The priesthood of all believers is finally being realized. Every Christian is ordained, i.e. "set apart," for ministry.

Over 500 years ago Martin Luther made the statement: "Everybody who has been baptized may claim that he already has been consecrated a priest, bishop, or pope." This means not only that every Christian has direct access to God through Jesus Christ, but that EVERY person in the body of Christ is set apart for Christian ministry.

It is difficult to reconcile the ordination of a specialized few members of the body of Christ to ministry and not others with the New Testament. The apostle Paul writes, "On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor... God has combined the members of the body and has given honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its part should have equal concern for each other" (1 Cor 12:22-25 NIV). Many diverse parts, one body, with One Head -- Jesus Christ.

Theology ALWAYS has practical impact. From a functional standpoint ordination - particularly clergy ordination - has led to an unhealthy class system that distinguishes the clergy from the laity, the "professionals" from the "amateurs." So Christians go to worship essentially as spectators and/or recipients of the pastor's show. Whichever pastor puts on the best show is the church people tend to migrate toward. It's nothing intended. But we all know that's how it works in practice.

Richard Lovelace observes: "It is still true that the model of congregational life in the minds of most clergy and laity is one in which the minister is the dominant pastoral superstar who specializes in the spiritual concerns of the Christian community, while the laity are spectators, critics, and recipients of pastoral care, free to go about their own business because the pastor is taking care of the business of the kingdom."

What are the criteria used to distinguish the professional clergy from the "lower class" laity? They are (at least in Reformed churches) primarily academic rather than spiritual. Only those who attain a high enough level of theological proficiency and professional competency and pass academic exams by fellow professionals are qualified for ordination and its exclusive priviledges, including administering the Sacraments. Historically this has led the institutional Christian church to a top-down clericalism - the central issue the Protestant Reformation attacked and tried to change!

Again, Martin Luther: "Let everyone, therefore, who knows himself to be a Christian be assured of this, and apply it to himself - that we are all priests, and there is no difference between us."

David Watson, author of "I Believe in the Church", says, "Most Protestant denominations have been as priest-ridden as the Roman Catholics. It is the minister, vicar, or pastor who has dominated the whole proceedings. In other words, the clergy-laity divisions have continued in much the same way as in pre-Reformation times, and the doctrine of spiritual gifts and body ministry have largely been ignored."

Robert Munger forcefully adds: "In our time it may well be that the greatest single bottleneck to the renewal and outreach of the church is the division of roles between clergy and laity that results in a hesitancy of the clergy to trust the laity with significant responsibility, and in turn a reluctance on the part of the laity to trust themselves as authentic ministers of Christ, either in the church or outside the church."

Or perhaps most notably John Stott, the highly respected evangelical author: "I do not hesitate to say that to interpret the church in terms of a priviledged caste or a hierarchical structure is to destroy the New Testament doctrine of the church."

We believe every Christian is ordained by God for ministry within the body of Christ. This is consistent with the Reformation doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. It is a goal of Mission: North America to continually pioneer new forms, systems, and structures of Christian ministry to better align doctrine/beliefs with practices. For this reason, we affirm the ordination of all believers to ministry.

(Portions of the above material referenced from Greg Ogden's "The New Reformation: Returning the Ministry to the People of God", which is available in our bookstore at a reduced price!)