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Ministry in the Church
Presbyterian & Reformed-Roman Catholic Dialogue
May 14, 1970
The following statement was issued by the Theology Section
of the Reformed-Presbyterian and Roman Catholic Consultation at Morristown, New
Jersey, May 14, 1970.
- Summary of
Discussions So Far Held
For varying
periods of time members of our consultation have discussed ways and means by
which our ministries could be united and each of us led to a deeper knowledge
and love of the other. Our concern in the early meetings was to see how the
road lay to fun intercommunion. But it soon became clear that this end lay far
beyond us, because the traditions of which we are a part have been separated
for centuries and because there was not full acceptance amongst us of each
other's ministries. At this point, therefore, in our discussion we moved away
from churchly questions and asked, instead, particular and practical questions
about the church's ministry to the world. But this in turn forced us to inquire
why in fact we remain separated from one another when the world's needs are so
great, and to see if there may be a way of reconciliation. One inescapable fact
of our present situation is the division of the church, a division which is a
symbol of, but also a scandal in, an alienated and divided world. We know that
we are charged with the responsibility of bringing healing to the broken human
family, but we also know that in its own life the church has contradicted and
frustrated this purpose.
The common
purpose which we have shared together since 1965 has made a genuine dialogue
possible between us and brought us to a meeting of minds on many matters of
faith and ministry. In talking to one another we each came to recognize in the
ministry of the other rich and necessary elements which both of us affirm.
- Gospel and Church
In all that
we say about church and ministry we begin with the gospel, the word about what
God has done in the cross of Christ and in raising him from the dead. This
gospel was given by Christ to his apostles and those who come after them.
The
commissioning of the apostles by Jesus Christ and the outpouring of his Spirit
at Pentecost mark the beginning of the church's mission in the world. This
mission will also have an end at the time of God's choosing when his purposes
for the world will be finally and openly achieved. In the meantime the church
lives between the ages, a new reality in the world because it is both a
community in the world, and therefore bound by the contingencies of history,
and a community in the Spirit, deriving its power, hope, and resilience from
the Spirit.
The church
exists to proclaim the gospel of the crucified and risen Lord to the whole
world; to proclaim the Lordship and rule of Christ over all powers; to obey
him; and to witness in preaching and the sacraments to the truth that the
present age is yielding to the coming rule of God. Despite its weakness the
church is a sign that the kingdom
of God is becoming a
reality in this world. Its common life is called to be a witness to the new
life of the kingdom because the church is called to renew human community.
- The Ministry of the
Whole Church
From the
time of the apostles the ministry of the whole church has been manifold. When
the church has been faithful to its purpose the forms of this ministry have
often changed according to the needs of the Christian community and the world.
When the church has been most effective it has shaped its ministry to respond
to needs. The church in the New Testament is primarily the people of God. Thus
when we speak of the ministry of the church we must not become preoccupied with
the ministry as an end in itself, nor with the church as an end in itself. All
that we have to say about church and ministry must be prefaced by what we need
to say about the kingdom
of God and his purposes
in the world. These, purposes embrace all the needs of men. Therefore the
identification of these needs is a problem to which the church must address
itself and seek the guidance of the Spirit.
There is a
general ministry or common priesthood of all who are baptized, and this common
priesthood provides the context in which we treat the ordained priesthood, or
the specific ministry of word and sacraments. For within the Christian
community all the faithful are called and empowered by the Holy Spirit to enter
into and express the ministry of Christ. There is a whole range of gifts of the
Spirit - gifts of service and love, rich in their diversity, not limited to the
few, but possessed by men and women, young and old alike. All baptized and
believing Christians share in the grace of God's Spirit, the freedom of the
gospel, and the basic equality of the priestly people of God. It is our
conviction that this doctrine of the common priesthood of the faithful needs to
be magnified and lived out more within both our traditions. The Holy Spirit
works where he wills and as he wills through all the people of God, calling
them to their ministry.
- The Representative
Ministry
Within the
general ministry of the whole church there are ministers called and ordained to
represent Christ to the community and the community before Christ.
Traditionally through the proclamation of the word and the celebration of the
sacraments this ordained ministry endeavors to unite and order the church in a
special way for its total ministry. This calling of some to nourish, heal, and
build up the household of faith in the ministry of word and sacraments is one
particular gift of the Holy Spirit. Ordination to this ministry is therefore
also gift of the Spirit - it is a commissioning of persons by the church and an
invocation of the Spirit to empower them for their ministry.
This
ordained ministry does not constitute a self-sustaining body, distinguished
from the rest of the people by superiority of status or function, but by
difference of service. It has its origin in the election and calling of the
risen Christ, who gives some as special ministers to the church for its upbuildings
as well as for the sake of the world. For the faithful performance of this ministry
the church, in its ordination of ministers, prays with confidence for the
bestowal of the corresponding grace of the Holy Spirit.
