Bishop: Lord or Servant?

by William Carroll

Q: What is the ministry of a bishop?

A: The ministry of a bishop is to represent Christ and his Church, particularly as apostle, chief priest, and pastor of a diocese; to guard the faith, unity, and discipline of the whole Church; to proclaim the Word of God; to act in Christ's name for the reconciliation of the world and the building up of the Church; and to ordain others to continue Christ's ministry (BCP p 855).

The Catechism uses the phrase "to represent Christ and his Church" that elsewhere describes the ministry of lay persons, priests, and deacons. Whatever distinctions may exist among the four orders of ministry, the similarities are even more important. The "varieties of service" of which Paul writes must be consistent with his vision of baptismal equality (1 Cor 12; Gal 3.25-29).

All ministry comes from our participation in the priesthood of Jesus. In Baptism, the same Spirit that rested upon Jesus fills us in a new way, directly empowering the whole Church and each of its members to participate in his ministry. God freely bestows gifts for ministry upon the entire Church. In different ways, each one of us represents Jesus himself in word and deed.

Ordained ministers promise to live out particular aspects of the ministry of Jesus. Like marriage, ordination is a vocational sacrament. It involves specific vows which shape the ways in which baptismal grace manifests itself in our lives. It is one of many ways to live out our Baptismal Covenant.

Ordination should never be understood to deny any form of ministry to the baptized. God forbid that only deacons should serve the poor or confront the powers that "corrupt and destroy the creatures of God." Both are baptismal promises (BCP pp 302, 305).

The deacon's ministry embodies the servant ministry of Jesus in order to encourage this ministry in all other Christians. Likewise, the ministry of a priest (elder, presbyter) represents Jesus as shepherd, reconciler, and healer, as well as a person of prayer. A bishop shares many of the ministries typical of deacons and priests, but also lives out the ministry of an apostle in being a missionary and witness to the resurrection (Acts 1.21-22), as well as the oversight from which bishops take their name (episcopoi). Bishops help order the common life of a diocese and "guard the faith, unity, and discipline of the whole Church." The particular ministries of which each order is a sacramental sign are shared with the whole Church and exercised collaboratively with others. Ultimately, the ministry of the bishop is an extension of the ministry of the Church, not vice versa.

From the beginning, bishops exercised ministry collegially with the priests, or presbyters. This is reflected in their ordinations -- for a priest: "Now you are called to work as a pastor, priest, and teacher, together with your bishop and fellow presbyters, and to take your share in the councils of the Church" (BCP 531); for a bishop: "will you sustain your fellow presbyters and take counsel with them... " (BCP 518). Indeed, originally, before the ministry of bishops was established (mostly during the second century), many churches were governed by a council of presbyters, with no one person designated as bishop. In the few places where "bishops" are mentioned in the New Testament, the meaning is unclear. The word seems to be used interchangeably with the word "presbyters."

By the end of the second century, when residential bishops became the norm, lay people continued to play a significant role in electing bishops and in the governance of the local church. The "prince bishop" phenomenon is a regrettable development that occurred when the Church accommodated itself to the Empire. Bishops became imperial officials, then feudal overlords, and they began to act the part, forgetting Christ's command that we not "lord it over" others (Mk 10.42-43).

A bishop's authority is primarily pastoral and spiritual. There are times when bishops are empowered to act in relatively unilateral ways, but their authority is limited by the Church's canon law. Indeed, in their ordination, bishops promise to "conform to the doctrine, discipline, and worship of the Episcopal Church" (BCP 513). The Episcopal Church, unlike many Anglican provinces, insists upon important roles for lay persons, priests, and deacons in Church government. Each diocese elects lay and clerical deputies to participate, along with the bishops, in the General Convention, which makes decisions that bishops must uphold. Furthermore, our bishops are elected by the clergy and lay delegates of a diocese voting as a bicameral house.

An original contribution of the American Church is the Standing Committee, an elected diocesan commission of presbyters and laity, that functions as a check and balance with the episcopate in numerous policy-making matters such as the ordination process for postulants, deacons, priests, and bishops. It also serves as the Ecclesiastical Authority in the absence or incapacity of the diocesan bishop and, as well, in taking order and supervising episcopal elections. There were no bishops in the states for the first century or so. This gave rise to the Standing Committee, whose presence continues as an effective representative of a more democratic polity.

Far from being a modern corruption, these democratic elements insure that, in conformity with ancient practice, the ministry of oversight is exercised collegially. It is also one way we "locally adapt" the "historic episcopate" (BCP 877). In the Episcopal Church, the ministry of oversight is broadly shared, present in a focal manner in the bishop, but also dispersed among lay people, priests, and deacons. I believe that this broad participation in Church government is appropriate for a Church that includes many responsible adults. It may also render us more transparent to the leading of the Spirit. When compared with other possible models of oversight, it is certainly more consistent with the example of Jesus, who came as "one who serves" (Lk 22.27).

[COVENANT, Number 22, January 2006]

The Revd Dr William Carroll is professor of theology, School of Theology, University of the South.

Ed note: "Restoring the Bonds of Affection," Anglican Theological Review 87:4 (Fall 2005), 619-629 is a fuller piece along the same lines of this article, but also responding to the Windsor Report.