Every Member a Minister

The Protestant Reformation had three essential principles. The first, of course, was “we are saved by Grace and not by our works.”  The second principle was “sola Scriptura” the Scriptures alone as the basis of final authority in matters of faith.  The third and seldom mentioned today was “the priesthood of all believers.” In this blog, I will be focusing our attention on this last principle.

It was common during the charismatic renewal to see congregations rediscovering the experience of empowerment for ministry through the Holy Spirit. When it did, it was often called “every member a minister.” This is the correct and contemporary way to refer to the priesthood of all believers. Paul taught that all baptized believers receive the gift of the spirit to empower us for ministry. He urged new converts to “earnestly desire the spiritual gifts.” Congregations where this teaching took root would often list on their bulletin cover the various clergy who served but would add something like “Ministers – all members.”

During the spiritual renewal or Holy Spirit movement of the 70s and 80s this rediscovery of the biblical concept that all Christians were given gifts of the Spirit for ministry had a powerful impact on individual members and the corporate life of congregations. There was teaching on the gifts of the Spirit and therefore, ministry by laity in a wide range of areas.

This is a topic worth revisiting today because it is so explicitly biblical yet today, we seem to have returned to the more normal concept that the clergy minister to the members who act like either an audience or customers. We seem to be comfortable with the concept that about 20% of the Church are active and committed and the other 80% are recipients of ministry. The truth is that this is probably the fallback position of the post-Constantine Church. But for a season, this changed in many congregations.

I had the privilege of observing several congregations that had taken on this every member a minister concept and to see the results.  The first was that the number of organized ministries inside a congregation expanded with empowered lay leaders responding to more and more opportunities for ministry to others. Instead of a handful of lay members participating in various established ministries such as lay readers and altar guild members, there were many ministries of prayer and study. In my congregation in Seattle, our small group fellowships went from seven to over twenty in one year! Outreach ministries also blossomed in many congregations with a remarkable variety of caring activities. Many parishes began more overt evangelistic ministries, and some became known as centers for physical and emotional healing.   

It is safe to say that every member a minister never really penetrated that far into the normal Episcopal congregations.  But before the renewal movement, few lay members were involved in prayer ministry and teaching others. Today, many Episcopal Congregations continue to have members available to pray for others following communion. This was unheard of before 1970. Ministry was the clergies’ work. Of course, this is simply clericalism.

I observed congregations where 50% of members were active in ministry. And an extraordinary result of this involved stewardship. In a typical congregation today 20 to 30% of the members give 70 to 80% of the donations received. In renewal parishes the number was often that 50 to 70% of the members gave a tithe (10%) to their congregations. Bishop Payne who I worked with for 9 years did not much care for charismatic renewal, but he often credited them for their extraordinary giving. 

Members were often supported in this by Spiritual Gift Inventories that helped them discover areas of giftedness. With all these obvious benefits of such teaching, it is hard to understand why this work has almost completely disappeared. So too has almost all teaching about the person and work of the Holy Spirit. Today the phase we often hear is that “The Holy Spirit is the feminine attribute of God.” When I hear this, I often ask “So?”  Seldom does anyone say why this is important.

Let me remind us of the essential New Testament view of the Spirit:

First, the Holy Spirit was given at Pentecost for the evangelization of the world.

Second, the Holy Spirit teaches and guides us into all truth especially about Jesus.

Third, the Spirit is given to sanctify us, making us holy and imparting to us the “fruit of the Spirit.”

Fourth, the Spirit gives gifts of ministry to all the baptized.

Fifth, the Holy Spirit is the source of guidance for us.

Bishop Taylor’s great book “The Go-Between God” underscores the work of the Holy Spirit for all Christians. It is still a great read. In summary, the Holy Spirit is the experience of the work of God in the present moment.

I should mention two common abuses in the emphasis on the work and gifts of the Spirit.

The first was the tendency of some “spirit-filled” members to act judgmentally toward those without a dramatic experience of the Spirit.

The second was for some of those folks to look at various gifts as a series of spiritual merit badges.

But despite these exaggerations and misuses, it is still fundamental teaching of the scriptures that “the Spirit bears witness to our Spirit that we are the Children of God” giving us our identity and that the Spirit empowers us to overcome the struggles of this world making us overcomes.

Should we return to a greater emphasis on the Holy Spirit and the Spirit’s empowerment of all Christians for ministry? Obviously, we should. Will we? That remains to be seen. Meanwhile, let us continue to pray, “come Holy Spirit and kindle in us the fire of your love….!”  As the Prayer Book says, “For without you we are unable to please you.” For Christians, the gift of the Holy Spirit is the first fruit of the resurrection in us.