[T]he ministers in the eucharistic community are those who are to carry out its mission of reconciliation and restoration, of reuniting the fractured people of the earth with each other and with God. These ministers are the church’s laity, bishops, priests, and deacons, and to each is given a particular charge. . . . [Each] has different functions to perform for the church, the body of Christ, and each is dependent upon the others to make up the whole. To say it another way, each. . .is a symbol for the others of what they are and what they are to be.[1]

She further depicts God’s people as seated at “a round table with four chairs drawn up for a meal or serious talk. If any seat is missing or empty, the company is diminished, incomplete.” Although not intended to describe four “orders” of ministry, Westerhoff’s image of a round table is helpful.  Four friends, co-workers in God’s mission, seated together, sharing a meal or conversion, eliminates the conceptions of hierarchy often associated with ministry. This is not a banquet hall with persons seated according to their “stations” with the master at the head. This is a family table—a vision rich with the biblical imagery of the Last Supper—where God’s people gather to share the love and fellowship of Jesus.

The late Stewart Zabriskie, Bishop of Nevada, recalled his own changing conception of baptismal ministry:  “No longer could I accept the icon of the pyramid with the lay people near the base, priests and deacons somewhat higher up, and the bishop perched regally and precariously at the top.” 

I began to understand ministry in terms of a circle: the laos, the whole people of God, the ministering community.  For our Native American brothers and sisters, the circle is the symbol of community, people like us baptized into the ministry of Jesus Christ and called together as ministering community.[2]

All in this circle or around this table were invited through their common bond: baptism. Baptism is the crux of Christian identity; it establishes the community of disciples. There, “we are incorporated into Christ’s body, infused with the character of Christ, and given power to represent Christ and his body, the church.”[3] In baptism, believers die and rise to newness of life as agents of Christ for the reconciliation of the world. From this fundamental identity, the baptized are called to various roles within the body to serve both the church and the world.[4]

The laos—no matter their specific roles within the community—share the corporate responsibility of being Christ in and for the world. Westerhoff refers to this as “am-ness.” All God’s people are “born in the image of the divine” and called to a “lifelong work . . . to practice holy habits that reveal and name the Christ in ourselves and others—to uncover the image (of God).” The laos just are. Baptism “sears” this identity upon all who are marked in Christ’s name. And from this fundamental theological identity, the nature of ministry becomes clearer:

Ministry would be part and parcel of our saying, “I am; I am baptized.” In describing ministry, questions relating to character, identity, and disposition to behave would concern us before those regarding the various roles we assume or functions we perform.[5]

Baptism and its call to serve God and the world are Christian identity; specific roles express that identity in accordance with God’s calling to each of us to use our unique gifts in service to God’s kingdom. 

This understanding—of baptism as divine identity—is drawn from scripture and the example of Jesus. In all four Gospels, Jesus’ own baptism testifies to the presence of the Spirit at the heart of his ministry as an agent of God’s compassionate reign. As a teacher, healer, prophet, and savior, Jesus acts out the love and justice of Abba. In the Spirit, Jesus represents God’s interests as his agent without reservation. In the Spirit, he is carried through the suffering of death into resurrection life. In the same Spirit, his followers believe that in seeing Jesus, we see the Father (John 14:9): Father, Son, and Spirit are dynamically one. The ancient Trinitarian baptismal formula in Matthew 28:18ff. is incorporated into Jesus’ Great Commission to make disciples of all nations. When a person is baptized, he or she is drawn into the life of the Trinity, incorporated into the fellowship of the original disciples, commissioned to baptize and teach the compassion of God in Jesus’ name, in the power of the Spirit. Thus authorized by and accountable to God, the laos widens the circle of disciples as a holy priesthood in and to the world through time and space. The whole body shares in Christ’s baptism, joined with him in God’s mission (Eph. 4:16). 

Baptismal ecclesiology is at the same time eucharistic ecclesiology. If baptism is a singular occurrence in the life of believers, the eucharist is the on-going and nurturing well-spring of mission and hence of all ministry.  In the eucharist, we offer ourselves to be fed and sustained as agents of God’s kingdom. As the weekly gift of Christ’s presence, the eucharist transforms, unites, and shapes the laos into a holy community. As the table fellowship of the redeemed, the eucharist models and empowers the church’s mission of reconciliation. Thus, Anglicans affirm two sacramental expressions as foundational to our life in Christ and to all ministry: baptism and eucharist. 

The Catechism in the 1979 Prayer Book defines two aspects of the ministry of the laos: 1) to bear witness to Christ and carry forward his work of reconciliation in the world, and 2) to take their place in the life, worship and governance of the church.  The baptismal covenant further defines ministry as fellowship, repentance, proclamation, service, and peacemaking.  As we struggle to clarify the relation of baptismal ministry of the laos and the specific roles of ordered ministry, some have maintained that baptismal ministry is diaconal: the ministry of the laos is a ministry of compassionate service in and for the world. This is often contrasted with the ministry of the ordained as a ministry in and for the church. Such distinctions tend to falter, however, when deacons are included in the discussion since they serve the church as well. And this view is equally inadequate because lay persons minister and serve as leaders within the body as well as in the world.  The prayer book teaches that baptismal ministry takes place in and for both world and church. Is there a more comprehensive model to help us conceptualize baptismal ministry? 

Baptismal ministry is discipleship in which the whole body shares the identity of Christ and his mission as a priesthood of all believers. One possible model for baptismal ministry may be found in the biblically resonant, traditional understanding of Jesus’ own ministry, articulated in the roles of priest, prophet, and servant-king. This model may help us see baptismal ministry afresh. As we apply our model to experience, we understand that the priestly, prophetic, and service aspects of discipleship are not neatly separated when lived in community—even as they also interrelated in Christ’s own ministry. Baptismal ministry is a rich complex of interconnected callings, service, and relationships. And, in many ways, it is as difficult to comprehend as the mystery of the God whose image it reflects. 

