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A Priestless Society?

Some years ago, I took a course at VTS on the Theology of Priesthood. The bulk of the course focussed on OT and NT sources before exploring possibilities for the life of the church today. It was a great class. The professor, a Presbyterian elder & theologian, shared his belief that one day there woudl be no clergy, and probably no large congregations, but a group of people gathered in someone’s living room, and when the moment arrives to celebrate the eucharist the host(ess) would prepare a table, and there celebrate. This was my first serious exploration of ideas woven around the idea of a priestless society of believers.

Interstingly last night, while visiting with someone after conducting an interview for the Archive I was asked what I thought of a priestless OC/IC community? There is a span of over a decade between these two occasions but throughout the intervening period I’ve had more than one occasion to play with this idea with others. Often, its a member of the community raising the question – wondering outloud if it would be possible, and how it would affect our theology.

I think it is a very interesting question, not because I support the idea – I do not – but because it makes us sit down together as a community and expore our understanding of the role of the four fold order, the theology of ordained ministry, and finally, our theology of the sacraments.

I’ve not thought out all of the possibilities – it is afterall a speculation, a bit of theological play intended to shake things about and see what falls through the sifter that might be a real gem of discovery.

In no particular order I offer some of my own questions:

What is the role of Apostolic Succession here? If we assert that the priest is the one who secures it for the community does this not affect the efficacy of all sacraments where there is no priest present? Does this not also make a statement about the disparity between the ordained orders and the order of the laity?

What is the role of the clergy in our communities (at least those communities not attempting to replicate Rome, Canterbury, or Constantinople minus a few inconvenient dogmas)? Freed from the expectations of particular institutional models does this not give us an opportunity to revitilise the role of ordained ministry? How are we doing it already? What might be lost if we were to cultivate priestless societies within our OC/IC movement?

What is the pastoral effect on people – their visceral, undefined response to a priestless eucharist? Would this impede our ability to effectively communicate our message, and be agents of grace for others, for one another?

These are only a few of my questions. I would be intersted to read your responses, and to see the questions you raise.

24/08/2007 | Filed under Ask An Indie Theologian, OC/IC Issues, OC/IC Theology - Ways of Doing Theology, Theology of Ordained Service, What Is OC/IC/ISM Church?.

  • David Oliver Kling

    I look to the Mormon Church for inspiration. In the LDS Church almost every man is a priesthood holder, and it is expected that if you live a good and pious life you will be a priest (elder). They start young boys off early on their journey in the priesthood. This model could certainly be utilized because they cherish the priesthood, but make it available — and have a “lay priesthood.” Open this up to women and it might be a model worth looking into.

  • HilbertAstronaut

    “Priestless” can mean more than one thing for me. To me, it centers around the difference between “everybody IS a priest” (priesthood is like Confirmation — it just happens if you stick around long enough) and “everybody CAN be a priest” (“tentmaker” priests, open formation process, active encouragement of religious vocations).

    It seems like a lot of “priestless” Christian congregations today do have a leader or leaders, who in essence manifest ecclesiastical power, despite their lack of sacramental ordination. The power structure remains, even though in principle anyone could walk up to the pulpit and perform the same functions. “Priestlessness” doesn’t deconstruct the power structure. One reason for this is that any kind of ministry is a vocation; it requires special gifts and a certain amount of time and dedication to self-formation.

    If everybody CAN be a priest, even for a “house church,” then anyone gifted by God with ministry skills can have the opportunity to use them for the glory of God and the service of her fellows. Meanwhile, those who have other vocations (but may be just as devoted Christians) don’t have to think of themselves as being somehow less than full Christians, just because they aren’t serving formally priestly functions.

  • Alexis Tančibok

    hi David, thanks for getting this started!

    hmmm. . . .

    I had not thought of the Mormons when writing this. It strikes me though that they still maintain a sense of different orders within ministry those who are ordained to X “level” and those who are not if you see what I mean. Though, you raise an element here which I’m equally fascinated by – one which has a huge impact on our OC/IC situation and that is the opposite end of the spectrum – that everyone is ordained.

    Just thinking out loud for a moment . . .

    in both cases the result is that everyone is ostensibly the same – if no one is ordained, or if everyone is ordained. My immediate, visceral reaction to this is . . . homogenaity – how boring! Not very theological I know, and definitely not very PC (grin) but while it is an admittedly “un-thinking” response to the idea there is something in it – our system of the four fold order innately makes space for, encourages the cultivation of, and celebrates the diversity of gifts each limb, digit, and folicle brings to the dance of the whole body.

    Naturally the “theory” does not always work out on the ground – but there’s nothing wrong with aspiring towards a better model (grin).

  • Alexis Tančibok

    Hello Hilbertastronaut . . .

    let me first see if I’m understanding your point – ’cause I thought I got it, then it got away from me, then I thought I got it again, and . . . .

    you make the distinction between everyone IS a priest and everyone CAN become a priest. Let me be sure I’m grasping your meaning . . .

    When you think of everyone IS a priest are you saying that stick around in the community long enough and YOU WILL BE ordained (regardless of your gifts or vocation).

    Similarly when you think of everyone CAN be a priest am I understanding you correctly that your saying the offer is there for any member of the community expressing the spiritual gifts needed, and willing to (having undertaken) a process of formation/education/training.

    Do I have this bit right?

    Also you make a very valuable observation about the fact that someone undertakes the leadership role – so often associated with priesthood – in sort of free protestant communities.

    Here we’re rolling comfortably in to a theme about our OC/IC theology of ordained service, and its relationship to leadership within the community. What are your thoughts?

  • HilbertAstronaut

    Hi Bishop Alexis!

    Yes, you got the meaning of the first part right on: “everyone IS a priest” means that everyone who warms the pew long enough gets ordained, regardless of gifts or vocation. Put another way, this model says that any non-priest is not a full Christian. In contrast, “everyone CAN BE a priest” means opening up the priestly formation process so as to take down traditional barriers to ordination, like gender, sexual orientation, having a family, and having a profession “in the world.”

    I’d like to talk more about this but it’s bedtime at the moment ;-) I’ll keep this page bookmarked and come back to it.

  • Alexis Tančibok

    Ahhh. . . . !

    You’ve hit something there that is well worth further discussion! You write:

    “Put another way, this model says that any non-priest is not a full Christian.”

    Over the years I have witnessed dozens of people coming into the movement with this very mind-set. They enter our communities believing that only priests are fully Christian.

    We can speculate that it was their experience in other sacramental traditions that shaped their thinking. The divide between the laity and the ordained, how the laity are not included even by the mention of for example the three fold order, rather than as I do, the four fold order.

    Curiously enough it is a problem that goes back centuries – in the late antique period we had the Manichean influences (thank you Augustine), the Montanists (thank you Tertullian), and the Gnostics all of these groups were a part of the formation of what we know as “orthodox” Christianity, all of them cultivated a divide between the “elect” and the “non-elect” the priestly class, and everyone else.

    So here’s my question – do we OC/IC folk perpetuate the problem when some of our communities ordain anyone regardless of gifts or calling if they’ve been a member of the community long enough?

    What is more, how does this affect our theology of priesthood?

    How does this affect our theology of the ministry of the laity?

    How does it affect our understanding of catholicity when the “whole” body of Christ is not expressed?

    Curving this back to the original point – is the fact that there are people in our OC/IC context who would like to experiment with priestless societies merely a reaction against this historical trend? Or is there a line of developed theology behind the move?

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