The Ordination of Priests
Taken from the book "Seven Sacraments in The Christian Community" by E. F. Capel and T. Ravetz (Floris Books 1999)
The Ordination of Priests is celebrated for the sake of all the other sacraments. It is given to those men and women who undertake to become celebrants of the sacraments and preachers of the Gospel. It is essential to the nature of the sacraments that they are spiritual-physical acts beyond human power to perform. No one out of their individual will or capacities could bring them about. Everyone who is called to become a celebrant must be placed in a stream of spiritual grace. The Sacrament of Ordination is the means by which a candidate for the priesthood can be endowed with this grace of God. Upon receiving it, they make a vow to undertake the holy task of celebrating the sacraments for the rest of their life. The vow is the answer to the spiritual gift of the power to celebrate. Such a grace is not a personal gift; it is given for the sake of the sacraments and of all those who wish to take part in them. Once given, it brings the obligation to use it in the service of Christianity and to continue so doing until death itself ends the task. Just because a power beyond the ordinary is given by Ordination, so it requires obligations beyond the ordinary.
Even from this one fact it is clear what an important moment this is in the life of the one who is consecrated. No kind of work is more binding, none affects the life and destiny of those who undertake it more deeply. Without exaggeration it can be said that Ordination is the most decisive turning point in a lifetime. It does not mean taking up a new job so much as taking up a new life. One may wonder: How can anyone face so binding a decision for so long in these days of uncertainty, when no one can see what the next year will bring, and few people can be sure of their own ability to make up their minds about any important matter. But it can be done when the decision comes out of the spirit, from God. The usual pros and cons about starting new work whether it will be well paid and lead to promotion, whether it will make one happy, or satisfy one’s family, about whether one has the talents and aptitude for it, are of no use in deciding whether or not to enter the priesthood. Such considerations can only hinder the decision. The Christian Community is as much a pioneer movement as the early Christian Church. Its worldly advantages are small. But it offers an opportunity of a kind most rare in our present time, that is to say, the opportunity to devote oneself, with every energy, to work which can only begin out of a high spiritual decision. It is the opportunity to dedicate one’s self and one’s life to the progress of Christianity.
The decision, to be complete, must come from three different directions. It must be matured in the candidate’s own heart. Candidates will need to find, by a process that may be a long one, whether their wish to become a priest proceeds from their higher self that guides their life on earth from the world of spirit. They will seek to discover whether this purpose is one of the lasting purposes that are bound up with the spiritual core of their being. Only if the wish reveals itself as a spiritual purpose will they have the strength to remain faithful to it. The decision has also to mature in the hearts and minds of those who are already priests of The Christian Community. However, the decision is not only a human one, it is also divine. The intention to seek Ordination needs to be offered as a question to the divine world and it is necessary to look for and listen for the answer. It may come in the form of outer events that confirm or deny it, or in the form of an inner conviction. But ‘come it will’ and in no other way can such a decision ever be established as the will not of Man but of God.
Ordination is preceded by preparation for the work of the priest. This is not so much a matter of learning, as of becoming a priest in one’s whole character. What is learned is not properly learnt for the work until it has been digested and transformed into ‘second nature’. Indeed, training for the priesthood could be described as growing a priestly nature as ‘second nature.’ In this sense the priest’s education will last for the rest of the priest’s life, but the beginning should be made in the time of preparation. There is a seminary in Stuttgart and Hamburg, Germany as well as in New York, USA which offer seven half-year semesters of instruction in theological disciplines and a broad range of other subjects. In line with the conception of priesthood in The Christian Community, the training is not narrowly focused or academic. It is a training of the whole human being which includes regular artistic activity, movement, speech training, as well as the challenges of a communal lifestyle. There are no formal examinations, the setting being small enough that assessment can be undertaken individually. Additionally, there are orientation courses for the priesthood in various countries.
A word should be added about one departure from the old customs of the Churches, in the priesthood of The Christian Community. Both women and men are ordained without distinction. Times change and human beings change with them. The way in which men and women differ from each other is no longer the same in this century as it was in earlier ones. Even if there was a time when it was justified to restrict the priesthood to men, this is no longer the case. From the foundation of The Christian Community onwards, women have shared as priests in all its work.
