“Apart From These There is No Church”
Let everyone reverence the deacons as an appointment of Jesus Christ; and the bishop as Jesus Christ, who is the Son of the Father; and the presbyters as the Sanhedrin of God and assembly of the apostles. Apart from these, there is no church.
- Ignatius (c. 105)
Saint Ignatius reflects upon the importance of all three Major Orders of Clergy; Bishop, Priest, & Deacon, to be present in the experience of the Church by the faithful. Unfortunately, at present time, hierarchs are unfairly given gigantic geographic regions to shepherd, deacons rarely exist (especially at the local parish level), and therefore priests are the limited experience of clergy for the vast majority of Orthodox faithful. Let us pray that our Church leadership will institutionally address this deficiency, so that the Orthodox Church in America will further prepare Itself for the Holy Spirit to work through—bringing the experience of Christ to the faithful through His Church. As Saint Ignatius said, almost 1900 years ago, “Apart from these, there is no Church.”
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