Every Member a Minister

The Protestant Reformation had three essential principles. The first, of course, was “Sola Scriptura,” the Holy Scriptures alone as the basis of final authority in matters of faith. The second was that “we are saved by Grace and not by our works.” The third though seldom mentioned today was “the priesthood of all believers.” In this blog, I will be focusing our attention on the third. 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 a contemporary way to refer to the priesthood of all believers. Paul taught that all believers receive the gift of the spirit, and the spirit empowers 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 movement of the 70s and 80s, this rediscovery of the biblical concept that all Christians were given gifts of the Spirit or charisms 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 because it is so explicitly biblical yet today, we seem to have returned to the wrong concept that the clergy minister to the members who act like either an audience or customers. We seem to accept that normally about 20% of church members are seriously engaged in ministry while the other 80% are recipients of ministry. This is probably the fallback position of the Constantinian 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 of a congregation expanded with empowered lay leaders responding to more and more opportunities for ministry to others both inside and outside the congregation. 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, study, and service. In my congregation in Seattle, our small group fellowships went from seven groups to over twenty in one year! We called these “Growth Groups” and their purpose was to aid members in becoming deeper followers of Christ and agents of the Church’s ministry. As the number of groups grew so did the whole congregation. At the end of that year St. Luke’s that had been a long-standing “light house renewal church” led by Dennis Bennett, grew to its largest ever. Outreach ministries also blossomed out of this basic formation ministry and 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. All these where primarily lay led. It is safe to say that every member a minister never really penetrated that far into most Episcopal congregations, but before the renewal movement, few lay members were involved in prayer ministry and teaching others. Today, many Episcopal Congregations have followed the example and have members available to pray for others following communion for example. This was almost unheard of before 1970. Ministry was seen as the work of the clergy. Of course, this is simply clericalism. I observed congregations where 50% of members had become active in ministry. And an extraordinary result of this involved stewardship. In a typical congregation then and now 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 which helped fund many new ministry initiatives. Bishop Payne, who I worked with for 9 years, did not much care for charismatic renewal, but he often acknowledged those affected by it 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 emphasis has almost completely disappeared. So too has almost all teaching about the person and work of the Holy Spirit. These are topics I will pursue in future blogs. For now, 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 relevant today. In summary, the Holy Spirit is the experience of God in the present moment both for our life in Christ and for carrying out Christ’s ministry in our world. 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 “spirit filled” folks to look at various gifts as a series of spiritual merit badges. Despite these exaggerations and misuses, it is still a fundamental teaching of the scriptures that God’s people are to be “a royal priesthood, a holy nation to all others. Remember that the work of the Holy Spirit is both in our identity, “the Spirit bears witness to our Spirit that we are the Children of God,” and in our empowerment for ministry. The Holy Spirit empowers our mission of witness to Christ and to serve and care of all people. It is also the Spirit who empowers us to overcome the struggles of this world, making us victors over whatever troubles and pain we experience in this life. Should we return to a greater emphasis on the Holy Spirit and the Spirit’s empowerment of all Christians for ministry? Obviously, we should. It is the clear teaching of scripture. Will we? That remains to be seen. What is clear for the Episcopal Church is that without this work of the Spirit, we will continue to decline. Meanwhile let us continue to pray, “Come Holy Spirit and kindle in our hearts the fire of your love!” As the Prayer Book says, “For without you we are unable to please you.” For the gift of the Holy Spirit is the first fruit of the resurrection in us. Personally, I believe we have stopped teaching on these things because a new wave of clericalism has taken over much of the Church often expressed by clergy wanting laity to do what we think is important. Whatever the reason, it remains true that we sow what we reap. For clergy this means we reap what we preach and teach. If we preach Christian obligations and duties, we reap a religion of works. If we preach life in the Holy Spirit, we reap the spiritual imbued life and mission of all God’s people.