priesthood?

I chatted again last weekend with a few people about the whole ordination thing and why it made me uncomfortable... then re-reading "Christianity Rediscovered (SCM Classics)" (Vincent J. Donovan) I came across this section which captures something of how I see my/the role of priest/guardian/abbot...

That man who called the community together and held it together; he would not be the one who knew the most theology, the theologian.  He would not be the preacher or the evangelist of the community.  He would not be the prophet.  He would not be the most important member in the community, in the sense of being the one who was to make the most important contributions, of which the community might someday be capable.

But he would be the focal point of the whole community, the one who would enable the community to act, whether in worship or in service.  He would be the animator of the individual members of the community, enabling them to make their various contributions, enabling the preacher to preach and the teacher to teach and the prayer to pray and the prophet to prophesy.  He would be the necessary sign of the power that is in all of them,.  He would be the sign of unity that exists among them.  He would be their link with the outside, the sign of their union with the outside, the universal church.  He would be their priest.

And he would not be painted into a sacramental corner or restricted to the sacristy.  Wherever and whenever the community acted as the Christian community he would be carrying out his function, the focal point of the whole community, building that community, holding it together, animating it to action, signifying it’s unity, enabling it to function,  If that community were at worship in the liturgy of the Word, he would not be the reader or the preacher or the teacher; he would be the one enabling those people, not as individuals, but as community, to hear that Word, to understand it, to judge it and discern it, to make it live, to let it act on them.  Each one could do the same in the privacy of his home, but doing it in community adds an entirely new dimension, the power of the Spirit given to that community to reach to the throne of God, to hear the Word of God to carry out its mission.

There are still some issues left in this for me... notably, does the guardian always have to be the "focal point", though that may just be my experiences/modern understanding of the role of Priest colouring my understanding of what Donovan means... or it maybe a remnant of his Catholic context?

Technorati Tags: Books: Church: Emerging Church: Mission: Missional

Comments

[Tom Allen]

Really interested to see that you have found this - it was one of the most inspiring passages for me on my journey to ordination (after 20 years of full-time ministry

The next big breakthrough was when I realised that in any particular community there should be more than one priest - that the problem the Church had created for itself sprung from their being one priest in each Church/community. I have started to write up the the differing roles:
http://www.typepad.com/t/app/weblog/post?__mode=edit_entry&id=13208378&blog_id=84268
I would hazard a guess that the apostolic role is more you, and that it is the associate role would be for some-one else but is what most people expect of priests?

[Paul Fromont]

Cheers Mark. Interesting quote - one that resonates with me too. Thanks for sharing it and the reflection around it.

[julie]

i would be uncomfortable with the 'focus point' thing too mark - if it means a person being the focus of attention and authority - but to me it means more that the guardian serves to focus the attention of others towards Christ, to keep the focus towards the common rule as followers in the way of Christ, to focus energy in keeping to the rythmn of life that has been agreed by the community - that seems to me to be a much more life giving and gracefully subversive way of serving as guardian and in our community, much more what i find myself wrestling with - peace, julie

[Stephen Rymer]

Found my way to this after our encounter earlier in the week, Mark. It resonated with my reading and experience of Total Ministry (ECUSA) and Local Shared Ministry (New Zealand) where the professional priests are withdrawn from residence in and responsibility (cure of souls) in a Parish into an Enabling/mentoring role to several parishs. Each Parish has its, locally called-out ministry team, licensed collectively by Bishop. Each Team would be likely to have a co-ordinator, teacher, preacher, liturgist, pastor, and (of necessity for Anglican communion services) local-ordained eucharistic ministers (always more than 1). It's an evolving workable 'fudge', but seems to me to be a move in the right direction.