Now that we're getting back to the swing of things, would love to hear your thoughts and comments on this posting from Sunday. See below or click on the headline above or go here.bb
Monday, January 01, 2007
Conversation Continues: What's the Laity For Anyway?
Now that we're getting back to the swing of things, would love to hear your thoughts and comments on this posting from Sunday. See below or click on the headline above or go here.bb
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I have been thinking about your post for several days. I didn’t have time to get back due to the holidays. The thing that first struck me was the thought that “priesthood of all believers” did not negate the need for an ordained clergy. I believe that what Paul was saying is that we, who have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, are better off than the priests from the Old Testament who were allowed to enter the Holy of Holies only once each year. We have constant access to the throne of God.
So then I began to see what sort of answers the Orthodox Church in American might have to your question “what’s the laity for?”. I found the following (sorry this is all so long!)
The following answer was provided in response to a question about ordination of women in the Orthodox Church.
I would like to share a story with you to help illustrate: Shortly after the outbreak of the Russian Revolution, the militantly atheistic communist regime passed laws separating Church and state and separating the schools from the Church. Other laws forbade the ordained clergy from evangelizing, teaching religion to anyone, especially to children, etc. Clergy were limited to carring out religious rites within the confines of church walls -- which had been confiscated by the state. The goal of this anti-religious stance was to wipe out all religious expression and faith, since religion was seen as "the opium of the people" and an obstacle in the creation of pure socialism. Such would be the situation until the late 20th century. There is a story which relates how a Patriarch of Moscow, shortly after the Revolution, was asked by a Soviet leader, "What will the Church do after the last grandmother dies?" The Patriarch replied, "There will be another generation of grandmothers to take their place." Very prophetic words, especially when one considers that most of today's grandmothers within the former Soviet Union were mere children or not even born when these words were first spoken.
The point of the story: In Orthodoxy the ordained priesthood is, of course, essential. Yet other ministries, including that of the grandmothers who were capable of continuing the priestly ministry of handing on the faith to the younger generations when the ordained clergy had no possibly to do so, are equally essential. Saint Paul speaks of a variety of functions which are critical to making the ministry of the Church whole, complete, and lacking in nothing. While each of these functions may be different, each is absolutely necessary. Hence, the ordained priesthood is essential, yet there are a variety of other ministries which are extensions of the priestly ministry of Our Lord -- and these other ministries, in fact, must be carried out in order to ensure the fullness of the faith and Church life.
Orthodoxy does not see the priesthood has a "right" or a "privilege." It does not see the clergy as a caste apart from the laos tou Theou, the People of God. It does not understand ordination to the priesthood as a matter of justice, equality, political correctness, or human rights. No one, not even males, has the "right" to ordination; even our seminary catalogues state that the awarding of a divinity degree in no way guarantees ordination, as this is within the competency of the hierarchy alone. And no one, not even males, "chooses" ordination; we believe that it is God Who does the choosing, even if His will in this instance seems completely contrary with the understanding of this world or this culture or this era. [God's ways are not mankind's ways.] The clergy do not stand above the People of God; they stand in their midst, just as Christ stands in the midst of His People. Those who carry out essential ministries without being ordained also stand in the midst of God's People, for the ministries they pursue in the name of Our Lord also share in His work. The image of the Church is one in which the entire "laos tou Theou" work and worship together "with one mind" in harmony, upbuilding one another and striving to achieve unity, rather than planting division or focusing undue attention on differences or alleged inequalities.
It is interesting to note that the controversy over the ordination of women is a rather recent one with roots outside the Orthodox Church. It is also interesting to note that, while the controversy rages in other confessions and has been a source of division, enmity, and schism elsewhere, it has garnered far less interest among Orthodox Christians. While the matter surely warrants thorough study, discussion, and dialogue, especially within cultures such as our own, and while there are certain related questions which indeed beg serious discussion -- such as the role of deaconesses in the early Church -- care needs to be taken not to create an artificial issue. The teaching of the Church clearly encourages all persons, women as well as men, young as well as old, to undertake essential critical ministries in the life of the Church -- the grandmothers of the Soviet era had a far greater impact on the life of the Church than the clergy of their day; had those grandmothers been ordained clergy, they would not have been able to have the same powerful effect on generations which otherwise might have been lost. Perhaps the very success of the hordes of faithful grandmothers in their priestly ministry as grass-roots evangelizers is due not only to their faith, but to their understanding of ministry as a gift and a blessing and a calling and a vocation rather than a question of justice and equality, as is heard so often in heterodox circles.
If we truly believe that all that happens within the Body of Christ is directed and inspired by the Holy Spirit, we might well question why calls for the ordination of women only surfaced some 1,950 years after Christ. In His own time we see the exemplary ministry of the myrrh-bearing women who served Our Lord while the male disciples hid in fear and denied knowledge of Him.
While it is only my opinion that the question should never be silenced, I would also propose that its discussion must be conducted within the parameters of the Church's ongoing Tradition and not in post-modern secular or humanist categories which bear little relationship to the Gospel. While Orthodoxy has not accepted the ordination of women, it does laud a woman, the Theotokos, as the one who is "more honorable than the cherubim and more glorious beyond compare than the seraphim" and holds her up as a model for all of God's People, male and female alike. In this light, salvation, not ordination, is the goal of Christian life.
While I am not sure if this answers your question, I do hope it puts the issue in a different light while offering a different perspective with which to continue prayerful reflection of the matter.
The following is in answer to a question about the role of laymen in the church.
First of all, it has to be understood that all members of the Church are full members, each with his own calling and responsibility.
The clergy are those members who have a special service within the body, and not over it or apart from it. They are chosen from the people and are ordained within the community with the special sacramental function to lead and to care for the life of the faithful.
The clergy, however, are in no way infallible. They also have no "personal" rights or powers. Their entire service is organically carried on in and for the Church. If they fail in their service and prove themselves unworthy, they may be challenged by the lay people and by procedures clearly indicated in church laws they may be removed from their ministry. There are many examples in Orthodox Church history when lay people have preserved the Christian Faith in opposition to unworthy hierarchs.
Also it must be seen that there are conciliar bodies on every level of church life in which lay people participate. The majority of theologians and teachers in the Orthodox Church, as well as church administrators and workers of various sorts, are lay people and not clergymen.
Thus, although the clergy have their own particular function of leadership, and that by sacramental grace and not merely by human choice or selection, the lay people have their functions as well. All, however, are responsible for the integrity of the Church. This traditional Orthodox position has the official confirmation of the famous Encyclical Letter of the Eastern Patriarchs of 1848. In this letter it is clearly expressed that the entire body of the Church is the bearer of the Orthodox Faith and Life, with each member bearing full responsibility before God and men for Christian unity in the truth and Love of God. Thus if we can speak about any infallibility at all, or of any power or authority, it must belong to God who lives and acts in all of His People, led by the sacramental hierarchy.
The last was a question about the laity being guardians of the faith:
One of the problems is speaking of "laity" is that the English word comes from the Greek "laos" -- specifically "laos tou Theou" or "People of God" -- which refers to all members of the Church, not just to the ordained clergy. If by his statement the author is referring to the "People of God" collectively, it would have a somewhat different meaning than if the author is defining the term "laity" as "unordained persons."
It is the Bishop who is the guardian of the faith; by extension, with his blessing, the faithful, clergy and lay alike, are also expected to preserve the integrity of the faith by their lives, their example, and their involvement in and enthusiasm for the faith community.
I hope that this will stir up more thought and discussion.
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