Our jurisdiction maintains, as do many other Independent Catholic jurisdictions, the traditional practice of minor orders. After being made a Cleric, a seminarian receives four minor orders: Doorkeeper, Reader, Exorcist, and Acolyte. Then follows the major order of Subdeacon, followed by the sacramental orders of Deacon and Priest. (Bishop being the third sacramental order.) In the Roman Catholic denomination, only the traditionalist orders maintain these minor orders (there are ministries of Reader and Acolyte in the "ordinary form" to which candidates for ordination are admitted, but they are no longer considered ordinations), but many quite liberal indie jurisdictions maintain them. However, many liberal jurisdictions substitute the term Healer for Exorcist. It is true that the theme of healing is present in the traditional ordination rite for Exorcist. The final prayer in the rite is as follows (the translation of the traditional Latin rite is taken from the Old Catholic Missal and Ritual of Abp. Arnold Mathew):
Holy Lord, Father Almighty, everlasting God, be pleased to bless these servants of Thine for the office of Exorcist, that by laying-on of hands, and word of mouth, they may have power and authority to hold unclean spirits in check; that strengthened by the gift of healing and by power from on high, they may be approved healers for Thy Church. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son, Who lives and reigns with Thee in the unity, etc. Amen.
However, emphasizing the healer aspect while negating the exorcist role obscures a vital truth about the Christian faith: the need to confront the reality of evil. God willing, I will ordain our seminarian Sandra Hutchinson as an Exorcist this coming Saturday. Sandra has this to say about her upcoming ordination, which sums up what this order is about admirably:
"Of all the minor orders, this is the one that intimidates me the most. Evil is real, and this is a direct challenge to it. But God is real too, I know that. And I'm looking forward to it as well."
Please pray for Sandra as she takes this next step in her journey.
Independent Catholic Vocations: Worker Priests
Independent Catholic Christians share a common baptismal vocation with other Christians, and IC/OC clergy share a common diaconal or priestly vocation with other Christian clergy, particularly within the Anglican, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox traditions. However, within those common vocations, there are also vocational differences based on the unique characteristics of the Independent Sacramental Movement and of each jurisdiction within it.
One of the most obvious differences, which has a profound effect on how clergy live out their vocation, is the issue of bivocationalism. Most Roman Catholic and Orthodox clergy are paid full-time to be clergy, and although there are a number of non-stipendiary clergy in the Episcopal church, most parishes still operate on the model of being served by full-time paid clergy, and many dioceses which offer subsidies to parishes that cannot afford full-time clergy do so with the hope that the parish will grow financially to the point where it can support its own full-time clergyperson. Parishes that cannot afford a full-time priest are often downgraded to mission status, and are usually seen as “struggling” and, at the very least, not the norm.
In sharp contrast, the overwhelming majority of IC/OC communities are very small and have no realistic hope of ever being able to pay a full-time clergyperson (or own a building, but that is another discussion). Most people who are ordained in our movement will never be able to support themselves through ministry, and the overwhelming majority of the less than 1% who do will either do so through a chaplaincy job or through a wedding ministry and NOT through parish ministry. Most IC/OC priests (and bishops) will be “worker priests”. Almost all IC/OC parish communities will rely on the ministry of worker priests. (Yes, I know about Spiritus Sancti in Rochester, NY, and I’m sure there are a tiny handful of others for which this is not true, but it is true and always will be for the overwhelmingly vast number of IC/OC priests and communities – trust me on this!)
I point this out not to claim that either the “mainstream” (for lack of a better word) or the “indie” model is better or more right or anything of the sort – there are wonderful clergy and communities, average clergy and communities, and really dreadful ones in both models. Each model has advantages and disadvantages. The real point is to accept one’s lot and do the best one can to serve God given the particular circumstances in which one finds oneself.
But for those of us in the independent movement, it can be difficult to accept this lot. Almost all of us were raised in “mainstream” churches, and a large number of clergy have been in an ordination process, or a religious order, or a seminary in a “mainstream” church. (Of the 17 seminarians and clergy who have at one time or another been associated with the Mission Episcopate of St. Michael & St. Timothy, the “diocese” I head, 13 were at one time in the ordination process in the Roman Catholic, Episcopal, and/or ELCA denominations. Of the remaining 4, 3 were women raised in the Roman Catholic church who came to the IC/OC movement because the RC’s don’t ordain women, which leaves only one person who did not seriously consider ordination in a “mainstream” context first. John Plummer thinks these numbers are higher than the majority of jurisdictions, but regardless, most who seek ordination were originally members of mainstream churches of one kind or another.)
