, it is the call of the pastor toensure that God’s Word is proclaimed. That is, to ensure that the Word is proclaimed with frequency, withintegrity, and with authenticity.  It isthe call of the pastor to ensure that it is the Word of God proclaimed asopposed to the many “words” of legalism or moralismthat abound in our world. 

Often, that means that the pastor will do the proclaimingwhile the laity will do the hearing.  Inany congregation, however, there are dozens and dozens of people who proclaimthe Word of God that is heard by the gathering of the baptized: Sunday School teachers, choir members, Congregation Councilmembers.  It is the call of the pastor,as presider, to ensure that it is the Word of Godthat is proclaimed.

Throughout the history of the church, and at the presentmoment in the ELCA, there has been some controversy over the proper role of thelaity in relation to the Lord’s Supper. If we see the pastor as the president/presiderof the assembly in relation to the Lord’s Supper, that would call our practicesback to the centrality of the assembly and its ministry (liturgy) in all ourpractices related to the meal. 

This is the basis for the practice of sending out laycommunion ministers to the homebound from the table around which the peoplegather, at which the pastor presides.  Itis more than appropriate for the laity to “share in [the Lord’s] supper” bytaking some of the meal from the table to share with those who cannot gatherwith the community.  For those who arehomebound to feel and to be truly connected to the assembly, that action needsto be based at the table around which the community gathers around which thepastor, who is chosen and called for this purpose, presides.

 

To proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word anddeed, to serve all people, following the example of our Lord Jesus, and tostrive for justice and peace in all the earth?  Here the promise ends with what I would callthe central call of the baptized and the center of what we mean when we use thephrase “the priesthood of all believers.” All believers are called to be priests in the sense of priests asmediators between God and humanity; all believers are called to stand beforeothers who need it and speak (or act) the Word of God.  And those same believers are called to standbefore God in prayer, speaking on behalf of others who may not have thestrength or the words.

All believers are called to be those “God-bearers” in theworld.  Stephen Ministers, Sunday School teachers, lay communion ministers, and the everpopular “casserole brigades” all live up to this call by bringing the savingmessage of God in Christ to those they encounter.

The priesthood of all believers speaks to us of the way thatChristians mediate between God and the world. The call of the clergy is to empower the people for this mediatingministry.  How are thepeople best empowered?  Are theyempowered by pastors joining the community in its action and priesthood, notwanting to be too authoritarian?  Arethey empowered by pastors who proclaim “Thus says the Lord…” without listeningto the needs and cries of the people?  Of course not. 

If the gathering of the baptized is to be truly empowered andenabled to proclaim the Word of God to a world in need while praying on behalfof the world before God, then the people need a priest themselves.  The people of God need a priest who is notafraid to stand in that uncomfortable space of leadership withoutauthoritarianism, not afraid to proclaim an alien Word of God while listeningto the cries of the people, not afraid to claim the call that has been given tothem by God and the community.  Ifpastors are unwilling to claim their priestly role, then there is no way thatthe community can properly exercise its own.

Seth Moland-Kovash

AssociatePastor, Our Saviour’s, Arlington Heights

 

1 For an excellent discussion of this call, especially asrelated to ministry with young people, see The GodbearingLife: The Art of Soul Tending for Youth Ministry byKenda Creasy Dean and Ron Foster (Upper RoomPublishing, 1998).