Ordination

Within human history religious communities often "set apart" or recognize special individuals for leadership. Sometimes there is a priestly clan, making religious leadership hereditary. In other situations anyone can be a religious leader, but he or she must be authorized or empowered through a special ritual or ceremony. In the Jewish and Christian traditions this is called "ordination."

Early Christianity remembered that Jesus called his disciples to service (diakonia), commissioning them to gather others who would also commit themselves to service. After his death and resurrection, the emerging church began to "set apart" certain persons for leadership responsibilities through "prayer and laying on of hands." This practice of ordination was defined by Jesus' relationship to the first disciples; by common practices within early Judaism; by secular customs borrowed from Greco-Roman, or Hellenistic, society; and by the theological ideas of the apostle Paul.

Jesus, as described in the first three gospels, was a reformer who provided an alternative approach to faithfulness within Judaism. He rejected the hereditary priesthood and many of the conventional patterns of Jewish religion. He invited his followers to move beyond the traditional leadership of the scribes and Pharisees. As the church developed, it also borrowed freely from the practices of first-century Judaism, where the elders "laid on hands" to bless each new generation of leaders. In like fashion, Christians began appointing elders (presbyteroi) to lead their congregations. The church was further influenced by Hellenistic society and patterned its leadership after local household mores. An overseer, or bishop (episkopos), became the head of each Christian community. Eventually there were specific qualifications required for such ecclesiastical household leadership, spelled out in the New Testament. Churches also designated still other persons as deacons (diakonia)—those who worked within and for the churches, embodying the caring mandate of the gospel. Deacons served as assistants to the elders and the bishops. All were ordained to service. Finally, the apostle Paul used the metaphor of the human body to insist that, just as the body needs all its parts to be healthy, various forms of ministry are needed by the church. Within the Jewish tradition, the ordination of rabbis accomplished the same purpose.

In addition to endorsing patterns of leadership, ordination has had at least five other purposes: (1) To preserve the link between the apostolic witnesses (those who knew Jesus firsthand) and the ongoing institutional church through "apostolic succession," where ordained leaders lay hands on the next generation of leaders and "pass on" (literally or symbolically, depending on the theology of the particular denomination) the power of Jesus' ministry. (2) To protect the Christian community from heresy by making sure that its leadership was trained in correct doctrine and was able to teach and preach correctly for the good of the faithful. (3) To exercise civic responsibility in times of political unrest and upheaval. (4) To maintain and protect the sacred mysteries of the eucharist and other sacramental acts. (5) To call some Christians to a more godly and holy life. This last purpose has had some unfortunate consequences, exacerbating artificial divisions between clergy and laity.

Ordination in the United States

Because so many different religious groups exist in the United States, it is impossible to make generalizations about the meaning of ordination. Some denominations, like the Quakers, reject ordination because everyone is considered a minister. In other denominations, like the Unitarians and many mainstream denominations, it is a recognition of functional responsibilities taken on by one on behalf of all—the moment of formal recognition for trained leaders. Among some Baptists or Pentecostals, ordination is not terribly important, because what is important is whether an individual leader is filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. At the same time, in more liturgical denominations, ordination remains a formal, sacred, and mystical rite whereby the power of Christ is channeled to the priesthood and the mysteries of the sacraments are protected.

In the last half of the twentieth century, three issues have generated great controversy related to ordination.

First, for almost two thousand years, only males were ordained. Women's ministries were valued by the early church and honored informally throughout the centuries, but only men could be ordained. In the modern era, arguments linking priesthood to the maleness of Jesus, or to the maleness of past leaders, have been challenged. Since the mid-nineteenth century, many women have actively sought ordination in Protestant denominations with increasing success. At the same time the insistence that ordination is only for males has become more vigorous, especially within the Roman Catholic church. Christian and Jewish groups continue to debate the question of women's ordination, even as the numbers of ordained women increase.

Second, in the development of Western European Christianity (Roman Catholicism) only celibate men were eligible for ordination. The fact that Jesus did not marry and the belief that the lifestyle required of priests should not involve active sexuality or family responsibilities suggested that only unmarried men were capable of being priests. By the sixteenth century, however, Protestant reformers challenged that assumption. They insisted that married clergy were more helpful to the Christian community and more in touch with ordinary life. Their argument was so persuasive that expectations went all the way to the other extreme, with many Protestant denominations coming to believe that clergy had to be married in order to model authentic discipleship within a Christian home.

Third, issues of sexuality, especially homosexuality, have forced many Jews and Christians to reexamine their understanding of ordination. As concerns about the sexual mores of clergy and public scandals have increased, denominations have tightened requirements for ordination and developed more intense patterns of support and discipline. Various texts and opinions about same-sex relationships and the longstanding silence or condemnation of gay men and lesbians among religious groups has made the question of the ordination of homosexuals one of the most divisive issues in the church. This question raises fundamental concerns about biblical authority, about distinctions between sexual orientation and practice, and about differences between clergy and laity. Theologians often have to remind faithful members of congregations and denominations that ordination is not an end in itself, but only a means to empower leadership for the ministries of the whole community.

See alsoCelibacy; Ministry; Ordination of Women; Priesthood; Rabbinate.

Bibliography

Ogden, Greg. The New Reformation: Returning the Ministry to the People of God. 1990.

Rademacher, William J. Lay Ministry: A Theological,Spiritual and Pastoral Handbook. 1991.

Schillebeeckx, Edward. The Church with a Human Face:A New and Expanded Theology of Ministry. 1985. See also the apostolic letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis by John Paul II (1994) and articles in Origins 30 (November 1995) and the National Catholic Reporter (December 1995).

Barbara Brown Zikmund