I raise this issue because most of us, having received our basic Christian formation and often, even our beginning formation as clergy from churches which assume full-time paid ministry as the norm, may find it difficult to let go of those expectations and instead focus on the expectations we should have. If we internalize, consciously or not, the idea that a “successful” priest has a large enough congregation to pay one’s salary and that a “real” church has a building of its own, we may be so overcome with shame that we are unable to minister to those God does send us. A large congregation with full-time staff and a building can engage in ministries we can’t – and we can offer an intense community life and can respond to individual needs much more readily than the large churches can. The important thing is for us to offer the sacraments and the liturgy to those who come to us, to the best of our ability, and to do the best we can to make disciples of Christ. In our community, we have a Sunday liturgy in a space rented from a Unitarian Universalist congregation, a Wednesday night service in the chapel I’ve made out of a spare bedroom (and a monthly Friday service in another chapel a parishioner has made out of a bedroom in his home), and a Tuesday night service that happens by phone conference.
What are the opportunities we as worker priests have? First, although the demands of our secular job and home life are such that we don’t have the time to focus on church that some have, we are therefore forced to focus on the essentials. I sometimes find that I accomplish more when I have a short time to do something than when I have a long time – and it is no different here. Second, this situation demands collaboration in a way that can be lacking in larger churches. I cannot imagine how an indie church could function fully without at least two priests, and small communities demand more of the laity as well, who can be much more intimately involved than they may have opportunities to be elsewhere. (Certainly, large congregations often have lay involvement, but it is often a small core – and there is less opportunity to hide in a small church. Just ask the couple who joined us in procession and would have processed out to the car – had they not left their purses inside – and who foolishly came back a second week to find themselves being the entire congregation. They are now both heavily involved in the life of the parish, the jurisdiction, and in one case, the AIHM order.) A third opportunity is to share more fully the life that those we serve lead – we can understand the challenges and burdens they face, because we share them.
But we can only fully embrace these opportunities if we embrace our position as worker priests, and see it as a vocation from God, rather than seeing it as an obstacle to overcome.
CPE Day 2: morning devotions
Yesterday was my first day of CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) at Bethany Village. This is an experience I have been looking forward to. I have heard wonderful things about this place and its CPE program and supervisor. It was an exhausting first day however.Daily devotions and announcements are part of the morning routine at Bethany and this morning it's my turn to do the devotional part. This is what I'll be sharing with Bethany's residents this morning.
Praying According to God’s Will
It can be hard and frustrating to know how to pray for yourself or someone else. We know we should pray, we may want to pray, but find ourselves at a loss for words. We cannot pray correctly.
As crazy as this may sound, our inability to pray according to God’s will is good news. Hear these words from Scripture:
26Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. 27And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. (Rom 8:26-27)
This is our situation according to these verses:
· We are weak.
· We don’t know how to pray as we should. It’s one thing to pray, but it’s quite something else to pray as we should. In my own life, if God had answered my prayers the way I wanted them answered, I probably wouldn’t be in seminary or here with you today. How are we to pray when friends or family are sick or in trouble or are hurting? What about our own problems? How do we know what God has in mind?
This is God’s remedy. The Holy Spirit:
· Helps us in our weakness.
· Intercedes for us with “sighs too deep for words.”
· Searches the heart.
· Intercedes for us according to God’s will.
I find it interesting that the list of what we can’t do is half as long as the list of what God does. What a relief! Twice in this passage, we are told that God the Sprit intercedes for us. Do you know what that means? God prays for us! God does what we cannot do for ourselves. We should…we can’t…the Holy Spirit does.
Bidden or Not Bidden...
My son and his fiancée were determined to have a secular wedding ceremony in Las Vegas. The phrase that kept going through my mind was, "Bidden or not bidden, God is present." God is with us whether we realize it or not. And of course we kept praying for them.They are a wonderful couple who are very good for each other. We are thrilled to have Marisa in our family.
The setting was beautiful: an outdoor patio area with plants around. It was evening and there was a nice breeze.
The groom's father and best man told us that when they met with the minister (yes, minister, not justice of the peace) they found out he's a Lutheran minister. Hmm, isn't that interesting?
The ceremony used the traditional vows. The minister spoke seriously to Christian and Marisa, charging them that they were in this for the long haul...as long as they lived. He did not use the word God, but certainly gave them godly counsel in the ceremony.
God was there...bidden or not bidden. God was there through several believers God's people and by the power of the Holy Spirit. God is God and we are not. We give thanks for that.
Who is the Holy Spirit?
