Apostolic Church

Dear Class,

         What an incredibly potent time within which we live. This week as we study the “Church as Apostolic,” synchronicity surrounds us, in the world, in the church, in our class and in our lives. With the current resignation of the Pope, we are witness to Apostolic Succession on a scale unimaginable as history making unfolds before our eyes. The basis for this line of continuity begins with Peter, the ”rock” of Matthew 16:18-19 and continues to this very day, remaining a pillar of the Catholic credo. While the Roman church holds fast to its ongoing validity, it has been a source of contention in times past (Rausch 98-99, 166-120), and presently towards the future of ecumenical resolution with the Reformed Churches. Throughout Chapter Six, Rausch characterizes the major source of tension between these two as one of authority, the “teaching office” of the former vs. “sola scriptura” of the latter. In my ministerial life I have endlessly encountered this dichotomy and took respite in his closing observation that in attempting to answer the big questions concerning God by clinging exclusively to either of these extremes is to “risk falling into a species of fundamentalism, whether of the Bible or the magisterial text. The Spirit is limited to neither hierarchy nor text: it is present in the whole Church” (130). Amen!

A middle road out from these remote edges is expressed within my faith community as the “Quadrilateral”, a four-fold approach to theological discourse. This model was created by Albert Outer, theologian (SMU) and author of “Methodist Observer at Vatican II (1967). I have designed a graphic depicting this spiritual geometry, which I have attached for your review:

Through the Sullivan readings I was taken deeper into the ministerial root of the word as “one sent out” (154). I was deeply moved by the author’s depiction of Paul, the great apostle, the one who was not personally selected by Jesus, but was hand selected by the Christ. Herein St. Paul’s criteria for apostleship is referenced as “1) to have seen the risen Christ, 2) to have received from him a mission to preach the gospel, and 3) to have one’s ministry confirmed by its fruitfulness, by signs and wonders, and by one’s suffering for the sake of the gospel” (156-157). This amazed me further as Paul states in 2 Cor 11:13, 22-29 that it is his suffering that qualifies his calling, that by paying his dues he is legitimized above the “false apostles.” As an aside, and with all respect, the aforementioned three standards work just fine for me.

From the third chapter of Lumen Gentium come some of the most inspiring words of the Second Vatican Council, “The apostolate of the laity is a sharing in the church’s saving mission. ”Based upon Paul’s ode to equality (Gal 3:28) we are all called to be “the witnesses and the living instruments of the mission of the church itself” (51). The imminent question of how this works in conjunction with the hierarchy is answered on pages 56 and 57, “The sacred pastors should recognize and promote the dignity and responsibility of the laity in the church…assign offices to them…leaving them freedom and scope for activity. Indeed, they should encourage them to take work on their own initiative.” I am especially drawn to the luminescent parting words of the chapter, “In a word: ‘what the soul is in the body, let Christians be in the world.”

Looks like all the provisions, resources and credentials required for the journey…are freely given. Ready to walk?