Ministry is an Act of the Church

Summary from Willimon text...

I find it a little humorous that the first recorded act of the apostles after the ascension of the risen Christ into heaven is a meeting. It seems a little dampening on the magnificent and majestic event that has just occurred to then go straight to a business meeting of the apostles. The election of Matthias as a replacement apostle. This however serves as some sort of testimony that there is no church without leadership.

There is no doubt that ordination is gift of God. It is however a gift of God given through the church. Clergy arose because of the church's need for leaders and leadership.

The clergy are not more important than the laity. Willimon puts it this way, "The clergy as not a patrician upper crust set over the plebeian laity. The essence of priesthood is primarily relational and functional more than ontological." Quite simply: the clergy is about whom it serves and what it does, rather than what it is.

The difference between a minister who visits, preaches, and baptises, and any other skilled layperson who performs these same functions is the minister's "officialness". The minister's functioning are authorised by the whole church.

Next Post: To be a Minister is to be tied in a unique way to the church, the believing community in Christ.