Given the following scenario, what would your answer be? Is this a valid question?Guilty as charged! Migliore writes that often the church has been suspicious of movements that have stressed the power of the Holy Spirit. I even experienced some of that from a member of my candidacy committee because of past involvement with the charismatic movement. As mentioned in a recent lecture, the Holy Spirit is the “least understood”[1] person of the Trinity. By the very fact that Christians routinely refer to the Holy Spirit as “it” shows the depth of our non-acquaintance with this person of the godhead. The Holy Spirit’s presence in our Lutheran churches sometimes seems completely unnoticed. Such presence is more subtle than in Pentecostal or charismatic churches. H. Richard Niebuhr suggested that churches tend to be more oriented toward one member of the Trinity or another, but not all three equally.[2] Anthony Robinson maintains that mainline churches generally focus on the Father, evangelicals on Jesus as Redeemer, and Pentecostals on the Holy Spirit.
Our weekly confession of the Creed belies our tendency to ignore God the Holy Spirit. We state, “I believe in the Holy Spirit…”, but do we know what this means? Luther gave a prominent role to the Holy Spirit in his explanation of the third article of the Apostles’ Creed. The Holy Spirit is active in calling us to faith in Christ, “enlighten[ing] us with his gifts,”[3] making us holy, keeping us in the faith and has done so and continues to do so for all God’s people past, present, and future. The Holy Spirit forgives sins and will raise us up on the last day, giving us the fullness of eternal life that we only now know in part. It is through this same Holy Spirit that we experience the communion of saints.
In the New Testament alone, we have 89 occurrences of the name Holy Spirit. If we include “God’s Spirit,” “Spirit of Jesus,” or “Spirit,” there would be many more. John the Baptist said of Jesus that he would baptize with the Holy Spirit (Mt 3:11). Jesus told his disciples that the Father would send the Spirit as an advocate or counselor who would lead them into all truth (John 14:26). There are many other functions of this same Spirit, which are too many too numerous to include. With such prominence, how is it that we know so little of God’s Spirit?
Migliore believes that our neglect, which he considers routine and suspicion of the Spirit has had “…damaging effects on both Christian life and Christian theology.”[4] Our understanding of God, Scripture, and other facets of church and the Christian faith and life may become distorted. God becomes distant and seemingly uninvolved in our lives. One of the most basic works of the Holy Spirit is to make Christ known. The Spirit draws us, helps us to experience and participate in the reality of salvation—personally and corporately as the church.
God gives gifts by the Holy Spirit to us for the benefit of the church and the world (Rom 12; 1 Cor 12-14; Eph 5). The Holy Spirit gives us assurance and hope which sustains us. It is through the Holy Spirit that God speaks to us (whether God uses the written Word, the community of faith, or whatever).When we sense that a particular hymn or sermon was just for us, that is the Spirit at work. God’s Spirit at work in believers is the “first fruits” (Rom 8:23) or “guarantee” (2 Cor 1:22) of God’s complete redemption of all of creation.
The Holy Spirit may be understood as, “the uniting and consummating love of the Trinity, the energy of the life of communion, the gift of mutual love and friendship.”[5] We are invited into this love, this life by God through the Holy Spirit. God makes God’s presence known in and through us to the world by the Holy Spirit.
[1] Largen
[2] Anthony B. Robinson, What’s Theology got to do with it? Convictions, Vitality, and the Church (Herndon, VA: The Alban Institute, 2006), 66.
[3]
[4] Migliore,224.
[5] Migliore, 231.
Religious Pluralism
Whether we like it or not, whether we are ready or not, religious pluralism is part of our world, of our country. Here is my response to the following scenario.Islam is definitely not idolatrous. No images of God are permitted. Christians may be viewed as idolatrous by Muslims because of pictures in stained glass windows and elsewhere in churches. We may also be viewed as polytheistic because of the doctrine of the trinity. Muslims believe in the same God we do, the God of Abraham. We all believe in the one true God.
When Muslims bow down toward Mecca, they are not worshipping idols but are simply facing east. Similar prayer positions are found throughout the Old and New Testaments with meanings such as “worship, do obeisance to, prostrate oneself before, do reverence to, welcome respectfully”[1] There is certainly nothing wrong in this approach to God almighty. The Islamic view of God is very high, one of reverence.
Christians often think that Allah, the Arabic word for God, is a false god, different from the God we serve. In the Arabic Old and New Testaments, this is the word used for God the Father. Arab Christians use this word in prayer and Scripture reading. Allah is none other than the same God we know and serve.This misunderstanding of who Allah is may be why Sarah’s mother thinks she has committed idolatry. Reassuring Sarah is no problem, but it is important that there be significant dialogue with her mother as well. I certainly do not want to put a wedge between Sarah and her mother. In talking with Sarah, I would want to have some one on one time with her mother regarding her concerns.
