The Church of England

Clergy Questions - Advent 2003

Could we have a discussion around the administration of the Church? How is it run from PCC committee upwards? How are decisions made? Who makes them? Who should make them?
- Ian Malcolm

Please, could you explain the hierarchy of the Church? What is the role of Reader, Curate, Vicar, Rector, Priest, Minister, Deacon, Canon, Chaplain... (I'm sure there are others!) and what does being ordained change?
- Tara Garlick

To the very last question I'm tempted to say 'everything!' However, I wouldn't want to encourage too much speculation! As regular readers of the Parish Magazine know, I could not address all of the questions that were posed in November during the three Advent sermons. I am trying to deal with those remaining using these pages as we go through this year. As many people are being ordained deacon and priest in the Church of England, and when the General Synod is preparing to meet in York, I thought that now is an appropriate time to respond to Ian and Tara.

I have to say, to answer these questions fully, one would need to write a couple of books. What I offer here, then, could in no way be regarded as comprehensive, and in some areas I will do little more than skim over a lot of material. I hope, though, that if you manage to plough through to the end, you will feel that you have a sense of the sort of 'animal' that the Church of England is, and how some of the more significant structures and roles relate to its raison detre and ethos.

Catholic and reformed

The first thing that we need to understand about the Church of England is that it is both catholic and reformed. We are a catholic church, in part, because at the Reformation in the sixteenth century we held to the ancient orders of ministry (the ordained): bishop, priest and deacon. At a basic level, then, it could be stated that an episcopal church (one with bishops) is one in which the bishops provide the leadership and direction. In the terms used by Ian in his question, it could be said that the bishops make the decisions, advising us what to believe and how to go about the business of being the Church.

Bishop

The word in the Bible used for bishop is episkopos (cf. 1 Timothy 3:1ff) which means overseer. The bishop is the focus of the Church's authority and ministry and oversees its mission and life. We think of a bishop as the person who is the head of a diocese (a region), though he now has the possibility of an assistant bishop to help him with some of his episcopal duties such as confirmations and ordinations.

An important feature of the Church of England, as with the whole of the world-wide Anglican communion, is that each bishop has ultimate authority for his own diocese in relation to the rest of the Church. The Archbishop of Canterbury, then, is only first amongst equals and has no authority over other diocesan bishops, let alone over other archbishops in different parts of the world. This was one of the fundamental principles of the English Reformation. It was argued that the Bishop of Rome (the Pope) should have no authority over other bishops - especially those in England!

Priest

Now, early in the life of the growing and expanding Church, it became clear that an overseer, a bishop, could not be everywhere at once. There was, therefore, a need for a different order of ministry to assist the bishop in local areas. Thus it was that the priesthood developed. The New Testament speaks of elders, or presbyters, who shared in the leadership of local churches. In time the priest came to be the local leader of the church who had the bishop's permission to share his ministry of baptising, presiding at the eucharist, blessing the people in God's name and absolving them of their sins. The last three privileges remain a distinctive part of priestly ministry today.

Deacon

The Church soon realised that presbyters also needed assistance. In Acts 6 we hear about the calling of the first deacons - servants. Their special task was to serve the needs of the poor and to ensure that alms were distributed. In the ordination of deacons within the Church of England it is stressed that they are to work under the authority of the priest with whom they minister, helping with pastoral ministry, proclaiming the gospel, preaching, and baptising. A deacon is also called to search out the careless and indifferent: no lack of work there, then!

It was Michael Ramsey, a former Bishop of Durham, Archbishop of York and Archbishop of Canterbury, who used to say that when he became a priest, he did not cease to be a deacon, and when he became a bishop he did not cease to be a priest. In his characteristically wise way he was pointing out that a deacon shares in the ministry of a priest, who in turn shares in that of the bishop. Ultimately, though, all ministry in a diocese can be said to be that of the bishop.

The priesthood of all believers

This, then, is part of the Anglican understanding of things, being a catholic church holding to the ancient threefold orders of ministry. At the same time, though, we are a reformed church and therefore acknowledge the essential part that lay people have to play within the mission and life of the church.

