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Course 11 · Lesson 2.4

Ordination in the Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant traditions

12 minute read

Lessons in this course

Course 11 outline

Module 1: What the Church Is

  1. Biblical images of the church: body, people, temple and bride
  2. One, holy, catholic and apostolic: the four marks
  3. The mission of the church
  4. The visible and invisible church in Augustine, the Reformers and the East

Module 2: Ministry and Apostolic Succession

  1. Ministry in the New Testament: apostles, elders, overseers and deacons
  2. The bishop in the early church: Clement, Ignatius and Irenaeus
  3. Apostolic succession: three meanings (a line of bishops, the teaching, the mission)
  4. Ordination in the Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant traditions

Module 3: Scripture, Tradition and Church Authority

  1. Scripture and tradition in the early church
  2. The Catholic account: Scripture, tradition and the magisterium
  3. The Orthodox account: the living tradition of the church
  4. The Reformation and the question of sola scriptura

Module 4: Three Systems of Authority

  1. The bishop of Rome in early history
  2. Papal primacy and infallibility in Catholic teaching
  3. Orthodox conciliarity and the role of the patriarchs
  4. Protestant principles of authority: Scripture, confessions and the priesthood of believers
  5. The strongest objections each tradition raises against the others

Module 5: Sacramental Theology

  1. Mystery and sacrament: the words and their history
  2. Augustine and the definition of a sacrament
  3. How many sacraments? Seven, two, or none
  4. Validity, efficacy and the role of faith

Module 6: Baptism and the Eucharist

  1. Baptism in Scripture and the early church
  2. Infant baptism and believers baptism
  3. The Eucharist in the early church
  4. Real presence: transubstantiation, the Orthodox mystery, Lutheran, Reformed and memorial views

Module 7: Reconciliation and Liturgical Worship

  1. The forgiveness of sins in Scripture
  2. Confession and penance in the history of the church
  3. Confession across the traditions: Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran and Reformed practice
  4. Liturgy, word and table, and the church year
  5. Worship without a fixed liturgy and its principles

Module 8: Schism and Christian Unity

  1. Early schisms: the Donatists and the churches after Chalcedon
  2. East and West: the long division and the events of 1054
  3. The Reformation divisions
  4. Ecumenism and the prospects for unity

All courses

Program / Course 11: Church, Sacraments, and Authority / Lesson 2.4

What you will learn

  • Define ordination and describe the rite of laying on of hands.
  • Explain the Catholic and Orthodox teaching on holy orders as a sacrament.
  • Describe the range of Protestant understandings of ordination and the priesthood of all believers.
  • Identify the main points of agreement and disagreement, including questions about who may be ordained.

The big idea

Ordination is the act by which a church sets apart a person for a recognized ministry, usually with prayer and the laying on of hands. Catholic and Orthodox churches teach that ordination is a sacrament in which the Holy Spirit gives a person the office of bishop, priest or deacon. Most Protestants teach that ordination is a solemn recognition and commissioning by the church, though some, such as Lutherans and Anglicans, give it a higher place. The traditions also differ on who may be ordained, including whether women may be.

Key terms

Ordination
The rite by which a person is set apart for ministry in the church.
Holy orders
The Catholic and Orthodox name for the sacrament of ordination and for the three ranks it confers: bishop, priest and deacon.
Cheirotonia
A Greek word meaning stretching out the hand. Orthodox churches use it for ordination.
Priesthood of all believers
The Reformation teaching that every baptized believer has direct access to God and shares in Christ’s priesthood.
Ministerial priesthood
In Catholic teaching, the priesthood of the ordained, which differs in kind and not only in degree from the priesthood shared by all the baptized.
Indelible character
In Catholic teaching, a permanent mark that baptism, confirmation and holy orders leave on the soul, which is why they are not repeated.
Call
In many Protestant churches, the combination of an inward sense of vocation and an outward invitation by a congregation or church body.

Background

Ordination has roots in the practice of laying on of hands in Acts and the letters. Hands were laid on the Seven (Acts 6:6), on Barnabas and Saul (Acts 13:3), and on Timothy (1 Timothy 4:14; 2 Timothy 1:6). Paul warns Timothy not to lay hands on anyone hastily (1 Timothy 5:22). From the second and third centuries, writings such as the Apostolic Tradition, traditionally attributed to Hippolytus of Rome but of uncertain authorship and date, describe ordination prayers for bishop, presbyter and deacon.

The traditions part ways on what ordination does. Does it give an office, a power, a gift, or a recognition? Is it a sacrament? Must it be done by a bishop? These questions connect directly with apostolic succession and the nature of the church. This lesson sets out each view as its own adherents describe it.