This is not to downplay real differences between the two faiths. The centrality of the meaning of the cross is a huge difference. There is also the issue of Jesus’ divinity, his death, burial, resurrection etc. This is not what should be focused upon however. The Quran says things about Jesus with which we disagree, but there are also teachings from which bridges of understanding may be built.
As Christians however, we need to realize that we are called to relate to those beyond our circle of church friends, beyond other Christians, knowing that God by the Holy Spirit is already at work whether we recongize God’s presence or not. Our desire in relating with those of other faiths should be to break down those barriers that divide us, to see the “other” as one made in the image of God, to understand that not all Muslims are right wing, fanatical terrorists, any more than all Christians are out to support Israel and destroy Islam and Arab peoples.
Sarah could certainly learn about Islam and remain a devout Christian. The Quran has much to say about Jesus. In exploration of what it says, it would be helpful to compare the Quran and the New Testament concerning Jesus—to see similarities and differences. Working from the commonalities, we can discuss the differences frankly. Sarah and her friend could perhaps work on this exercise together. Her friend could bring to the conversation what the Quran teaches of Jesus and Sarah, what the Scriptures teach.This way they can both learn from and teach each other.
In my previous experience with Muslims in Palestine, what made dialogue and understanding viable between Christians and Muslims was mutual respect of each other as persons. Friendship and trust was the basis of religious discussion. Involvement in such relatioships did/does not mean we set aside our own beliefs for the sake of pluralism.
David Teeter, head of Project Redemption wrote concerning such interfaith relationships, “They came to respect Jesus as they saw him in our lives, and we came to respect their devotion to God as they understood him in their faith [Islam].”[2] When we see each other’s humanity, the dividing lines that erect enormous barriers between us blur. When I first moved to Bethlehem, the Islamic call to prayer from the nearby mosque was at the very least an annoyance, something that at the time even seemed demonic. By the time I left, it was a welcome reminder of the devotions of my friends to God as well as a challenge to me to be as faithful as they were in prayer. Sarah, as I did, could certainly learn more about Islam and still be a Christian. Ignorance and Christianity are not synonomous terms.
[1] Gingrich, BibleWorks 8.
[2] David Teeter. Following Jesus in a Muslim Community. Online: http://davidteeter.org/following.aspx [3 May 2009].
How Free are We?
Martin Luther had some very strong feelings about our free will or lack thereof. Below is a short essay I wrote concerning his work Bondage of the Will.In Bondage of the Will, Luther is responding to Erasmus’ writing of The Freedom of the Will from a number of different perspectives with appropriate arguments for each. What
Luther supports his response to Erasmus’ arguments using the scripture and reason. Arguing from
Luther’s Pauline argument continues stating that perhaps by our will the works of the Law can be done, but that does not mean that we are fulfilling the Law.[6] In this section,
Luther’s argument continues with Paul’s example of Abraham’s faith, distinguishing a righteousness of works versus that of faith.[8]
Luther appeals to John as well. In this section,
In the section entitled The Mercy and Justice of God in the Light of Nature, Grace, and Glory, Luther’s argument compares humanity’s understanding, strength, power etc. are nothing at all compared to the majesty, wisdom, and power of God almighty.[11] He refers to three “lights,” that of nature, of grace, and of glory.[12] Concerning issues of theodicy, humankind is unable to understand God’s purposes by simply the lights of nature and grace. In the light of glory however, we understand God’s righteous and perfect judgments.[13] Again we have the distinction of the human viewpoint (free choice) compared to the divine (grace).
To summarize, Luther’s argument is as follows: sin incapacitates us from working out our own salvation. We are all alike condemned. The human will is so severely affected by the Fall that we only will to do evil. Unredeemed humanity is dominated by the devil. When redeemed, the entire person is redeemed. We are thereby liberated to serve God. Truly, free will is non-existent for
This is a theme that runs throughout Luther’s teaching, that of God’s grace that does for us what we are utterly incapable of doing for ourselves. In Luther’s later work, The Small Catechism, he succinctly sums up his position on our power to save ourselves in his explanation of the Third Article of the Creed. “I believe that by my own understanding or strength I cannot believe in
[1]
[2]
[3] Ibid., 169.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid., 173.
[6] Ibid., 174.
[7] Ibid., 178.
[8] Ibid., 182.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Ibid., 192.
[11] Ibid., 193.
[14]
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