Chapter Two - Licensed and Authorised Ministry
Introduction
- Chapter 1 has drawn attention to the challenges facing a church working
out its vocation in the world. This Chapter considers the nature of that
relationship, and conducts a brief survey of the offices which the Church
of England itself has developed in order to live out its calling.
How does the local church relate to the universal Church?
- By the second century CE, the Church had evolved a system for providing pastoral oversight that centred on a bishop, who was assisted in caring for a particular community by presbyters and deacons. This continues to be a foundational pattern of ministry, and we continue to understand the Bishop as 'chief pastor', sharing his ministry with those in licensed or authorised forms of ministry who ensure that the essential functions of oversight and care can be properly exercised locally. However, present-day concerns have made it necessary to look again at the language which describes this model of ministry.
- Two major consequences have followed. The first is a shift from a language
of role, to a language of dimension or function, so that the churches are now
encouraged to speak of personal, collegial and communal aspects of ministry,
rather than just the personal embodiment of these functions in bishops, presbyters
and deacons. The second is a revision of the way in which we discuss apostolic
tradition. Until recently, the language of apostolicity has been used to discriminate
between churches which have maintained a ministry in direct succession to the
first Apostles and those (especially Free and Reformed Churches) which have
not. We are now urged to think of the church's apostolic nature as ‘continuity
in the permanent characteristics of the Church of the apostles: witness to
the apostolic faith, proclamation and fresh interpretation of the Gospel, celebration
of baptism and the eucharist, the transmission of ministerial responsibilities,
communion in prayer, love, joy and suffering, service to the sick and the needy,
unity among the local churches and sharing the gifts which the Lord has given
to each.’ 1
- We experience powerfully at local level both the ministry of oversight and the continuation of a tradition that is apostolic in character. The bishop is responsible for making sure that each local church can meet this expectation. This means supporting the resources that are locally available, sharing best practice and reinforcing local resources with diocesan assistance where necessary.
The Call to Ministry
- A direct consequence of paying close attention to the local situation
will be the active identification of gifts within the local church so that
the very highest standards of pastoral care, proclamation of the Gospel,
teaching and worship are maintained.
- Even before this process of discernment begins, however, we need to remind ourselves that all baptized Christians are called by their baptism into the membership of Christ's Church, and into Christ's service through that belonging. The Introduction to the latest generation of Church of England Initiation Rites emphasises that ‘one test of the liturgical celebration of baptism is whether, over time, it enables the whole Church to see itself as a baptized community, called to partake in the life of God and to share in the mission of God to the world’ 2. Ministry is therefore the characteristic mode of Christian being. It is the 'calling' referred to in the Letter to the Ephesians (Ephesians 4.1), and the summoning into a ‘royal priesthood’ which the First Letter of Peter describes (1 Peter 2.9-10).
- Within the community of all the baptized, some are called to the ordained
ministry as bishops, priests and deacons. The Anglican Ordinal, which sets
out the forms by which these offices are conferred, states clearly how ordained
ministry relates the local church to the Universal Church. For this reason
it is worth recalling that the Ordinal is one of the three official statements
which enshrine the Church of England's doctrine. It is very firm about the
scrutiny of the candidates, and makes it clear that the ministry is not independent
of the community it exists to serve. Candidates for ordination are received
by the whole congregation as well as by the bishop in the name of the whole
Church. But ordination is not mere delegation of temporary ad hoc authority
by a local congregation. It is to a lasting function and therefore an office
in the whole Church of God.
- Increasingly - and this Report will recommend that it should be the practice
across the Diocese - ordained ministers find themselves working with other
members of the baptized community.
- Where ministry is exercised through team work, more thoroughgoing provision can be made for the formation and nurture of the people of God in the local situation. All of this is part of the ministry of oversight which those in ordained ministry share with the bishop. Today, this cannot be sustained by just one or two ordained staff where there are larger benefices and greater distances, and longer working hours for people who often commute.
Other Forms of Licensed and Authorised Ministry
- George Guiver introduces a recent collection of essays on priesthood by
drawing attention to the thorny question 'What is a priest?' 'It is impossible
to talk about priesthood in isolation,' he says. 'The priest is no independent
species - the "laity" are part of the picture of what the priest
is, and the priest is part of the picture of what the laity are. . . A contemporary
understanding of priesthood within the Church can only be discovered in the
context of the whole people of God.’
3 He sums up the essays as looking
'to one focal point, where the Christian community, conscious of its communion
with the great Church on earth and in heaven, looks on the ministry exercised
by its priest and says, “This is a priesthood which is both yours and
ours” '4.
- This is a picture of a reciprocal relationship, where 'priest' and 'minister'
and 'laity' only make sense when they are considered together. It is a picture
that will assist us as we consider other recognised ministries which are
exercised alongside the ordained ministry, and play their own part in focusing
the life and ministry of the whole Church.
- 'Recognised' is a broad umbrella term. It encompasses two categories that exist in the legal constitution of the Church - licensed and authorised ministry. It is useful, therefore, to rehearse a series of definitions.
