The Task Group on the Theology of Baptismal and Ordained Ministry deliberated on an appropriate method to use in carrying out its mandate to develop theological criteria to guide canon revision. The practical nature of the task suggested an approach both conceptual and experiential. A purely classical method, moving from abstract concepts to the concrete situation of today’s Episcopal Church, seemed insufficient. An inductive approach “from below” recommended itself as a means of holding up a theological mirror to the actual practices and understandings of ministry in our church today. Inspired, in part, by the Zacchaeus Project and its attempt to provide a snapshot of the contemporary congregation-based experience of discipleship, the Task Group initiated the consultative process described above.[1] This experiential approach was supplemented by, and interpreted through, scholarly and pastoral expertise offered by theologians, historians, sociologists, and clergy.
Thus, this paper is not intended to advocate or exclude particular views or practices of ministry. The Task Group, whose members brought to the discussion a wide variety of views and experiences, developed a self-conscious desire to stand in the historic line of Anglican comprehensiveness. Recognizing that God’s Spirit has often manifested itself in our diversity, we affirm the creative vitality of contemporary ministry in its many guises. We are also aware of the problems and shortcomings in all forms of polity. With these perspectives and commitments in mind, we have attempted to discern the theological contours of a broadly Episcopal approach to ministry—one that both faithfully honors the past and energetically embraces the future. We found a common theological starting point: God’s mission drives ministry, not vice versa.
Emerging from that theological commonality, we also agreed that baptism and eucharist serve God’s mission to bring forth the kingdom in the world. As Orthodox theologian Alexander Schmemann drew the connection between liturgy and mission:
The Eucharist is the entrance of the Church into the joy of its Lord. And to enter into that joy, so as to be a witness to it in the world, is indeed the very calling of the Church, its essential leitourgia, the sacrament by which it “becomes what it is.”[2]
The connection between liturgical life and God’s kingdom is more than theoretical. Episcopalians often experience it in the context of service. As one woman remarked regarding her participation in a local soup kitchen, “I realized today working in the Kitchen that the serving table is like the table in the church, the altar. The two go together. I don’t think the Eucharist makes sense without the soup.”[3]
The mission of the church is, therefore, the divine agenda for which disciples are called and equipped. God’s mission is the appropriate biblical and theological context in which to consider the ministry of all baptized persons. This discussion unfolds from that insight.
[1] In 1999, the Episcopal Church Foundation sponsored the Zacchaeus Project, an in-depth study of Episcopal congregations in nine dioceses. The project sought to determine how Episcopalians both understand the identity of the church and engage in ministry. For a summary of the Zacchaeus findings, see The Zacchaeus Project: Discerning Episcopal Identity at the Dawn of the New Millennium (New York: Episcopal Church Foundation, 1999).
[2] Alexander Schmemann, For the Life of the World (New York: St. Vladimir’s Press, 1973 edition), pp. 25-26.
[3] Nora Gallagher, Things Seen and Unseen: A Year Lived in Faith (New York: Knopf, 1998), 47.
