Ok, just for a change of direction.
Most of you know that I have a Master of Divinity from Ashland Theological Seminary. All that really means is that I have the credentials to lead a Christian congregation. I’m not currently doing that. I am, however, what they call a lay leader at the church I attend. I do things like lead Bible study, preach occasionally, and chair our Spiritual Formation committee. No biggy.
Last year I did complete a period of ‘discernment’ to become ordained clergy. After about 10 months the powers that be decided that ordination wasn’t in my future. Ok, I’m not the demographic that they’re looking for. I’m an old, white male. I’m ok with that. After all, that’s what discernment is for. A period of listening together in order to hear, as best that we can, what God may be saying. Fine.
What I’m not ok with is the actual reason that I was given by our bishop. She said that more and more churches are functioning without ordained clergy. Therefore, it’s necessary to train lay leaders to take more active responsibilities in their congregations. Things like preaching and developing spiritual fitness are necessary, so we need to make sure that the laity are able to perform these tasks. This isn’t something that I heard for the first time in my meeting with the bishop. Many sources that I follow say the same thing. There is a lack of clergy; we need lay leaders to take up the slack. Part of the thinking is that the only need we have of clergy has to do with the sacramental. The Eucharist, or communion, baptisms, and such. Lay leaders aren’t permitted to administer these. For all other church functions the laity can manage. In our tradition each church has a group of elected lay leaders who make all of the decisions regarding church operation. From finances to who’s gonna fix the sidewalk. Laity are responsible for serving in the various actions of worship. They attend to the preparation of the Communion Table as well as manning the mundane from passing out bulletins to running the live stream. With all these tasks managed by the laity, we really don’t need full-time priests at each parish. One part-timer is able to cover the sacramental needs of several churches. They can rotate each week to a different one to preside over the Eucharist. Then in the off weeks, lay leaders can lead in a service where there is no Eucharist. See? Crisis averted!
There’s only one problem with that. Priests aren’t only needed to do the ‘magic hands’ stuff. They function as the on-site eyes and ears of the bishop. They effectively manage pastoral care. After all, they are pastors! Clergy are the authority within the parish. When needs arise, they are the go-to for all of the people. It’s what they are trained and ordained to do. These pastoral care tasks are part of the job description. Scripture even spells it out clearly that these people are overseers for their churches.
Now, I know that in our tradition the bishop has the task and monicker of overseer. But try as they might, they cannot oversee and care for 80 or more parishes in a diocese. Ordained clergy are necessary! Period!
It seems to me that our tradition as well as many others who have a lack of clergy are throwing in the towel. They are capitulating towards the culture by seeking the logical and easy way out of this problem. In my opinion it’s also the wrong move to make. Yeah, there is a clergy shortage. No doubt about that. The church needs to deal with it, and soon. How to do that? I’m not entirely sure. We can improve by actively encouraging people to spend time discerning. We can promote spiritual formation so that more people may be able to hear that still, small voice calling them to vocational ministry. The Church should be doing all that it can to recruit and develop clergy. This is a necessary part of who the Church is. We pursue alternatives at our peril.
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