Once upon a Time…

In the days immediately after the death of Apostles there is no question that the office of bishop began to be distinguished from that of presbyter. It’s true, as St. Jerome and our Confessions point out, that the New Testament is utterly ignorant of this distinction and therefore it cannot be considered a matter of divine mandate (at least not for anyone who insists that the faith once delivered to the saints cannot come unglued from the apostolic witness in the Scriptures). Yet the history is clear that as the Church developed, there was a single man who usually stood at the head of the Eucharistic assembly, and he was called the bishop or the president (as in Justin Martyr). St. Ignatius of Antioch, of course, is prime witness to these days (assuming the authenticity of the letters, which I do assume). He exhorts “Where the bishop is seen, there let all his people be; just as wherever Jesus Christ is present, we have the world-wide church.” And indeed, that we ought regard only that Eucharist as the real deal which is celebrated by the bishop, or someone authorized by him (both from Smyrneans 8). That last is telling. It means, that the bishop can delegate the celebration of the Eucharist to one of his presbyters, who may stand in for the bishop at the bishop’s authorization.

I am very blest to serve in a parish where this situation described by St. Ignatius doesn’t feel like ancient history, like “once upon a time,” but corresponds to our very actual lived experience. I am a called pastor there, as is my dear friend, Pr. William Gleason. But if Pr. Gleason and I serve there as presbyters or even deacons (as the Lutherans of the 16th century used those terms for the auxiliary pastors in a parish), we do so at the direction and authorization of the man who is charged with the whole of the parish and that is Pastor Benjamin Ball. There was a time when I was the man in Pastor Ball’s position, but I relinquished that call when I accepted a position with the Synod some years ago. And my current call is quite limited in scope and specifically under the direction of Pr. Ball. I preach when he asks me to preach. I celebrate when he asks me to celebrate. I teach when he asks me to teach. All of this is true as well for Pr. Gleason. And though as presbyters, we are indeed equals in the office to Pr. Ball, there is no question that there is still here that clerical ranking that Johann Gerhard argues is indispensable for actual churchly life if it is not to dissolve into anarchy. “We vehemently disapprove of the anarchy and disturbance of those who remove ranking [ordo] from the ecclesiastical ministry, since it is a source of discord and of every evil. In our churches we retain ranking among ministers and decree that this must be retrained, so that some are bishops, some are presbyters, some are deacons, etc. … Therefore there ought to be grades of ministers also in our church.” (On the Ministry, Part II, pp. 18, 19).

And this is expressed liturgically when we are all serving in a given liturgy. Pr. Ball is far and away the usual preacher and celebrant, as is most fitting, and shown to be such, vested in the chasuble at the Divine Service. Pr. Gleason is ordinarily fulfilling the task of Deacon, vested in dalmatic, reading the Holy Gospel distributing the blessed chalice, and leading the post-communion collect of thanksgiving and chanting the Benedicamus. And I am blessed to serve as Subdeacon, vested in tunicle, reading the first reading and the epistle, and assisting with the individual cups. (Sometimes, in this Covidtide, other pastors who are members of the parish also assist Pastor Ball, as well as seminarians assigned to the parish to cover the five liturgies we currently have to accommodate the guidelines). In general, three presbyters serving together, but with rank or ordo: Pastor Ball at the head, then Pastor Gleason, then myself.

My point is that Pr. Ball to the congregation of St. Paul’s IS what the bishop of the ancient church was, as witnessed by Ignatius. He is the head pastor of the local eucharistic gathering. He is a sign of our unity, and while we certainly may and do give him our counsel, neither Pastor Gleason nor myself would presume to direct him. He is the one who directs us in where and how to serve. This very morning, he had me fill in for him in leading Matins and preaching for our parish school. And this is no burdensome submission, people loved by God; Pr. Gleason and I experience it as sheer joy! And Pr. Ball is also our link as the head pastor, our bishop, in this place with the pastors and parishes that surround us, who share the same confession of the faith that we do. He officially represents our parish in transparochial gatherings. I might add, he’s also bishop in the “newer” way too, the way that the Church adopted when she moved the bishop from being the head of the local eucharistic assembly to a more distant supervisory role over several eucharistic assemblies and their pastors: he is a vice-president of our Synod, and serves as the Synodical President’s personal representative to a number of centrally located districts and their presidents.

And as a footnote: nor ought any of the above be heard in a narrow and clericalist way. In our parish too, the Kantor is of vital importance, not only for the gifts she gives us by her playing the organ, but in her arrangement for her choirs and musical ensembles, to whom the primary task of leading the Introit, singing the Gradual and the Alleluia verse ordinarily falls. And above all, the people are quite aware of their liturgy, as they join in the canticles of the Divine Service and the Hymns, make fervent response to the prayers, above all with the Amen, attend to the Word read and proclaimed, and proclaim the Savior’s death by receiving His very body and blood amid great thanksgivings. The totality is a symphony of various ministries, each fulfilling its own joyous task in the Divine Service, and all to the glory of Christ and as the gift of communion in His Spirit from each to all.

Last year, we were blessed to have Matt Whitman of the Ten Minute Bible Hour do no less than three videos about the Lutheran Church and Lutheran theology. At the end of the first video (linked; the others appear close to it), he makes the most interesting comment. He says he expected something very 16th century feeling, but was surprised at how all 2,000 years of Church history were going on before his eyes in our service. Yes, once upon a time, the bishop was the president of the local eucharistic assembly and was surrounded by his clergy, his presbyters and deacons. And that once upon a time is still happening today. And for that Deo gratias!