The Curious Case of Grace (at Ordination) - Part 1

The Curious Case of Grace (at Ordination):

A Poorly Recalled but Generally Accurate Conversation


Introductory Remarks:


My wife and I attend a great parish. I mean really great - like superb or fantastic (I could look at a thesaurus for more synonyms, but you get the idea). Not only do we have majestic prayer book worship, text-centered preaching, serious catechesis, and Christ-honoring fellowship, but our parish also started a program for the parochial formation of seminarians.


This program intends for her apprentices to learn different aspects of parish life “on the job” including (but not limited to): liturgics, homiletics, pastoral care, and administration as a supplement to our formal education. This program started with 2 (including yours truly) 1.5 years ago, but now boasts 6 seminarians attending two different academic institutions! Our merry band gathers on average about once a month at the associate rector’s home to pray the evening office, eat delicious food, and discuss books he assigned us to read, or the hot theological issue of the day.


During our last meeting we discussed the nature of ordination.


Context and Such:


There is a certain breadth within global Anglicanism concerning the nature of ordination and specifically the relationship between ordination and the sacraments. The issue that framed our discussion was how Sydney Anglicanism supports (generally speaking) so-called ‘Lay Presidency’ or ‘Lay Administration’ of the Eucharist as outlined in chapter 10 of Sydney Anglicanism: An Apology by Michael Jensen.


(http://www.amazon.com/Sydney-Anglicanism-Michael-P-Jensen/dp/1610974654)


As you may have already surmised, this allows a layperson, authorized by the bishop, to preside over and consecrate the elements for the Eucharist. (DISCLAIMER: This is not official practice in Sydney Diocese) So the real question that sparked this conversation was simply ‘why should a layman not preside over the Eucharist?’


Oh, by the way, the 6 seminarians represent 6 distinct jurisdictions and traditions: 2 high-church Anglicans (REC and APA), 1 low-church Anglican (ACNA), 1 Presbyterian (PCA), 1 Reformed Baptist, and Cranmer’s Crosier. So sit back, relax, and pour a pint of your favorite beverage. I pray this pseudo-accurate conversation blesses you.


Let’s begin.


-Cranmer’s Crosier


The Curious Case of Grace (at Ordination):


Fr. Clergyman: Good evening gentlemen. I hope you’ve taken some time to stew on the topic at hand. We are discussing Sydney’s push for ‘Lay Administration’ or ‘Lay Presidency’ over the Eucharist. Can anyone summarize the argument for me?

Reformed Baptist: Ah, yes Fr. Clergyman - I think I can. The argument goes something like this:

1. The Word and Sacrament are inextricably intertwined
   
   
2. Laypersons are allowed to preach and to baptize
   
   
3. Therefore it follows that they should also be allowed to preside over Holy Communion, lest the sacrament be elevated to an immoderate position over preaching the Word and even baptism.

In other words: Why should laypersons be kept from presiding over Holy Communion if they are allowed to do ‘everything else’ a clergyman can do?


Fr. Clergyman: Very good, thank you for your delightful (and for some reason very propositional) summary of this position Reformed Baptist. Are there any other comments from the peanut gallery?


REC: Yes. It should be noted that this theology of ordination (or lack thereof) rises from pastoral concerns in Australia. There are multiple churches in the Outback without priests, and this theological position proposes a solution to be able to solve such priestly shortages.


Let us remember that theology does not generate from a historical vacuum. It is not like someone woke up one day and thought “Hey, you know what would be great? Lay Presiders!”


Even the heretics were attempting to protect the Faith that they ultimately undermined.


Fr. Clergyman: An excellent point REC. We should also note what the Teacher said in Ecclesiastes 1:3


“The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be;
and that which is done is that which shall be done:
and there is no new thing under the sun.”


Has the Church seen this pastoral problem before?


Cranmer’s Crosier: I suspect such problems happened in the 17th - 18th centuries in colonial America as our bishop was all the way in London.


Fr. Clergyman: True! This is indeed not a new problem that Sydney faces, yet they propose a novel solution. The propositions that Reformed Baptist laid before us do indeed articulate Sydney’s position, but actually need some nuance and cannot be taken ‘whole hog’.


