Who are the ministers of the Church? The ministers of the Church are lay persons, bishops, priests, and deacons.
What is the ministry of the laity? The ministry of lay persons is to represent Christ and his Church; to bear witness to him wherever they may be; and, according to the gifts given then, to carry on Christ's work of reconciliation in the world; and to take their place in the life, worship, and governance of the Church.
If you've been through Pilgrimage and paid attention when David Rowe asked those questions, you knew they were in the catechism in the Book of Common Prayer. And if you have children in the catechesis program they probably knew that, too.
After asking that question, David talks about the importance of the order the ministers are listed in. Laity is listed first because it is the most important. The Church is described as the Body of which Jesus Christ is the Head and of which all baptized persons are members. It is called the People of God, the New Israel, a holy nation, a royal priesthood, and the pillar and ground of truth. (In case you were wondering, that's in the catechism, too.)
And now for a question and answer not in the catechism. Why is the search committee writing about the catechism? The search committee is writing about what is in the catechism because as we search for a priest to become the new rector at St. Paul's we need to understand that person's role in the church and the role of our community. Our new rector will be a very important piece of the St. Paul's puzzle, but he or she is by no means the most important one. The most important piece is our community, who we are – individually and collectively – and who we want to become.
During October, the search committee will conduct a self-study that will include a questionnaire for parishioners 16 years old and older. The search committee also will collect information and ideas from various ministry groups. Everyone will have an opportunity make their voice heard and we hope all of you will take advantage of it.
One of the reasons for doing this self-study is to help the search committee create a job description for our next rector and a parish profile that will be sent to candidates for that job. But, like the ministry of priests in the church, it isn't the only purpose for doing this. Most importantly, it's an opportunity for us to reflect on our church community and to better understand our ministries and ourselves.
Oh, and in case you want to find out more about what’s in the catechism, it's on pages 845-862 of the Prayer Book. You just might be surprised what you find there.