This first letter from Peter has a loud ring to it to be heard by the presbyters among us – our priests. Consider, “In the early Church a member of a group (usually of priests) who advised a bishop. Together they formed the presbytery, which, under a bishop, was the governing body of a community. The presbyter having no official duties, he was often commissioned by the bishop to teach, celebrate Mass, and baptize. Presbyters were usually of advanced age and, like a bishop, chosen by the people. Their rank was above that of deacons but inferior to that of bishops. There was no restriction on their number.”
We have an interesting distinction. In Peter’s day presbyters were chosen by the people. This happens now with Protestant ministers, but not so with our priests. Here is more about Protestants. There are many important distinctions.
(begin) Protestant churches reject the idea that there is a special class of religious people called "priests" who mediate relationship with God and have exclusive privileges regarding the dispensation of grace. The Roman Catholic sacrament of Holy Orders bestows an authority on the priest to confer God's grace to the believer through the sacraments, and this authority is not extended to the laity. The reformers rejected this mediatorial role of the priest. Their insistence that God has done everything for salvation, and humans can do nothing to merit salvation or earn God's favor, makes salvation a one-way street, a free gift from God to humans that comes in the form of forgiveness and is received through faith.
The implications of this for the way that Protestant Christians think about their clergy are huge. People have no need of a human intermediary. Each person stands directly before God, receiving God's grace not because a priest performed certain actions, but simply because, by trusting in God's love revealed in Jesus, the believer is reconciled and has a restored relationship with God. The reformers expressed this belief with the phrase "the priesthood of all believers." Anglican and Episcopal churches still retain the term "priest" for their clergy, but their clergy function as ministers rather than intermediaries, consistent with other Protestant denominations.
There are varying degrees of leadership in Protestant churches. Most have a "senior pastor" or clergy member (called a pastor, minister, or reverend) who has been ordained by the denomination, a formal recognition that he (or she, in some churches) is called by God to serve in this way. Depending on the size of the church, other pastors may serve alongside the primary leader as specialized ministers—e.g., pastor of young adults, or pastor of adult education, etc.
The next level of leadership differs by tradition. Many Protestant churches elect elders to administer the Church in cooperation with the ministers. These are lay leaders in the church chosen to serve as advisors to the clergy and give guidance regarding various matters of the local church community. For some congregations, these elders are spiritual leaders and teachers; for other congregations, they operate more as a board of directors managing the temporal affairs of the local church.
Many churches also have an office of deacon. In some, this denotes a person on the way to full ordination as clergy. In most, however, a deacon is called to a ministry of service, typically assisting the minister with outreach to the poor and sick. Some deacons help administer the sacraments, and in some denominations may, with the permission of the local bishop, administer the sacraments in special situations if no clergy is available. (end)
Regardless of our separateness, there is an important similarity. Our Church leaders and Protestant counterparts are to tend the flock of God in their midst, overseeing not by constraint but willingly, as God would have it, not for shameful profit but eagerly. They are not to lord it over those assigned to them but be examples to the flock. For this we pray.
Deacon David Pierce
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