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CHAPTER XLI

THE RECOGNITION OF THE LAYMAN BY THIS CHURCH

N the baptismal office, the Episcopal Church

IN

signs and seals those who come to this holy sacrament with the tokens of their inheritance as the children of God, and the heirs of the Kingdom of Christ, into whose Body they are then, as living members, incorporated. The Church declares that, in view of this vital and spiritual union with the great Head of the Church, each member of His Body is expected to continually receive and express the life and power of the risen Christ. It becomes the duty and privilege of each member of His Body to aid in extending the Kingdom of God. This is the mission of the Church. The baptismal

service is thus the foundation charter of the great spiritual democracy which the Church is called of God to establish in the earth.

From this basis proceeds the conception of the Church with regard to the duties and birthright obligation and privileges of the laity in the government and work of the Church. Bishop Vail, in his chapter on the government of the Church, has very clearly stated this fundamental fact with reference to position of the laity. "The government of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States," he writes, "is strictly and purely democratical; that is to say, every member of the Church, without any exception in any class, has an equal right in the making of every one of its laws, and in appointing the method and means of their administration. Or, to express the same idea in another form, there is not a single exercise of authority in this Church which may not be directly influenced by every member of it. The supreme power of governing this Church is the will of the majority of the whole Church, which is com

posed of Bishops, Clergy and laity; so that Bishops cannot govern alone, nor the Clergy alone, nor the laity alone. But all these three, as equally belonging to the Church, and interested in it, act together, and thus, in the highest and justest style of popular and universal suffrage, the certainly ascertained will of the actual majority of the whole Church is the supreme law of the Church.

"The government of this Church is also representative; that is to say, its laws are all made by bodies composed of representatives elected by the whole Church."

The place and power of the laity in this Church is scarcely realised by the laity themselves. They, perhaps, do not pause to consider the far-reaching extent of their inherent responsibilities. It is to be feared that, while many of the priests of the Church seem at times to take themselves too seriously, the laymen of the Church do not take themselves seriously enough. The nature and scope of lay obligation and influence are evident when the follow

ing constitutional provisions of this Church are seen and realised.

The congregation elects the parish vestry. The vestry calls the rector, and administers the temporal affairs of the parish. It, however, does much more than this. The vestry determines and certifies as to the fitness of every candidate for Holy Orders seeking to go from the parish into the priesthood. No man can enter the ministry of this Church until his fitness has been duly considered by the vestry assembled, and until a majority of their whole number shall have signed their assent and testimonial to the fact that they consider him morally, mentally and otherwise fitted to enter upon preparation for the sacred office.

Then, too, the vestry elects delegates to the council which is the governing legislative body of the diocese. No measure can be passed in the council which is disapproved by the laity. A vote by orders may at any point be demanded. All executive officers, including the Bishop and the Standing Committee, are elected by a con

current vote of the clergy and laity, and the consent of a majority of both orders is required to secure an election.

The Diocesan Council thus constituted elects the Standing Committee, which is composed of an equal number of clergymen and laymen. The Standing Committee thus constituted is called to give final consent to the ordination of candidates for Holy Orders, so that twice the applicant for ordination has to pass the scrutiny of the laity, and secure their assent. The Standing Committee also has to give, or refuse, consent to the consecration of Bishops, so that no man can be elevated to this office unless approved either by the vote of the General Convention assembled, or by the majority vote of all the Standing Committees of the Church.

The Diocesan Convention, through a vote by orders, elects four clerical and four lay deputies to the triennial General Convention of the Church. In that body three separate, and yet concurrent votes, may be demanded, and a ma

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