The Concept of Protestant Clergy Essay Example

relating to the running of the church and more so the financial issues, weekly visits to the church members’ houses, the clergy’s welfare, and the new developments in the social, political, and economic scene in the world without amongst other things. They can as well organize emergency meetings at each other’s residents whenever it is necessary (Parry, 2010). Communications can occur via the churches’ websites, mobile phones, ordinary mail as well as face-to-face communication during the meetings. The websites are designed such that every church member can gain access to them. Unless otherwise, the subjects of discussion and the minutes of the clergy meetings are often availed to every church member for scrutiny and criticism. This arrangement is so to ensure transparency in management (Parry, 2010).

Though every member of the clergy is liable to teach the laity, the principal speakers are the preachers, pastors, bishops, and priests. The procedures for ordination to the Protestant clergy varies with each denomination. Some Protestant groups such as Lutheranism, Presbyterianism, and Methodism are hierarchical in nature. In this regard, the parent denominations do the ordaining and assigning of persons to specific ministries and individual pastorates. Other Congregational groups such as the Baptists often ordain their clergy, but the parent denominations provide a list of qualified candidates who seek to be appointed to the ministries of the local churches and advice these churches to put such candidates to their consideration for the vacant positions. The majority of Protestant denominations do not view the clergy as a separate class of people. On the contrary, they underscore the priesthood of every believer. Protestant ordination is, thus, a public statement from the ordaining

body that a person has the theological knowledge, practical skills, and moral fitness necessary for service in the given ministry (Mitchell, 2011).

The primary function of the Protestant clergy is to teach the laity matters pertaining to religious worship and God. In this regard, the language used is often pious and the degree of formality depends on the situation in question. During the divine hour, the minister does all the speaking. He is usually the moderator, but he has no temporal power over the congregation. The people of their own free will choose to comply with the rules. The language is formal. The laity’s duty is to listen attentively. The minister may permit questions from the congregation at the end of the service. Outside the service, the personal interactions between the laity and the clergy may be formal or informal depending on the situation (Mitchell, 2011). In their meetings, the appointed chair often regulates the proceedings. The language used may be formal or informal. The new members of the laity usually learn the code of conduct from fellow church members. On the other hand, the new clergy members already know how to conduct themselves with regards to church services for they are selected from the members of the congregation with a longstanding in the church and are thus acquainted with the rules of engagement (Mitchell, 2011).

Also noteworthy is the fact that members of the Protestant clergy are often familiar with each other for they meet regularly. The new members admitted via transference from a different church may comprise the strangers for a while. Nonetheless, such persons too know the code of conduct for they are of

the same denomination but only from a church in a different locality. Clergy members together with the laity refer to each other as brothers for they believe they are all children of God. Conservative Protestant clergy members chiefly dwell on spiritual matters in their conversations. They avoid talking about carnal matters. Silence during the hours of worship is often a sign of reverence (Parry, 2010).

The Protestant clergy plays a significant role in the communities where they exist. Their office, the teachings they advance as well as their example, more so if they are sincerely pious serve to maintain high moral standards amongst their congregations. The society is thus saved from anarchy and possible insecurity that would have been the case in their absence. Humor is not a part of their discourse. There are no seclusions for particular people. On the contrary, all persons regardless of their political or socioeconomic standing are deemed equal. It is the universal brotherhood of man.

The clergy reflects a psychological need for man - a need for something beyond the physical, a longing for the soul; the need for God. Man needs God to restrain the evil within himself. I have come to understand that the Christian religion is an essential element of the human society. Above all other things that man can invent to keep the tide of evil in the society in check, it is the Christian religion that can create the real peace. The equality factor is what interests me in this discourse community. It unique to the true Christian world, and serves to keep the members contended with their lot in life.

References

• Mitchell, S. (2011). Victorian Britain
  

(Routledge Revivals): An Encyclopedia. London: Routledge.