Are all Christians Ministers?

GCSE Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)

Are all Christians Ministers?

INTRODUCTION

John Collins' book "Are all Christians ministers?" attempts to examine the historical basis for the term ministry, to discover it's nature, scope and significance for the kind of church he believes, we have inherited from our traditions, in an endeavour to answer that all Christians are not ministers.

MAJOR THEMES

Combining a New Testament and historical background, Collins attempts to examine the original meanings and usage of the term ministry in the endeavour, contrary to the new dominant and popular stance held by many Protestant churches today, which is that all Christians are not ministers. [Collins,1992, p 1-3,13,22,51] Collins confides the exclusive rights to ministry to those officially commissioned to ministry in their churches in the role of an office. [Collins,1992,p 2,38-39] He argues that from the earliest tradition that "authentic" Christian ministry can only be a restricted role, unavailable to all, a historical succession of the sacrament of ordination, instituted and hierarchically structured by Christ himself. [Collins,1992, p 2-3,7-8, 26,38-40] Collins claims it holds power, creates a new being, involves preaching the word, leadership, dedication, trustworthiness, being a mediator and reconciler between God and humanity.. [Collins,1992,p 7-8,9,44-45] Collins appeals to Pope John Paul the seconds definition of lay ministry as ground in baptism and confirmation while ordained, grounded in the sacrament of order. [Collins,1992,p 31]

Collins states that the popular view implies that the "leader is just doing something different; not endowed with a different kind of ministry, but with a different gift within the sphere of ministry". [Collins,1992, p 11] He acknowledges that the popular view of ministry is received by the Orthodox church as an "ambiguous formulation" causing confusion between the roles of hierarchy and people, while the conciliar documents do not provide a coherent teaching on ministry. [Collins,1992, p2,9] Collins quotes Cardinal William Baum who states that the rather "generalised" view of ministry threatens to obscure :the distinctive character of the ordained priesthood. [Collins,1992,p 12] Collins looks to the Reformers [Calvin and Luther] who state that "the people as a whole cannot do these things, but must entrust or have them entrusted to one person" and states that the Reformers wanted to keep "the commonness of one condition" separate so it could not have the chance to "erode the exclusiveness of the other". [Collins,1992,p25]

Collins utilises the first edition of the revised standard version, Ephesians 4:12 to highlight that interpretations of texts vary. In this edition ministry is depicted as a sole responsibility of a few, unlike later editions. Collins suggests the Catholic church mainly utilises the first edition of the RSV and like interpretations, while Protestants do not, as a explanation of the two differing theological convictions based and only as sound as the interpretation on which they rest. [Collins,1992,p 16-24]

CRITICAL APRAISAL

Collins raises the issue that he believes that ministry is as connatural to women as it is ...

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CRITICAL APRAISAL

Collins raises the issue that he believes that ministry is as connatural to women as it is to men however he fails to fully explore this topic beyond a brief outline of women in the early church and does not utilise like minded authors to support his comment. [ Collins, 1992, p 3]

Collins claims that people that uphold the conviction that all are ministers belong to those "numerous Protestant churches". [Collins,1992,p 1] Collins fails to name them and does not acknowledge authors such as Richard McBrien, Paul Bernier, Leonard Doohan, Brian Lucas and Thomas O'Meara of the Roman Catholic tradition who uphold an opposing view to hom when he makes this statement. [McBrien, 1987, p 21-22] [Bernier, 1992,p10] [Doohan, 1984,p 27] [Lucas, 1991,p p35-41] [O'Meara, 1983, p3]

Collins also asserts that it is the "vanguard of that people of God whom historically the great church failed to make really part of the church" who are the ministerially conscious and applying pressure on church authorities. This assertion implies it is the outcast and perhaps bitter and vengeful people who only question the role of ministry. Collins fails to acknowledge those whom seek to be included, who search for truth, equality and want to grow in their Christian faith. [ Collins, 1992, p13]

Collins identifies the confusion and risk of lessening of the distinctive role of the minister and threat of the commonness of one condition encroaching upon the exclusiveness of the other felt by the leaders of the Catholic church. He quotes the reformers stating that they believed that the lay person could not do the task of ministry. Collins fails to take into account that the lay person in 1566 generally was illiterate, uneducated and did not possess special skills unlike the laity today as highlighted by Doohan and Donavan. [Collins, 1992, p 25] [ Doohan,1984,p 38-48] [ Donavan,1992,p 1]

Collins agrees that ministry is something that does not pertain to the people. [Collins, 1992,p 26] However Bernier and also O'Meara claim that "authentic ministry" is not the private preserve of the vowed and ordained. [ Bernier,1992,p 5-29] [O'Meara,1983,p 3] McBrien lists the types of ministry as General/Universal, General/Specific, Christian/Universal and Christian specific. [ McBrien, 1987,p ] It is evident that Collins has taken ministry in a specific sense of "Christian/Specific" ministry, while Bernier and O'Meara the sense of "Christian/Universal ministry. [footnotes] Collins does not recognise the full scope of ministry, he examines only one aspect of ministry [the ordained] perhaps in order to protect it form being a part of Gods call to ministry instead of being the only ministry. [Colins,1992,p 29] Mason and also Lucas recognise different ministries while affirming the exclusiveness of the priesthood. [Mason, p6-10] [ Lucas, 1990,p 43-53] Dent also claims that "authentic ministry" is a vocation in which one is chosen to care and help others in a spirit of servanthood. [Dent, 1989,p9,28,39,46,51,61,72,78,93]

It is interesting to note that traditionally ministry was a Protestant word that became adopted by the Roman Catholic Church. [O'Meara, 1983, p4] Collins examines the word "ministry" from it's origins and justifies it. However it would be better to call the work of the ordained as that of the priesthood for better clarification than to exclude all non ordained people from the work of ministry and to address the concern that O'Meara raises that minimising, obscuring or withholding ministry is a weakness of today's church. [O'Meara, 1983,p 3] Collins uses the historical basis to argue for his definition of ministry as priesthood, however as O'Meara states ministry has gown and is changing rapidly, inspired by the holy spirit to become broader in quantity and richer in quality. [O'Meara, 1983,p5-8] The history of ministry is not a set of norms to be maintained to the detriment of the changing needs of the church., rather it is located in God's grace and needs to be flexible in order to serve. [O'Meara,1983,p 13-14,44]

PERSONAL RESPONSE & CONCLUSION

Collins informative book arguing form traditional Catholic convictions has enabled me to appreciate the reasons the Roman Catholic Church highly esteems the role of the priest above all in the church. I can understand the threat the more broad usage of the term ministry causes to those whom so long have had a exclusive hold on ministry. However in the history of Nursing, roles previously having belonged to the profession of nursing became so specialistic that no one nurse could master them all. Other people took over various aspects such as Dietitians, wound therapists, that while grieved over for a time, allowed for the Nursing profession to focus clearly on its valuable contribution to the health care system. I believe this is also the case for the Catholic priesthood.

I view the broad term of ministry in a positive sense as it is inclusive of all to build up the church through ministry, while maintaining the importance of the church as a priestly people still requiring it's own particular priests.