Church officer

“ The keys of the Priesthood belong to the presiding officer of the Church and must be held in order that the ordinances of a perfect salvation may be administered to the Saints and in behalf of the dead. ”

“ We find a regularly organized clergy, not only distinctly marked off from the laity, but distinctly marked off among themselves by well defined gradations of rank. And, secondly, we find that each local Church is constitutionally governed by one chief officer, whose powers are large and seldom resisted, and who universally receives the title of bishop. ”

“ The priest is the highest officer in a particular church. It is the primary duty of every priest to serve and obey his bishop with all humility. For by the bishops particular churches are ruled. To each bishop are subject all the churches within his jurisdiction. ”

“ The permanent officers in the church are pastors and teachers, to the former of whom it belongs to preside over the discipline of the church, to administer the sacraments, and to admonish and exhort the members; while the latter occupy themselves with the exposition of Scripture, so that pure and wholesome doctrine may be retained. With them are to be joined for the government of the church certain pious, grave and holy men as a senate in each church; and to others, as deacons, is to be entrusted the care of the poor. ”

“ How many, and what are the Scriptural officers of a Christian church? For a church, being a society, must have not only laws, but officers to execute them. How many orders are there in the ministry? These are questions which have at times greatly divided the Christian world.
Baptists assert that the officers of a church are two,—and of right, can be no more,—pastor and deacons. In this opinion agree some other denominations, while the various Episcopal sects insist that there should be three sets—deacons, priests, and bishops, to which the Church of England adds archbishops. ”

“ Church officers, according to New Testament usage, are chosen from members of the church. No church, therefore, can properly call a Council to ordain until the person to be ordained is a member of it. Hence, the first step, after a contract of settlement, is the transfer of membership.
When the Council is organized the candidate is expected to relate his Christian experience and his call to the ministry, and to submit a statement of his views of Christian doctrine, of church organization and discipline, and of the ordinances. ”

“ All are seated except the ordinand, who stands before the Bishop. The Bishop addresses the ordinand as follows
My brother, every Christian is called to follow Jesus Christ, serving God the Father, through the power of the Holy Spirit. God now calls you to a special ministry of servanthood directly under your bishop. In the name of Jesus Christ, you are to serve all people, particularly the poor, the weak, the sick, and the lonely.
As a deacon in the Church, you are to study the Holy Scriptures, to seek nourishment from them, and to model your life upon them. ”

“ The Lesser Priesthood, then, you perceive, comes within the purview of the Apostleship, because a man that holds it has a right to act or officiate as a High Priest, as one of {218} the High Council, as a Patriarch, as a Bishop, Elder, Priest, Teacher, and Deacon, and in every other office and calling that is in the Church, from first to last, when duty demands it. ”

“ We were not left to ourselves, to conjecture, or merely to base our opinion, in regard to what the various duties of the officers of the Church are, but the Lord did distinctly point out the duty of an apostle, telling us that that was one of the officers of the Church, that it is his duty to receive revelation—to receive communications from the heavens, as the apostles did in ancient times, and to administer in all of the ordinances of the doctrine of Jesus Christ, and to regulate the Church and watch over the same, and to administer in all spiritual things. ”

“ And, in the first place, we argue the obligations of supporting the Gospel, in a decent and honourable manner, from this consideration, it [p. 270] is the will of God that there should be stated public worship, and an order of men appointed to preside over, and to dispense to worshipping Assemblies, Gospel-truths and ordinances. The office of a Gospel-Ministry is sacred. It is derived from the great head of the Church. This is a true saying, if any man desire the office of a Bishop, he desireth a good work. ”

“ The Priest not only ministers before God on behalf of his people, but he ministers to his people on behalf of God. In this aspect of the Priesthood, he ministers God's gifts to the laity. If, as a Priest, he pleads the One Sacrifice on behalf of the people, as a Minister he feeds the people upon the one Sacrifice. His chief ministerial duty is to minister to the people—to give them Baptism, Absolution, Holy Communion; to minister to all their spiritual needs whenever, and wherever, he is needed. ”

“ He must be ordained and consecrated to this office by prayer and the imposition of hands by one or more pastors, when he also solemnly promises faithfully to discharge such office according to the Word of God and the doctrine of our Church. A deacon is indeed also a minister of the Word of God, but he does not discharge this office fully, like a pastor, but conducts catechetical instruction, reads sermons, conducts funerals, exhorts and, in the absence of a pastor, also baptizes children, where such is desired. ”

“ No minister of any of the denominations, no matter how learned and pious he may be, can {50} serve at her Altars until he has been ordained by a Bishop and is therefore commissioned by that Episcopal or Apostolic authority upon which the Church has always insisted. ”

“ The essential or inseparable powers of the clergy are "the power to bless the bread and wine, and turn them into the blessed body and blood of Christ, to administer the other sacraments of the church, and to bind and to loose men from their sins." Non-essential or separable functions are the government or control of one priest over others (i.e., the offices of bishop, archbishop, etc.) , the administration of the sacraments, etc., in a certain place and to a certain people, and the administration of temporal possessions of the church. ”

“ Each congregation is presided over by its “angel” or bishop (who ranks as angel-pastor in the Universal Church) ; under him are four-and-twenty priests, divided into the four ministries of “elders, prophets, evangelists and pastors,” and with these are the deacons, seven of whom regulate the temporal affairs of the church—besides whom there are also “sub-deacons, acolytes, singers, and door-keepers.” The understanding is that each elder, with his co-presbyters and deacons, shall have charge of 500 adult communicants in his district ”

