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Presbyterian beliefs about ordination
have changed significantly over the years
By J. Frederick Holper
What
Presbyterians believe about ordination has changed--sometimes
rather significantly--over time. For example, the ordination of
women as ministers, elders and deacons--something considered unthinkable
earlier in our history--has become not only acceptable but expected.
Three unchanging beliefs
Presbyterians have remained open to change regarding our understanding
of ordination because of three unchanging beliefs:
1. We believe that God is the source and summit of all ministry
in the church. For Presbyterians ordination is not synonymous
with ministry. We believe all Christians are called by God and
equipped by the Spirit for service in the world when they are
joined to the ministry of Jesus Christ at their baptism. On the
other hand, not every member is called or equipped by God for
the exercise of particular offices of ministry within the
church.
2. Presbyterians hold the conviction, voiced in chapter 1
of the Book of Order, that "truth is in order to goodness."
Truth includes our shared convictions about who should be
ordained, to what offices, for what purposes, and with what preparation
and standards of accountability. The measure of this truth, however,
does not depend upon logical coherence or philosophical argument,
but from the character of the fruit it bears.
3. Presbyterians believe that ordained ministry should be
collegial (shared with others), non-hierarchical (shared by clergy
and laity), and communal (representing the whole church and not
merely a congregation). We also believe those called to ordained
offices in the church should be subjected to a process in which
their calls are tested and confirmed by the church.
Men and women together?
In 1789, when the first General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church
in the United States of America met in Philadelphia, all church
officers-- deacons, elders and ministers--were, by both custom
and church law, male. The very notion of women holding office
was considered preposterous. Indeed, some early 19th-century church
"worthies" became quite worked up over the possibility that women
might lead prayer in "promiscuous assemblies" (gatherings where
men would be present).
Women were prohibited from serving as elders or deacons until
the 1930s--or the 1960s in the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.
(PCUS). Ordaining women to the gospel ministry took an additional
20-30 years.
Today, however, the proportion of women and men serving in ordained
offices is nearly 50 percent each, a development that is mirrored
in the enrollment figures of the 10 Presbyterian theological institutions.
 Whose
hands?
Until the 1830s no one seriously challenged the notion that only
pastors (also called bishops until 1957) were permitted to join
in the laying on of hands in the ordination of new pastors, elders
and deacons. Professor Charles Hodge of Princeton Theological
Seminary, who opposed letting elders take part in the process,
was fond of quoting an old Latin proverb: Nemo det quod non
habet (no one may give what he does not have). Hodge's argument
was cast aside by the PCUS in the 1860s, but Presbyterians in
the "Northern" stream steadfastly clung to it until the 1950s.
Today ordination is explicitly defined as an act done by a governing
body made up of ministers and elders who jointly exercise the
power of jurisdiction, rather than as an act done by persons who
possess a power of order only they can transmit.
Service for life
For the first century of American Presbyterianism, congregations
were unable to change entrenched leadership on the session or
board of deacons. Elders and deacons served on their boards until
they died (or were convicted of an offense that stripped them
of their ordination). Finally, in the middle of the 19th century,
churches were given permission to opt out of the lifetime service
model in favor of a rotating limited-term service (the PCUS would
take nearly a century to provide the same option to its congregations).
Today, limited-term service is now mandatory, and congregations
that wish to be exempted from this requirement must make their
request to the presbytery.
Radical roles for elders
During the same general era a then-radical notion began to take
root: that elders should be able to be moderators of governing
bodies above the level of the session. Although the idea eventually
carried the day, a debate opened up almost immediately: How, it
was asked, could a lay person serve as moderator since the retiring
moderator each year was required to preach? Because elders had
not been given the power of order needed to preach, any retiring
elder-moderator was expected to deputize a minister member or
commissioner to preach the retiring moderator's sermon!
Today elders are not only regularly elected to serve as moderators
of higher governing bodies but often serve as commissioned lay
pastors, preaching the Word and presiding at sacramental celebrations
for congregations without pastors. Moreover, elders are as likely
as ministers to be elected to service as presbytery, synod and
General Assembly executives.
More ministry options
When American Presbyterians adopted their first Book of Order
in 1789, only two options existed for those who had prepared
themselves for ordination to the gospel ministry. Those with a
call from an existing congregation would be ordained by the presbytery
as pastors (or bishops). Those without a call would be ordained
as evangelists, charged with gathering and organizing a new congregation.
Today those preparing to serve as ministers of the Word and Sacrament
are faced with an array of specialized forms of ministry, many
of which have no formal ties or links to local congregations or
agencies of higher governing bodies.
Testing what we believe
Picture a child's top. When the top is not spinning, all sorts
of clever lines and designs can be seen, but once it is set to
spinning, we see something altogether different. When we look
only at what our confessional and governance documents say about
ordination, we can see all kinds of logical connections and easy-to-understand
categories. When all of these are put in motion by virtue of applying
them to particular persons, with particular gifts, called by particular
communities of God's people to lead them at a particular time
in history, the lines and the categories begin to blur. The strengths
and weaknesses of these provisions come to light in ways that
matter to people.
Some in our church feel strongly that Christian educators ought
to be ordained. The church also is deeply divided over the question
of whether openly gay and lesbian persons may be ordained to offices
of ministry. We may wish these debates would just go away, but
they are the way we Presbyterians go about testing what we believe
to be the truth. If and when the debates finally come to an end,
it will come from putting everything that matters to us into play
and then testing the fruits born of each side's understanding
and practice of ministry.
J. Frederick Holper is professor of preaching and worship
at McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago, Ill. Illustration
by Anita Dufalla.
What is ordination
The act by which the church sets apart leaders to serve
in particular offices. The word ordination is derived
from order. In ordination the church orders itself
for ministry.
For what offices is ordination required?
Minister of the Word and Sacrament, elder, deacon.
Who does the ordaining?
The presbytery ordains ministers. The church session
ordains deacons and elders.
How does the process of ordination work?
Those called to an ordained office in the church are
subjected to a four-stage process of admission to that
office. Presbyterian ordination rites have always included
each aspect of this fourfold process:
- Articulation of a clear inner sense that God is calling
the person to an office of ministry requiring ordination.
- Testing of that inner call by the church itself.
In practice, this has included an examination not only
of the person's knowledge and gifts, but also of his
or her way of life.
- Election to office by a particular community of God's
people, ordinarily a congregation.
- Admission to the office (ordination) in the context
of public worship, through prayer, with the laying on
of hands.
What kind of leadership does the church need?
The two key words here are gifts and service.
"Leaders in the church are identified and called to office
in terms of their gifts. It is expected that these gifts,
coming from God, are to be exercised in the particular
tasks and office. It is also to be expected that the gifts
of the leader will be cultivated and developed in obedience
to the guidance of the Spirit and in the service of the
church. Leaders are also called on to empower and enhance
the exercise and development of the gifts of all of the
members of the community."--A Proposal for Considering
the Theology and Practice of Ordination in the Presbyterian
Church (U.S.A.), commended for churchwide study by
the 1992 General Assembly
"The purpose and pattern of leadership in the church
in all its forms of ministry shall be understood not in
terms of power but of service, after the manner of the
servant ministry of Jesus Christ."--Book of Order,
G-14.0103
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