Jesus the priest offered himself once for all and secured redemption. In the earliest Christian tradition, the identity of priest is extended to the church in all its members, as a holy priesthood (Rev. 1:6, 5:10; 1 Peter 2:5). The laos are living stones in a spiritual house, a temple making present God’s compassion in the world. The baptized share in Christ’s priesthood by blessing, interceding, admonishing, forgiving, offering together spiritual sacrifices, taking responsibility for common life by serving on parish committees, acting as lay eucharistic ministers, and singing God’s praises. All these actions and others are priestly as they mediate the transforming presence of the living Christ. 

Jesus the prophet turned the world upside down in words and deeds. In line with other biblical prophets and teachers, Jesus proclaimed God’s word and rendered judgment on the world in light of God’s will for humankind. Imbued with his prophetic authority, empowered by the Word, the baptized are sent into the world to witness in word and deed to God’s reign. The baptized also speak God’s word to one another in community: in worship, praying, teaching, preaching, writing, engaging in theological reflection, working for justice, and exploring new forms of congregational life. All of these actions and others are prophetic as they challenge humanity to an ongoing commitment to live in accordance with God’s intent for creation. 

Jesus Christ, the servant-king, demonstrated God’s love and reversed the tragedy of the Fall. As King, Christ came as a shepherd to his sheep, to gather and care for the lost (Mt. 18:12; Heb. 13:20). As shepherd, Christ modeled pastoral oversight as humble, self-emptying service for others. Jesus delegated this oversight to the disciples when he sent them into the world: “Feed my sheep” (Jn. 21:17). Likewise, the laos are called into self-giving service to the world—humbly embodying God’s love and justice in creation and respecting the dignity of all persons. The laos also exercises oversight in the church: visiting the sick, listening, mentoring, pastoral care, extending hospitality, welcoming the stranger, serving on vestries, exercising stewardship for buildings and grounds, and working as peacemakers amidst conflict. All these actions and others call God’s people to lay down their own lives for the sake of others. 

Ultimately, however, baptismal ministry reflects not only Jesus and his ministry. It reflects the greater mystery of God-in-Trinity: God’s people forwarding God’s kingdom by incarnating Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. Thus, ministry is, at is heart, a dynamic relationship of love — lover — beloved engaged in a restless seeking to restore created wholeness and draw everything into harmony with love. And of this, St. Augustine wrote, “That God’s ministers ought so to live is not a thing we believe on hearsay: it is what we see within ourselves, or rather above ourselves, in very truth.”[6]

This Christological and Trinitarian understanding of ministry raises one additional point. The deacon’s charge at the close of the eucharist is a powerful weekly commission: “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.” Although the words are addressed to the assembly, they are frequently interpreted as an individual commission. We are sent as individuals and as a body to exercise our callings of priesthood, prophecy, and service—to be Christ in our workplaces, our families, our communities. Conceiving of baptismal ministry as solely an individual venture is misdirected. Individuals sometimes speak of service as “my ministry.” Ministry is the corporate activity of kingdom-work. All ministry is God’s ministry. The laos serve as the ministers, agents, and ambassadors of God’s mission. 

As we go into the world as Christ’s ambassadors, we find ourselves making common cause with other believers, many of whom represent other traditions. On God’s mission, we also meet Christ in a neighbor who is not among the baptized, yet works for the interests of the kingdom. Even in our own congregations, we do not go alone. We often form groups to work for justice and peace in the world. God’s people labor in soup kitchens and homeless shelters, build houses and schools, dedicate themselves to peacemaking and racial reconciliation, participate in political causes and campaigns, plant churches and do evangelism, support missionaries and teachers, work for human rights and social justice, and join together in concerns for the environment. 

The ministry of the laos includes all these examples—and more. It encompasses responsibility for the common life of Christian community, Christian responsibility within the family, and living the gospel in the workplace, all arenas of kingdom-work. Because of its breadth, baptismal ministry cannot be adequately conceived as individuals sent into the world to represent Christ in the daily round. That definition, helpful as it may be, is too limited. Instead, baptismal ministry is the whole work of God’s kingdom being carried out by the whole people of God at all times and places. Ministry is not volunteer work, not just a religious United Way. Ministry springs from our identity in Christ, the “am-ness” of baptism, an organic outgrowth from God’s covenant with us. We are, in the words of Verna Dozier, “the church gathered and the church scattered.” No matter where we are, together or apart, self-consciously or not, the baptized are always the church on mission. Although sometimes unrecognized or rejected, Christian baptismal identity cannot be separated from the dynamic, relational, and sacramental life of the community and God’s mission.[7]

When baptismal ministry is grasped in its fullness as the people of God enacting Christ’s priesthood as his ministers, it becomes clear that theological formation for the entire community is one of the most urgent needs in the church. As a life-long endeavor, and one that links heart and mind, Christian formation undergirds the ongoing transformation of persons into the likeness of Christ. Just as believers are formed for discipleship by baptism, eucharist, community life, and service in the world, the dedicated study of scripture and theology nurtures the baptized to Christian maturity and into the fullness of Christ (Eph. 4:13). 

The scope, energy, and diversity of the laos presents the church as an institution with the challenge of order, of discerning and pursuing the call of God in community. But what kind of order empowers, supports, instructs, and coordinates the laos to embrace,  experience, and engage the fullness of their baptismal identity?