“ It is true, as your Lordship observes, there is one canon that says, “That no curate or minister shall be permitted to serve in any place, without examination and admission of the Bishop of the diocese.” And there is another also, as quoted by your Lordship, which tells us, “That neither minister, church-wardens, nor any other officers of the church, shall suffer any man to preach within their chapels, but such as, by shewing their licence to preach, shall appear unto them to be sufficiently authorized thereunto.” ”

“ To aid the bishops in the duties of their several bishoprics are the quorums of priests, teachers and deacons
The duty of the priests is to visit the homes of the Saints, to teach the people, to expound the scriptures, baptize believers and administer the sacrament. Forty-eight priests form a quorum of which the bishopric is the presidency.
The duty of teachers is to be the standing ministers in the respective wards where they reside, to ferret out iniquity in the church, and see that the members perform their duties. ”

“ God's chosen representative on earth. The bishops were exalted above all the presbyters or priests. The priests in turn held a position far superior to the subordinate officials, who had now come to include sub-deacons, readers, acolytes, precentors or cantors, janitors, exorcists, [162:1] and other officials of minor importance. [162:2] These under officers likewise were cut off from the laity by a pronounced gulf. [162:3]
To conduct the general affairs of the Church, synods and councils of the clergy came into existence as early as the second century. ”

“ A church needs however not only a Pastor, as its Bishop, who is to “give himself continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word,” but Deacons also, to superintend its temporal affairs, and “to serve tables.” The church therefore, in the first instance, chose two of its members to that office; a number which has been increased again and again, as the necessities of the church required. ”

“ No persons are allowed to exercise the offices of bishop, priest, or deacon in this Church unless they are so ordained, or have already received such ordination with the laying on of hands by bishops who are themselves duly qualified to confer Holy Orders. ”

“ The chief minister is normally the bishop; but, if necessary, a deputy may be appointed. The bishop, when present, is the chief celebrant of the Eucharist. In the bishop’s absence, a priest being inducted is the chief celebrant.
Other priests, if any, who serve in the same congregation also stand with the chief celebrant at the Altar, and deacons assist according to their order.
Lay persons from the congregation read the Old Testament Lesson and the Epistle, and perform other actions as indicated in the rubrics. A deacon or priest reads the Gospel. ”

“ Grant that we, with him, may serve you now, and always rejoice in your glory; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
A newly inducted Priest may, at the bishop’s request, pronounce a blessing.
A Deacon, or a Priest if no deacon is present, dismisses the assembly.
Additional Directions
The Institution, the Ministry of the Word, and the Induction should occur at the entrance of the chancel, or in some other place where the bishop and other ministers may be clearly seen and heard by the people. ”

“ To bring back the clergy to that exact uniformity with respect to doctrines, rites, and ceremonies, from which the lenity of his predecessor had suffered them in many instances to recede, appeared to the new -111-
-vol ii-primate the first and most essential duty of his office; and the better to enforce obedience, he eagerly demanded to be armed with that plenitude of power which her majesty as head of the church was authorized to delegate at her pleasure. ”

“ In the apostolic age a body of elders or bishops and a body of deacons in each church guided its affairs, while the members took an active part in the choice of their officers, and in the general direction of ecclesiastical proceedings. In the second century, when we get a distinct view of the churches after the obscure interval that follows the age of the apostles, we find that over the elders is a bishop, whose office grows in importance as the churches become larger, as the need of more compact organization is felt, and as the clergy become more and more distinct from the laity. ”

“ It is now held by all Presbyterian churches that one presbyter in every congregation should have specially committed to him the work of teaching, administering the sacraments, visiting the flock pastorally, and taking oversight, with his fellow elders, of all the interests of the church. To share with the minister such general oversight is not regarded by intelligent and influential laymen as an incongruous or unworthy office ”

“ Both of these offices, as well as ordination, were regarded as necessary. Says the Report of 1820: "As concerning the states and grades of the ministry (des Lehramts) , we do not recognize more than two, to wit, pastor and deacon, as necessary for the preservation and propagation of the Church. A pastor is an evangelical teacher who discharges the office fully, in all its parts, or who performs all ministerial acts. ”

“ It is well to note that a minister is not a Pastor simply because he is ordained; besides the Divine call and Divine appointment in ordination, there is also the call from the people to define that number of souls over which the charge is to be exercised. This is brought out in the "Office of Institution of Ministers into Parishes or Churches," to be found in the Prayer-book.
Pastoral Letter.—A letter issued by the Rector of a Parish, or by the Bishop of the Diocese on some subject affecting the welfare of the Church in its devotions or work. ”

“ Foremost among the requirements exacted by the ordinaries from all alike was the duty of attending church. Every one had to frequent service on Sundays and on feast-days, and to be present at evening as well as at morning prayer. [108] Nor might a man repair to a church in another parish because it was nearer than his own. [109] Should his own minister be unlicenced to preach—and only about one incumbent out of four or five was licenced [110] —he was not permitted, except under special authorization, [111] to hear a sermon in another church while service was going on in his own. ”

“ All these officers, bishops as well as deacons, are confined to the local church in their jurisdiction. The charge of a bishop is not a diocese, but a church. The functions are mostly administrative, the teaching office being subordinate, and a distinction is made between teaching elders and others, implying that the teaching function is not common to them all. ”

“ That in regard to the office and calling of Bishops it is very much like the office and calling of High Priests. All High Priests are eligible to any office in the Church, when called, ordained and appointed to fill such office. ”