Similarly, Rwanda found itself with a serious pastoral problem. With many of their men slaughtered from the genocides in the 90s, Rwanda also lacked priests for their suffering congregations. To combat that they ordained godly woman to the priesthood; a short-sighted solution to a truly terrible problem.


PCA: What do you mean? Are there not (even female) nurses baptizing dying infants in the NICU?


APA: True, they do baptize. However, this is certainly not meant to be the normative practice. Traditionally, the Church has allowed laypersons to Baptize in an emergency situation (i.e. death), hence the NICU example.


PCA: Ah, I see. So the sweeping statements of the above propositions may not, in fact, quite articulate the historical position of the Church?


Fr. Clergyman: Correct. Just as the example of the Good Thief on the cross does not negate the importance of Baptism for the Christian- as many broad Evangelicals attempt to articulate.


But as I was saying before this delightful detour, the colonies did not have local bishops. Thus, you can imagine that ordinations were rare, and confirmations were rarer. One had to cross the Atlantic to be ordained in jolly old England for ministry in the Americas!


So you can imagine why so many churches in the USA or elsewhere traditionally have Holy Communion once a month to once every six weeks is because they lacked priests to come and administer it. The prayer book, however, expects Holy Communion weekly as it has propers for every Sunday.


ACNA: So we find the circuit-riding tradition grow out of this particular need?


Fr. Clergyman: Indeed ACNA. This tradition of rarer communion was borne out of necessity. A presbyter could only preside and preach at so many places on a Sunday. Therefore, a congregation would wait for that particular presbyter to make his rounds before Holy Communion was celebrated... so...


Reformed Baptist: Ha Fr. Clergyman! Now you’re trapped! Sydney Diocese is at least correct then in asserting that laymen preached regularly. We are still confronted by the same hypocrisy by allowing a layman to preach, but not preside over Holy Communion! Unless you are to have me believe that these congregations did not meet in the off-weeks?


Fr. Clergyman: Let me finish RB. This is where we find the usefulness of a Lay-Reader in the Church. A Lay-Reader (as you could guess) was a layman who led Morning and Evening Prayer and read homilies to the congregation. Notice I did not say ‘preach’. A lay-reader was authorized (in theory) to only read the approved homilies in the prayer book or other sermons that were rubber-stamped by the bishop. Now, whether that was observed faithfully all the time is a different matter. You should also note that Morning and Evening prayer do not demand a sermon to be preached or a homily to be read. We find that only in the Holy Communion service.


Imagine a marriage. Let us suppose that CC worked on an oil rig away from his wife (obviously hypothetical as CC has no talent). Though he may not be able to… cover your ears REC… give to her the conjugal love as often as they both want, it does not at all mean that she should seek a substitute for the ‘real McCoy!’ in the off-weeks!


*Laughter*


Cranmer’s Crosier: So then how shall we describe the difference between lay and ordained? Michael Jensen argues on page 156 that ordination is not necessary to celebrate, unless we hold to a “quasi-mystical view of the effects of ordination”. Please, let’s begin the unpacking the case for the nature of ordination from the Scriptures. As it was pointed out to me on Anglican Forums by Lowly Layman- St. Cyril says:


Concerning the divine and holy mysteries of the Faith, not even a casual statement must be delivered without the Holy Scriptures; nor must we be drawn aside by mere plausibility and artifices of speech.


Fr. Clergyman: An excellent point. We will examine three particular Scriptures tonight:


First from 2 Timothy 1:6-7 -


Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.


and second from Deuteronomy 34:9 -


And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the Lord commanded Moses.


finally from the Gospel of St. John 20:21-23


Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”


But first the coffee must be made!


Part 2 forthcoming ...

 

delightful

 

@Spherelink - Glad you enjoyed it. I typed the ENTIRE post out a week ago and Firefox crashed... lesson learned. Write in parts and save a document.

 

Will there be any more installments? I am curious about what happened next

 

@Spherelink - I started today! I have final projects due the next two weeks, but I hope to crank it out this weekend....

 

I would love to hear the second part of this conversation you had, as I found the first part very interesting.