Step-by-step explanation

Step 1: The Catholic teaching

The Catholic Church teaches that holy orders is one of seven sacraments, instituted by Christ, in which a man is given a sacred power to serve the church. There are three degrees: bishop, priest and deacon. The Council of Trent taught that orders is a true sacrament and that it imprints a character, so that it cannot be repeated. The Second Vatican Council taught that the ministerial priesthood differs in essence and not only in degree from the common priesthood of all the baptized, but that both share in the one priesthood of Christ.

Only a validly ordained bishop can ordain. In the rite the bishop lays on hands and prays the prayer of consecration. Priests act in the person of Christ the Head (in persona Christi capitis), especially in celebrating the Eucharist and in absolution. Catholic teaching reserves ordination to baptized men. Pope John Paul II in 1994 stated that the church has no authority to confer priestly ordination on women, and that this judgment is to be held definitively. In the Latin Church priests are normally celibate, though married men from the Eastern Catholic Churches and some former Protestant clergy may be ordained.

Step 2: The Orthodox teaching

Orthodox churches also count ordination as a mystery, or sacrament, and hold the three orders. In the Orthodox rite, the bishop ordains during the Divine Liturgy, and the congregation affirms the candidate with the cry axios, meaning worthy. This public acclamation reflects the Orthodox view that ordination takes place within the gathered church.

Orthodox practice differs from the Latin Church in some points. Men may be married before they are ordained as deacons or priests, though they may not marry after ordination. Bishops are chosen from the unmarried, usually monks. Orthodox teaching holds that ordination is to men only. Orthodox theologians have written about the ancient female deacons of the East and debated whether they were ordained in the same sense, and some have urged restoring the diaconate of women. No official decision has been taken that would change the practice of ordaining only men to the priesthood.

Step 3: The Lutheran and Anglican approach

Luther rejected the idea that the ordained are a spiritual class above the laity, and he insisted on the priesthood of all believers (1 Peter 2:9). He nevertheless held that the public ministry of Word and sacrament is instituted by God and that no one should preach or administer the sacraments without a regular call. The Augsburg Confession, Article 14, says that no one should publicly teach or administer sacraments without a proper call. Lutherans do not usually count ordination as a sacrament in the strict sense, though some hold it in high regard.

Anglicans keep the three orders of bishop, priest and deacon and ordain by bishops with prayer and laying on of hands. Anglican teaching does not count ordination among the sacraments of the gospel in the same way as baptism and the Eucharist (Article 25 of the Thirty-Nine Articles), but treats it with great seriousness. Anglican provinces differ on the ordination of women; many ordain women as deacons, priests and bishops, and others do not.

Step 4: The Reformed, Baptist and free church approach

Reformed churches ordain ministers of the Word, elders and deacons. Calvin taught that ordination is by prayer and laying on of hands, in the presence of the people, and that the church should choose its ministers. He did not count it as a sacrament. The calling is recognized by the church, which tests the candidate’s doctrine and life.

Baptist and many other free churches ordain pastors by local congregations or associations. Ordination here is understood as the church’s confirmation of God’s call, and not as the conferring of a special grace or power. Practices differ on women: some Baptist and Pentecostal bodies ordain them, others do not, citing passages such as 1 Timothy 2:12. Churches that ordain women cite Romans 16:1-7 and Galatians 3:28 among others.

Step 5: Points of agreement and disagreement

Agreement: ministry is a gift from Christ, ministers are set apart by prayer, and ministers must be tested for faith and character (1 Timothy 3). Disagreement: whether ordination is a sacrament, whether a bishop is necessary, whether orders confer an unchangeable character, whether ordained ministers act in a different way from other believers, and who may be ordained. A fair student keeps the questions separate. The question of women’s ordination, for instance, is distinct from the question of sacramentality, and churches that agree on the second may differ on the first.

  1. Does this tradition call ordination a sacrament, and what does it mean by that?
  2. Who may ordain, and why?
  3. What does ordination give a person, according to this tradition?
  4. Who may be ordained, and what reasons are given?
  5. How does the tradition relate the ministry of the ordained to the priesthood of all believers?
  6. What passages of Scripture does the tradition cite?

Examples

The cry of axios

At an Orthodox ordination the people cry axios, worthy, as the candidate is presented. The practice shows that the church takes part in the choice of its ministers. Catholics also include the assent of the people in some ordination rites, though less visibly.

A call in a congregation

In a Baptist congregation a young woman senses a call to ministry and tells her pastor. The deacons meet with her, the church votes to license her, and later an ordaining council examines her beliefs. This shows ordination as recognition by a local church. (A constructed example.)

