wfn.org | United Methodists examine future of ordained ministry

["NewsDesk" <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Jan. 27, 2004 News media contact: Linda Green 7 (615)742-5470 7 Nashville,
Tenn. 7 E-mail: newsdesk@umcom.org 7 ALL{027}

NOTE: Photographs and audio clips are available with this report at
http://umns.umc.org.

A UMNS Feature
By Linda Green*

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - United Methodists are wrestling with questions about who
has the authority to administer sacraments in the church.

The denomination recognizes two sacraments: baptism and Holy Communion.
Questions about who should administer those sacraments stem from differing
interpretations of the meaning of ordained ministry since the 1996 General
Conference. That year, the church's top assembly reordered the denomination's
ministry, creating two types of clergy - elders and permanent deacons. The
denomination also uses local pastors to carry out ministry.

General Conference did what it believed was appropriate at the time, said the
Rev. Jerome King Del Pino, top staff executive at the United Methodist Board
of Higher Education and Ministry in Nashville. But, he said, the conference
did not address a variety of issues around the meaning of ordination.

"Even though we will always need to have ordained people, we do not yet have
a clear understanding of how these orders relate to one another," said Del
Pino. "One of the tensions is in who is authorized to do what." Do deacons
and local pastors have authority to administer the sacraments as elders do?

"Sacramental authority is not to be construed as endowing certain persons
with the ability to dispense grace," said Sarah Heaner Lancaster, a professor
at Methodist Theological School in Ohio. 

Lancaster and Del Pino participated in a January symposium that examined the
future of ordained ministry in the denomination. It was the first of a series
of such events planned by the board to address the issue.

Referring to the Book of Discipline, Lancaster said the church has structured
itself to give elders the specific responsibility of administering the
sacraments while deacons may assist at the request of the elder.
 
Lancaster stressed that the roles of deacons and elders are "overlapping,
distinct and complementary."  They overlap because all Christians are called
to proclaim and teach the gospel in some way and to perform acts of service,
she said.  

Deacons, she said, represent the denomination through a lifetime of service
to the world. Elders do the same but with added responsibilities, including
administering the sacraments.

Sacramental authority was one of many issues at the symposium. Clergy from a
variety of settings discussed the characteristics of ordination, focusing on
authority relating to word, service, sacrament and order. Other topics
emphasized being vital for the future and faithful to the past, and on the
relationship between the church's understanding of its ordered ministry and
its understanding as a part of the body of Christ.

Throughout the symposium, speakers emphasized that the church has undergone a
significant change over the years in its understanding of ordained ministry
and who is eligible to serve as a pastor in the church.   

Setting apart people for ordained ministry in American Methodism has always
been controversial, said Richard Heitzenrater, a professor at United
Methodist-related Duke Divinity School, Durham, N.C. The debate about
ordination reflects the differences in opinion about the nature of the
church, he said.

The challenge faced by the church is to meet the needs of the present and
future in ways that have integrity and vitality, Heitzenrater said. "We must
constantly adapt to new situations while we hold fast to the basic principles
that define us as a part of the body of Christ." He added that past models
and methods cannot be relied upon for easy answers to today's ministerial
problems. 

The Rev. M. Douglas Meeks, a professor at Vanderbilt Divinity School, said
discussions about the past, present and future of ordained ministry have been
ongoing for nearly 25 years. "What we are trying to do with the symposiums
and upcoming conversations is take seriously what ordination has meant in the
tradition and what it means today."

The Rev. Mary Ann Moman, staff executive in the denomination's Division of
Ordained Ministry, expressed optimism about the future of ordained ministry.

"I am hopeful," she said, "because the church is longing for leaders who will
ask the questions of faith, who are not afraid of the ambiguity that exists
in our living, who desire to live in community, who trust their colleagues to
hold them accountable, and who can leave room for the spirit to blow through
the church."
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*Green is a United Methodist News Service news writer in Nashville, Tenn.

 
 

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United Methodist News Service
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