- Licensed ministers hold the Bishop's licence to fulfil a particular role
in a particular place. This applies to stipendiary (and in a very few cases
non-stipendiary) parochial clergy, as well as to clergy in sector ministries
such as university chaplaincies, industrial chaplaincies and prison and hospital
chaplaincies, whose employer is not the Church, but who exercise a ministry
in a designated place.
- Readers also hold the Bishop's licence to perform their function. While
their ministry has traditionally been primarily one of teaching, preaching
and leading worship, they have increasingly come to be involved in the whole
range of Christian ministry, including pastoral care. Today, many Readers
officiate at funerals, and act as ministers of Communion by Extension. Some
Readers with leadership gifts have been appointed as 'Readers-in-charge'
of parishes, and this has proved an effective strategy. The number of Readers
in the Diocese has increased significantly as Chapter One noted and there
are many more in training.
- Church Army Officers constitute a further category of licensed ministers.
Some work as evangelists in the large new housing developments in Cambridgeshire,
and others play an important part in youth and children's ministry across
the Diocese. All contribute substantially to the life of the parishes where
they live and serve.
- The Church is increasingly dependent on the work of non-stipendiary clergy, who typically exercise priesthood chiefly in their secular employment. There is a great need to affirm their membership of the ministry teams in which they serve, and to ensure that they are able to take advantage of CME programmes, and to play as full a part as possible in Clergy Chapters, Synods, and other diocesan gatherings.
- Permission to Officiate is granted to clergy who have
retired from full-time ministry, or who have full-time secular positions,
but who are still willing to offer help to parishes in need. It relates to
the whole geographical area of the Diocese, and is granted for a finite period
of time so that regular review can take place.
- Authorised lay ministers hold the Bishop's permission to perform certain
functions e.g. administration of the chalice; home communions; a pastoral
assistant's role. In most of these cases, authorisation relates to the
local situation, and the individual concerned would be commissioned there.
Bishop's School Visitors exercise their ministry more widely across the
Diocese. We affirm also lay people employed by the Diocese, who exercise
a valued ministry on its behalf as Advisers and Officers The office of
'Elder' which was established some years ago has dwindled to very small
numbers. Its revival will not be recommended, since its functions will
be properly represented in those authorised lay ministries which the Diocese
hopes to sustain.
- We recommend that the existing spectrum of authorised lay ministries be
widened to include pastoral assistants, evangelists and youth and children's
ministers, yet in a framework which does not just proliferate offices and
titles. We do not therefore suggest the creation of lots of new 'orders'
of lay minister. We wish to see a variety of lay ministries encouraged
and together with training resources and ongoing support. We want to encourage
lay ministry through the exercise of gifts and functions rather than through
the creation of titles and categories. We acknowledge that attention will
have to be given to accreditation and moderation and commend this to the
implementation stage, but the main priority must be the releasing of energy
and the nurture of gifts.
- Special mention should be made of two important categories which
may form part of future considerations.
- If we are to follow the logic of the discussion of ministry articulated
in this Report, then one consequence may be the discovery of vocations
which are affirmed and nurtured by the local church. The Diocese of Ely
has not hitherto embraced a scheme for training Ordained Local Ministers
and we do not recommend doing so at this stage. The cost of such a scheme
would be prohibitive and its maintenance would depend upon the establishment
of a strong network of local ministry teams. We acknowledge that theological
opinion is divided. However, we should not entirely rule out the possibility
at some future date. Neighbouring dioceses have been running OLM schemes
for some time, and continuing discussions would do well to take account
of their experience.
- Another form of ministry which has been discussed recently at national
level, largely at the instigation of the St Neots Deanery in this Diocese,
is the Permanent Diaconate. The Roman Catholic Church is further ahead
in supporting this ministry, and in the Church of England, its function
would have to be examined alongside the function of Reader Ministry, which
is increasingly acquiring diaconal characteristics. The Permanent Diaconate
might be seen as a model of service to the world, not only in the preaching
of the Gospel, but in many other ways which respond to the contingencies
of modern life. Its re-establishment in the Church of England is a decision
for national agreement at General Synod level. And the issues have been
set out in the report, For Such a Time as This.
- While we have described all these categories of ministry separately, it cannot be said too often that ministry is an integrated function. It is the responsibility of the Church, whose baptized members undertake it together, their different roles and callings working together to develop a whole system of ministry .
Notes:
- World Council of Churches Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry Geneva: WCC, 1982; 5th repr. 1983, 'Ministry' paragraph 34, p.28.
- Central Board of Finance of the Church of England Common
Worship Initiation Services London: CHP, 1998. p.12.
- George Guiver CR 'Introduction' in George Guiver (ed.) Priests
in a People's Church London: SPCK, 2001. pp.vii-x; p.vii.
- George Guiver CR 'The Priest as Focus' in Priests in a People's Church. pp. 127-138; p.138.
Contents
- Foreword by the Bishop of Ely
- Introduction by the former Bishop of Huntingdon
- Chapter One Context and Challenges
- Chapter Two Licensed and Authorised Ministry
- Chapter Three Local Ministry Teams
- Chapter Four Resourcing Ministry
- Chapter Five Structures
- Recommendations
- Bibliography
- Appendix