A convert priest

A married Episcopal priest becomes Catholic. Under special provision of the Catholic Church, he may in some cases be ordained as a Catholic priest while remaining married. His case shows that the Latin discipline of celibacy is a church law and not an essential element of the priesthood in Catholic teaching.

Different perspectives

Catholic

Holy orders is a sacrament that configures a man to Christ as head and shepherd of his church. The Catechism teaches that the priest acts in the person of Christ. Catholics hold that the church has no authority to ordain women to the priesthood, and many Catholics and others discuss this teaching sincerely. The church also holds that ordained ministry exists to serve all the baptized, whose priesthood is real.

Orthodox

Ordination is a mystery by which the Holy Spirit makes a man bishop, priest or deacon within the eucharistic community. The bishop is the principal celebrant of the Eucharist, and priests act under him. Orthodox writers emphasize that the ordained serve the people and are part of them.

Protestant

Protestants hold that all believers have access to God and share in a royal priesthood. Ordination recognizes a call to the public ministry of Word and sacrament. Lutherans and Anglicans speak of ordination as divinely instituted. Reformed and free churches emphasize the call and the recognition of the church. On women’s ordination, Protestant bodies are divided.

Scholarly view

Historians of early Christianity note that the vocabulary of priesthood was applied to Christian ministers gradually, in the second and third centuries, and that the New Testament does not use priest (hiereus) for Christian ministers as a class but does apply priestly language to the whole community. They also note the existence of women deacons in the early East and that the evidence for other roles is disputed.

Why it matters

Ordination decides who can preside at the Eucharist and who is recognized as a minister by other churches. It also lies behind some of the sharpest present-day disagreements, such as the ordination of women and the recognition of orders in ecumenical talks. A student who understands how each tradition describes ordination can read these disputes more fairly.

Common misunderstandings

Misunderstanding: Protestants have no ordination.

Correction: Almost all Protestant churches ordain ministers with prayer and the laying on of hands. They differ from Catholics and Orthodox over whether it is a sacrament and over what it requires.

Misunderstanding: Orthodox priests are all allowed to marry at any time.

Correction: Orthodox men may be married before ordination to the diaconate or priesthood but may not marry afterward. Bishops are chosen from the unmarried, usually monks.

Misunderstanding: The Catholic Church forbids all priests from marrying.

Correction: Celibacy is the norm for priests in the Latin Church. Eastern Catholic churches have married priests, and exceptions exist for some converts. Catholic teaching treats the discipline as a church law.

Misunderstanding: The priesthood of all believers means no one needs a minister.

Correction: Luther and Calvin both taught that the public ministry of Word and sacrament is needed and must be entrusted to those who are called. The doctrine says that all believers have access to God and share in Christ’s priesthood.

Knowledge check

What does the Catholic Church teach about holy orders as a sacrament?

That holy orders is a sacrament instituted by Christ, conferring one of three degrees (bishop, priest, deacon) and imprinting a permanent character. Only a validly ordained bishop can ordain. The ministerial priesthood differs in kind from, though it serves, the common priesthood of all the baptized.

What is the Orthodox axios, and what does it show?

Axios is the Greek cry meaning worthy, shouted by the congregation at an ordination. It shows that the Orthodox understand ordination as taking place within the gathered church with the people’s assent, and not merely as the act of a bishop.

How do Lutherans and Reformed Christians relate ordination to the priesthood of all believers?

They hold that all believers are priests before God, and that the public ministry of Word and sacrament is a distinct calling by which the church orders its life. A regular call is required, and ordination recognizes it. Neither counts ordination as a sacrament in the same sense as baptism.

Name two questions on which Christians who agree about ordination might still disagree.

Examples: whether ordination must be by a bishop, whether it imprints a permanent character, whether it is a sacrament, whether women may be ordained, and whether ministers must be celibate. Any two of these are correct.

Think it through

  1. What is the difference between recognizing a call and conferring an office?
  2. How can a church honor the ordained ministry without turning it into a separate class?
  3. Why might the question of women’s ordination be argued with different kinds of evidence in different traditions?
  4. What does the cry of axios suggest about the role of the congregation?

Independent assignment

An ordination rite compared

In your notebook, find a short description of an ordination rite from each of three traditions (for example from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, an Orthodox source such as Ware, and a Protestant book of worship or confession). For each, list who ordains, what is done, and what is said about what it gives. Then write 250 to 350 words comparing them and noting which differences concern the rite and which concern the doctrine. Keep the work in your notebook.

Further study