Thus the
ordained ministry exists to serve and lead the community of which it is part,
and where it does so by preaching the word and celebrating the sacraments it
seeks to do what Christ intends to be done. But this ministry also exists to
serve the world of which the Christian community is part, and the Lord himself
who gives ministry, church, and world their life, meaning, and purpose.
We
recognize that there are differences still to be formulated and discussed. Some
of these are the eucharist as sacrifice, the reservation of the sacrament,
apostolic succession and ministry, and the meaning of permanence in contemporary
ministry. Nevertheless we should not allow these unresolved issues to obscure
from us those elements which we hold in common as central to the ministry of
word and sacrament. At this point in our discussion these elements are: the
Holy Spirit is the source of our ministry and in the ordination liturgy is
called upon to bestow this gift; ordination is a designation to the service of
the church in the world; the act of ordination has a permanent significance. (In
relation to this understanding of permanent significance a particular notion of
"indelible character" in the ministry was rejected by the Protestant
tradition in general because of the metaphysical implications which it seemed
to presuppose. However, in the light of historical research such an understanding
of "character" is seen to be but one possible theological
interpretation which is not to be equated with the dogmatic position that
ordination has permanent significance. )
- The Ordination of
Women
The
ministry is deeply involved in the historical situation of the church, and has
therefore been conditioned at times largely by the relativities of history. In
the phrase of Piet Fransen: "The real idea of Christ [in ordination] must
necessarily express itself in the context, ambiguous because human, of a given epoch."
The history of the role of women in the church has been marked by a constant
ambiguity in both the theological concept of women and the practical and
juridical depreciation of her ministry. This itself is an expression of and a
symptom of the ambiguity of woman's position in the world.
Many women
today feel strongly that they wish to share fully in all human
responsibilities: they count nothing that is human alien from themselves. It is
therefore incumbent upon the churches to respond creatively to this insistent
demand. Such a response would involve the opening of areas of ministry as far
as possible to women. There is a growing consensus also among Roman Catholic as
well as Reformed theologians that there is no insurmountable biblical or
dogmatic obstacle to the ordination of women. We therefore conclude from all of
this, as well as from the present needs of the people of God and from what
insight we have of what the church of the future will require,
that ordination of women must come to be part of the church's life. In the
context of human need such ordination may well involve a beneficial
redistribution of functions at present expressed in one or another of the forms
of ordained ministry.
Unfortunately,
although the ordination of women has been accepted in principle by many
reformed churches, here too the ambiguity remains, for such women as have been
ordained have all too often been given positions of practical and juridical
inferiority.
In this
growing human crisis the churches can play a healing, interpretive, and
creative role, and it is our recommendation that they constitute an ecumenical
commission composed of women and men to study the role of women in religion and
society. The matters at issue which must be dealt with in further study include
not only biblical and dogmatic questions but also those of a psychological,
sociological, economic, and political nature.
- Shared Eucharist
The
persistent division of Catholic and Reformed ministries over centuries has
shown that though we constantly receive the eucharistic
sacrament of reconciliation wrought out in the broken body of Christ, yet we
have failed to act out his reconciliation in our faith, life, and work. On both
sides we confess deep estrangement from one another, and our frequent
rationalization of our disunity.
Since we
have been incorporated into Christ in baptism, and since that baptism makes us
"very members incorporate" in his mystical body, the question of eucharistic sharing is inevitably raised. The eucharist which Christ has given us for repentance,
forgiveness, and peace is as well a. means of reconciliation and unity.
The
religious context in which we live and theologize has changed notably during
the period of our discussions in the consultation. Significant historical
studies have been conducted in recent years by Roman Catholic scholars
concerned with determining the various criteria that indicate a valid Christian
ministry. Among Reformed scholars there has arisen a renewed interest in the
origins and contemporary meaning of the gospel of grace and the Reformation doctrine
of the eucharist. Given the new state of the question, we are compelled in
faith to recognize the risen Christ present and at work for the healing of his
people in the ministry and eucharist of each of our traditions.
It must be
faced, of course, that there is a serious division between Roman Catholic and
Reformed theologians over the ecclesial reality in which the Word of God
incarnates itself. The division is serious enough to preclude general
eucharistic sharing for the present. Nevertheless, both of our churches have
moved towards a greater recognition of a common eucharistic faith. Therefore
the churches involved should designate specific occasions on which invitations
may be offered to celebrate together this greater unity of faith which we have
in common and our urgent hope of a greater ecclesial union yet to be achieved.
We recommend to the ecclesiastical authorities to whom we are responsible the
implementation of such limited eucharistic sharing.
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