This is a truth which has been emphasised more in recent decades, often seen by the fact that lay people now play a more prominent part in much of our worship. The truth of this was not lost to the Church reformers back in the sixteenth century, though. They spoke of the priesthood of all believers, using imagery that can be found in I Peter. This is not just lived out within our worship and by lay people getting involved within ministry, however, but also by lay people being involved in decision making at every level. Typical of the Anglican way of things, there is a creative balance between retaining the ancient benefits of an episcopal system, along with the recognition that the whole 'congregation' makes up the church and each member has a distinctive part to play in its mission and life.

The Supreme Governor

So, what of the decision making bodies within the Church? Well, first of all it is necessary to have some idea of the national structures. King Henry VIII styled himself 'the supreme head' of the Church when he asserted the independence of the Church in England from the influence of the Pope. When Elizabeth I became Queen, however, it was rightly seen that Christ alone is the head of the Church. Within the Elizabethan Settlement of Religion, then, the monarch was regarded as the supreme governor. The vision was of a nation that was a unity under God. That unity was focused in the person of the monarch who would defend the faith and safeguard the freedom of bishops to lead the church. There is much of this that many of us believe is still very relevant for today, even in our more secular and pluralist society; but that's another article!

Provinces, Dioceses and Synods

So, the Queen is the Supreme Governor of the Church, but in practice leaves the running of the Church to the bishops and synod. The Church of England is subdivided into two provinces, that of Canterbury, and that of York. Each is presided over by an archbishop who, as has been mentioned, is only first amongst equals in relation to the diocesan bishops.

Each province is subdivided into dioceses. There are 49 of these within the whole of the Church of England, with fourteen in the northern province of York: Carlisle, Newcastle, Durham, Ripon and Leeds, Bradford, Blackburn, York, Wakefield, Manchester, Liverpool, Chester, Sheffield, Sothwell, and Sodor and Man.

The national church has a synod, the General Synod, which could be said to be the Church's parliament. This is divided into three 'houses': Bishops, Clergy, and Laity. For most decision, all three houses have to agree.

In each diocese, there is a Diocesan Synod, again, subdivided into three houses. Each diocese is subdivided into archdeaconaries, and each archdeaconary into deaneries (each with a synod made up of the house of clergy and the house of laity), and each deanery is made up of a group of parishes. Darlington deanery, for example, has seventeen parishes.

The Parish

So, basically, as the national Church we have a structure that allows people (bishops, clergy and laity) to come together to take counsel and attempt to discern God's will at national, regional and local levels. This is undoubtedly a strength of our church. But a greater strength yet is the parish system that all of this rests upon. Basically, without the parishes and their church communities, the rest of the structures become almost meaningless.

A parish is essentially a local community with boundaries that can only be changed by an order in council. This means that the Queen has to give the nod during a meeting of the Privy Council. This is how All Saints' and Salutation was legally established as a parish in 1998. An order in council may seem excessive, but it is easier than an act of parliament that used to be needed!

Basically, every square inch of this country is within an ecclesiastical parish. Each has its own parish church with a responsibility to offer the services of the Church to the whole community. Sadly, the word parochial is often used in a negative sense which suggests insularity and exclusivity. The fundamental philosophy behind the parochial structure could not be more different. By being members of a parish church, clergy and congregation are called to accept a responsibility of care for the whole community.

It may be that many parishioners would not regard themselves as Christian or even religious, and those who do often ignore the church until needing a baptism, wedding or funeral. The contemporary scene, however, does not imply that the vision of parish ministry is redundant. Having a responsibility of care for the whole community reminds the Church that we do not exist for ourselves alone and that we are called to work to establish God's kingdom in his world - beyond the church walls! It also reminds us that God is not ours as a possession. He is out there, active in the world, as much as he is in the Church, and is always ready to respond when people turn to him. Unlike the church buildings of other denominations in England, ours belong to the whole community and are there for people to turn to when they want them, whether for support in difficulties or as a means of celebrating happiness and joy.

At the heart of each parish, then, there is a parish church with a community of people who worship regularly (or at least they should!) and who together make possible the church's mission and ministry for that community. Obviously, in these more enlightened days we try to work ecumenically where ever possible. But at the same time, we still have to keep sight of our distinctive responsibilities and opportunities. This is something that we at Blackwell have recently expressed in our vision, "Building the Kingdom: the next five years".

