Minor Orders

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church | 2000 | 551 words | Copyright

Minor Orders. The inferior ranks of the ministry, below the Major Orders (q.v.). In the RC Church before 1972 there were four minor orders, namely doorkeepers, *lectors, *exorcists, and acolytes. In 1972 the minor orders, now called ‘ministeria’, were reduced to two, lectors and acolytes alone surviving. The rite by which minor orders are conferred consists chiefly of a commission to exercise their office and the handing over of the instruments. The minor orders surviving in the E. Church are those of lector, cantor, and subdeacon.

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E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "Minor Orders." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "Minor Orders." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O95-MinorOrders.html

E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "Minor Orders." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O95-MinorOrders.html

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