CLERGY AND LAITY
The clergy are not the Church. They are a specialized class within it.
They are men who believe themselves to be called by GOD to give
themselves for life to the particular work of caring directly for the
spiritual interests of their fellows. To this end they are set apart
by ordination. They hold the commission and authorization of the
Church to minister the Word and Sacraments of the Gospel in the name
of Christ and of the Brotherhood. Their task is high and difficult. It
is not wonderful if they fail. But solemn prayer is offered for them
at their ordination: and the answer to the Church's prayers is
according to the measure of the Church's faith.
The historical or Catholic system of ministry in the Church consists
of a hierarchy in three orders or gradations. To the order of Bishops
belongs oversight or pastorate-in-chief. It is not the business of a
Bishop to be prelatical, or to lord it over GOD'S heritage, but to be
the servant of the servants of GOD. A Bishop is consecrated to his
office by not less than three of those who are already Bishops. He
exercises all the functions of the Christian ministry, including those
of confirmation and ordination and the right to take part in episcopal
consecrations.
Priests and deacons are a Bishop's delegates for certain purposes. A
priest may have charge of a "parish" or subdivision of a diocese, and
is competent to celebrate the Eucharist, to bless, to baptize, and to
absolve. He is also authorized to preach, and to give instruction in
Christian doctrine. He may not confirm or ordain apart from the
Bishop, though he may co-operate with the latter in ordinations to the
priesthood. He is ordained to his ministry by the Bishop acting in
conjunction with certain representatives of the priesthood who take
part with him in the laying on of hands.
Deacons are subordinate ministers appointed to assist parish priests
in the work of parochial visiting and also, within certain limits, in
the conduct of Divine worship and the administration of the
sacraments. They may read parts of the service, but have no authority
to bless or to absolve. They may preach by express and specific
license from the Bishop. They may not celebrate the Eucharist, but may
assist the priest who does so by reading the Gospel and administering
the chalice. They are ordained to their office by the Bishop, and in
most cases, though not invariably, proceed subsequently to the
priesthood. [Footnote: In the absence of a Bishop or priest, a deacon
is competent to baptize. In the absence of any of the clergy Baptism
may also, in cases of urgency, be administered by a layman, and in the
absence of a man, by a woman.]
The principles which underlie this system of Catholic order in the
Church are important. The devolution of authority to minister through
the episcopate safeguards the continuity of the Church's corporate
life and tradition, and secures that ministerial functions shall be
exercised in the name and by the authority of the Christian Society as
a whole. Moreover through the ordered succession of the Bishops the
tradition of ministerial authority is carried back certainly to sub-
apostolic, and perhaps also actually to apostolic, times: it
represents in principle Christ's commission to His Apostles--"As the
Father hath sent Me, even so send I you."
At the same time it is important that the doctrine of the ministry
should not be allowed to become "sacerdotalist" in a wrong sense. The
Christian priesthood is not in possession of any magical or exclusive
powers. The essence of priesthood is the dedication of life as a whole
to the service of GOD on behalf of others: and in this sense every
Christian man is meant in his ordinary daily life and business to be a
priest of GOD and a servant of his brethren. What the Church to-day
needs most chiefly is a body of laymen who will take seriously their
vocation. A layman is not a Christian of inferior type, on whose
behalf the clergy are expected to display a vicarious spirituality: he
is simply an unordained member of the people of GOD. The hope of the
future is that laymen should do their part, not merely by supporting
the efforts of the clergy, but by exercising their own proper
functions as living members of Christ. The Church--and especially the
Church of England--is in vital need of reform. The recently launched
"Life and Liberty" Movement is a hopeful sign of the determination of
a certain number of clergy and laity that reform shall be secured. In
particular it is essential that the Church should recover freedom of
self-government in spiritual things, and liberty to adapt her
machinery and organization to changing needs, by the readjustment of
her relation towards the State. This may or may not involve
disestablishment, and disestablishment in turn, if it should take
place, need not necessarily involve, but in practice would probably
involve, some measure of partial disendowment. The Church must be
prepared for all eventualities, and must be ready, should necessity
arise, to take cheerfully the spoiling of her goods. For liberty is
essential at all costs.
In the movement for Life and Liberty, as in every other department of
her work, the Church needs the co-operation of her laity. It is their
duty both to be informed in ecclesiastical affairs, and to make their
voices heard. It is part of the programme of Church reformers to give
the laity, through elected representatives, a more effective voice in
Church affairs. The administration of finance and the raising of funds
for work both at home and abroad is more particularly their province,
but there is no single department of Church affairs in which the
layman ought not to have his share, though no doubt the Bishops in
virtue of their office have a special responsibility in matters of
doctrine. Certainly there is need of a much greater extension of lay
preaching, and a freer recognition of the capacity of many laymen to
lead the worship and intercessions of their brethren. The
administration of the sacraments, with the partial exception of
baptism, is reserved for those to whom it is committed: but this need
not and does not apply to the ministries of preaching and of prayer.
Clerical autocracy, where it exists, ought resolutely and firmly to be
broken down. It has to be admitted that between clergy and laity at
present there is a regrettable and widespread cleavage. The clergy are
widely criticized, and it is certain that they have many faults. One
who belongs to their number cannot help being conscious of some at
least of the failings both of himself and of his class. But the faults
are not all upon one side. It may be suspected that those who
criticize the clergy with the greatest freedom are not always those
who pray for them most earnestly. To affirm that the laity get, upon
the whole, the clergy they deserve would be too hard a saying: but it
is sometimes forgotten that the clergy are recruited from the ranks of
the laity, and that, when not dehumanized by an undue professionalism
of outlook, they are human. Many of them would be frankly grateful for
friendly co-operation and criticism on the part of the lay members of
their flocks. One of the difficulties about preaching is that the
clergy in many instances do not really know what is in the layman's
mind. The life of the Church in England will not proceed along healthy
lines until there is greater mutual candour between laymen and clergy.
At present laymen will not talk freely about matters of religion in
the presence of the clergy because they imagine (often quite wrongly)
that the latter would be shocked. It sometimes happens conversely that
the clergy hesitate to express their real minds for fear that laymen
would be shocked. This attitude of mutual reserve is hopeless. No
Christian, lay or clerical, has any business to be shocked at any
expression of opinion whatever, orthodox or unorthodox, whether in
faith or in morals. Either side may disagree with the other; but
either ought to be prepared to listen to what the other has to say.