The Ordination of Priests is celebrated for the sake of all the other sacraments. It is given to those men and women who undertake to become celebrants of the sacraments and preachers of the Gospel. It is essential to the nature of the sacraments that they are spiritual-physical acts beyond human power to perform. No one out of their individual will or capacities could bring them about. Everyone who is called to become a celebrant must be placed in a stream of spiritual grace. The Sacrament of Ordination is the means by which a candidate for the priesthood can be endowed with this grace of God. Upon receiving it, they make a vow to undertake the holy task of celebrating the sacraments for the rest of their life. The vow is the answer to the spiritual gift of the power to celebrate. Such a grace is not a personal gift; it is given for the sake of the sacraments and of all those who wish to take part in them. Once given, it brings the obligation to use it in the service of Christianity and to continue so doing until death itself ends the task. Just because a power beyond the ordinary is given by Ordination, so it requires obligations beyond the ordinary.
Even from this one fact it is clear what an important moment this is in the life of the one who is consecrated. No kind of work is more binding, none affects the life and destiny of those who undertake it more deeply. Without exaggeration it can be said that Ordination is the most decisive turning point in a lifetime. It does not mean taking up a new job so much as taking up a new life. One may wonder: How can anyone face so binding a decision for so long in these days of uncertainty, when no one can see what the next year will bring, and few people can be sure of their own ability to make up their minds about any important matter. But it can be done when the decision comes out of the spirit, from God. The usual pros and cons about starting new work whether it will be well paid and lead to promotion, whether it will make one happy, or satisfy one’s family, about whether one has the talents and aptitude for it, are of no use in deciding whether or not to enter the priesthood. Such considerations can only hinder the decision. The Christian Community is as much a pioneer movement as the early Christian Church. Its worldly advantages are small. But it offers an opportunity of a kind most rare in our present time, that is to say, the opportunity to devote oneself, with every energy, to work which can only begin out of a high spiritual decision. It is the opportunity to dedicate one’s self and one’s life to the progress of Christianity.
The decision, to be complete, must come from three different directions. It must be matured in the candidate’s own heart. Candidates will need to find, by a process that may be a long one, whether their wish to become a priest proceeds from their higher self that guides their life on earth from the world of spirit. They will seek to discover whether this purpose is one of the lasting purposes that are bound up with the spiritual core of their being. Only if the wish reveals itself as a spiritual purpose will they have the strength to remain faithful to it. The decision has also to mature in the hearts and minds of those who are already priests of The Christian Community. However, the decision is not only a human one, it is also divine. The intention to seek Ordination needs to be offered as a question to the divine world and it is necessary to look for and listen for the answer. It may come in the form of outer events that confirm or deny it, or in the form of an inner conviction. But ‘come it will’ and in no other way can such a decision ever be established as the will not of Man but of God.
Ordination is preceded by preparation for the work of the priest. This is not so much a matter of learning, as of becoming a priest in one’s whole character. What is learned is not properly learnt for the work until it has been digested and transformed into ‘second nature’. Indeed, training for the priesthood could be described as growing a priestly nature as ‘second nature.’ In this sense the priest’s education will last for the rest of the priest’s life, but the beginning should be made in the time of preparation. There is a seminary in Stuttgart and Hamburg, Germany as well as in New York, USA which offer seven half-year semesters of instruction in theological disciplines and a broad range of other subjects. In line with the conception of priesthood in The Christian Community, the training is not narrowly focused or academic. It is a training of the whole human being which includes regular artistic activity, movement, speech training, as well as the challenges of a communal lifestyle. There are no formal examinations, the setting being small enough that assessment can be undertaken individually. Additionally, there are orientation courses for the priesthood in various countries.
A word should be added about one departure from the old customs of the Churches, in the priesthood of The Christian Community. Both women and men are ordained without distinction. Times change and human beings change with them. The way in which men and women differ from each other is no longer the same in this century as it was in earlier ones. Even if there was a time when it was justified to restrict the priesthood to men, this is no longer the case. From the foundation of The Christian Community onwards, women have shared as priests in all its work.