The PCC

For a church to work well the priest and people need to be united in a creative partnership that is guided by the Holy Spirit. The structures of the Church provide the PCC (Parochial Church Council) as a forum for the parish priest and representatives of the lay people to take counsel together to, discern a vision and to plan for the vision to be made effective. Obviously, the priest and PCC may choose to involve others in that process, as we did with our large-scale vision day in November. Also, they may choose to set up committees and groups to work in particular areas and in more detail than the council is practically capable of as a single body. However, the responsibility for decisions and actions still remains with the PCC and parish priest.

In this parish the PCC has several committees: Worship and Education, Community Outreach, Finance, Social, and Building and Grounds. Each one takes care of an essential aspect of church life, but each reports to the PCC and seeks approval for its vision and planning. The parish priest and PCC remain the focus for the vision, then.

The creative balance of universal and local

This is another area where our structures can be seen to be an asset to the Church's mission. For a parish church to minister effectively, it needs to be focussed and 'own' anything that is done in its name. It is also important that the priest and PCC together ensure that the church's vision is consistent with the teaching and vision of the wider church. A parish church is not an independent congregation that can claim to be more inspired and have a clearer vision for Christianity than the rest of the Church. At the same time, the structures give each parish the flexibility to work out how the Church's universal mission can most appropriately be extended within that particular community. It's a good system of providing a universal vision, local flexibility and essential checks and balances.

Incumbent, rector, vicar

Now, so far I have been talking about the parish priest in relation to the PCC. And important aspect of the Church of England's parochial system and ethos is the role of the vicar or rector in relation to the PCC and the whole parish.

To be a vicar or a rector, one has to be a priest. In a sense, though not precisely, the latter is what one is, the former is the job that one has. So, for example, a priest may do the job of a parish rector or vicar, or he or she (I'll use 'he' to mean 'he or she' from now on!) may be a chaplain to a hospital, school, prison etc. Alternatively, he may be a canon residentiary of a cathedral (one of the clergy working with the dean to run the cathedral - an honorary canon has a stall in the cathedral but also does a job elsewhere, such as being a vicar, for example - just to respond to some parts of Tara's question!). There are a whole host of 'jobs' or ministries that a priest could do within the church, not to mention that he could have a job within the secular world.

Now, a parish vicar or rector is its incumbent. He or she has certain legal rights and responsibilities. In being appointed he is given, by the bishop, the cure of the souls of the parish. (So, the curate is the vicar, the people whom we call curates are assistant-curates.) It means that the incumbent is not there for the regular congregation alone, as a sort of chaplain just to serve their needs, though that is part of his ministry. But the incumbent is charged with the care of the whole parish, beyond the bounds of the church community. Obviously, in any church that is alive and active, that ministry is made more possible by the incumbent and people working in partnership together. Ultimately, though, a burden of responsibility lies with him or her.

To afford the incumbent the security that is needed to make such ministry possible, he (or she) is given certain legal rights when inducted into the parish. On receiving the key from the churchwardens and being put in his stall by the archdeacon, he is given the freehold of all benefice property. This includes at least the church building and its precincts, the vicarage/rectory and its land, the income that goes with the parish and his post itself.

The incumbent, then, has a security of tenure that allows him to challenge prophetically the views of his congregation, if he thinks that they are contrary to the gospel or church teaching, without being fearful that they might sack him! He also has a great degree of freedom in relation to his bishop, enabling him to defend the interests of the local church. Again, some of us would argue that there are real benefits for the whole church with such an arrangement, though it does represent a great burden of responsibility for those who are incumbents.

Just in case you are wondering, there is now no real difference between a rector and a vicar. Historically, the rector was the person who had the rights to a parish's income, from tithes or glebe property, for example. Some people were rector for more than one parish, a rector could appoint a vicar to be in a particular parish instead of him - vicariously, thus the word vicar.

Partnership

The PCC, then, is called upon to work in partnership with the incumbent. In some respects he has rights and responsibilities which are his alone. The PCC has its own peculiar responsibilities, such as that of maintaining the church building. But, it goes without saying that in the life of the church, as has been the case from the very beginning, things work best when people seek to serve God's will and further his kingdom upon earth by working together in unity and partnership. This requires that each one of us is open to God's call to use his or her skills and talents in a way that God would wish. Again, this is an essential part of the vision that we now have for this parish.

I do hope this helps! By the way, Tara, a Reader is a person who is trained, and then licensed by the bishop, to assist the incumbent in pastoral care and the preaching of the gospel.

With my very best wishes,

John

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