Some would say that the Church is dying out and failing in the 21st century, at least in the Canadian context. But is something else happening besides failure? I have become convinced that the Lord of the Church is reforming or rebirthing His church in this century after the example of the church in the New Testament. What is it going to be like? Last month I discussed what a born again church might look like in terms of church buildings. This month I want to look at leadership and the sacraments.
Leadership
The Constantinian thrust that gave rise to the Church in the 4th century over time turned the leadership into a hierarchy of institutionally ordained officers or clergy operating primarily in a pastor-teacher-administrator mode to serve the institution. As in other denominations, for the main part, that is what we still know as normative in the Presbyterian Church in Canada today.
In the apostolic church of the New Testament, leadership was much different. For one thing, any split between clergy and laity did not seem to exist. Leadership was grassroots, extremely well trained in situ, set apart to serve a particular function and expressing a diverse five-fold ministry of apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher. These functions (as opposed to offices) were for equipping the whole people of God to serve as ministers of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11) Leadership was also often itinerant and/or part-time or “tentmaker” in style.
This will become the way leadership will develop within the church in this post-Christendom era as well. In the church born again for the 21st century there will cease to be a priestly hierarchical ordained leadership, but leadership will be entirely function based, come from the grassroots of particular faith communities and be well trained and equipped in situ. Stone and mortar theological schools anchored in one or two large centres will not survive but rather digitally-based equippers travelling the information highway to do training will become normal. Many, if not most, leaders will not make their whole living from the church. Beyond the local community, some leaders may function as itinerate overseers and function in an episcopal manner with several faith communities together. Obviously a radical shift will have to be made in how we raise up and equip such leaders.
Leadership that emphasizes a five-fold function in ministry will be born again in this century. We can look for the day when leaders will once again be chosen on the basis of being able to function as apostles (faith pioneers sent to work outside the faith community), prophets (faith encouragers working within the faith community), evangelists (faith initiators bearing the gospel), as well as pastors (spiritual directors and caregivers) and teachers (Christian educators). These are the biblical functions of church leaders, not the ordained office of priestly ruling and administering an institution.
All this being said, there is a completely different skill set needed to lead and function as described above. And yet, in my opinion, the leaders being called, supported and equipped today are, for the main part, still being trained as priests to serve an institutional congregation that is housed in a large building, preferably with a pipe organ or at least an amplified church band (i.e. a Christendom church). I wince every time I slip into a mostly empty church building where 20 or so believers are being led in worship designed for a congregation of 10 times as many. It’s painful. Yet this is the style of leadership still promoted, supported and trained in our church. We will need a radical shift in the ordering, supporting and training of our leadership for equipping the small intimate faith communities I envision in our future.
Sacraments
In the apostolic church it is obvious from the New Testament that what we have come to call the sacraments were not practiced as they are in the Christendom church we have inherited. Communion was celebrated as a real community meal. (Acts 2:46-47) Baptism was practiced as a celebration of conversion and entrance into the community. (Acts 8:25-40) Baptism and the Lord’s Supper belonged to the community of faith and were unabashedly celebrated by the community of faith whenever they met, or in the case of baptism, whenever they had need. Communion was all about community and baptism was all about entering into community. The presence of “clergy” was never an issue. In fact, some notable New Testament leaders did not see it as their place to preside, because they were coming in from outside a particular faith community and to do so would have been divisive. (1 Corinthians 1:14-17) Baptism and communion were celebrations and they belonged to the faith community not to clergy or an institution.
With the dawn of the age of Christendom there was a huge institutionalisation of grace through the sacraments. The sacraments were no longer primarily a celebration of community but a dispersal of grace through the institution at the hand of its official clerics. It was an oppressive way of control that spawned a revolt that we know as the Reformation. The problem is that there has been slippage ever since the time of Hus, Luther, Bucer, Calvin and Knox, to the point that we who pride ourselves now as their descendants in the faith look strangely more like the medieval church they revolted against.
In the church born again for the post-Christendom era, there will be a return to the apostolic way, not so much because faith communities don’t have the resources to pay for clergy but because of the need to reclaim the rightful place of baptism and the Lord’s Supper in the faith community. The church, born again for the 21st century, will redeem and reclaim baptism and communion and will even adopt other biblical symbols and events as well—foot washing and anointing come to mind.
In my library I have a copy of the Euchologion from 19th-century Scotland that has resources that could enable lay people to celebrate communion and baptism. I have a copy of a similar book from the same time period from the Methodist Church in Canada, designed for lay readers. The Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand, has had non-clergy presiding over communion for over 20 years and baptism for over 10 years, and in the words of Bruce Fraser, retired mission advisor for the Synod of Otago and Southland, “the sky has not fallen.” Presbyterian and other denominations around the world have made similar moves. Honestly, how hard can this be for us?
To be continued …
