Thanks for submitting questions -- here are a couple from the recent class on Episcopal polity:
1. For how long is a priest assigned to a parish?
In the Episcopal church there are several ways a priest can be called to a parish.
- Vicars: If the church is supported by the diocese (usually a small church or a new parish), it can be a mission of the diocese and the Bishop can appoint a priest (or let them go). This priest is usually called a Vicar.
- Rectors: When a church like St. Philip’s calls a priest, the vestry appoints a search committee and receives applications from priests who are looking for a new call. Once the search committee has made their choice, they recommend that person to the vestry and the vestry issues the call to the priest. The Bishop must also approve the call. Typically the only time the Bishop would refuse is if the priest had something in their background check that was concerning. Once the vestry makes the call and the Bishop approves, the priest is installed and has a permanent or lifetime call. In other words, they can stay as long as they wish. There is a mandatory retirement age of 72, but even then that can be extended on a year by year basis with the permission of the Bishop. I think nationally the average length of stay is something like 7-8 years. Some studies have shown that in a medium sized parish, clergy are most effective when they stay 8-12 years. Any shorter and they don’t have much impact. Any longer and they really need to reinvent themselves or they tend to get into a rut.
- Interims: In between “permanent” calls, a parish may have an interim priest who is also called by the vestry in consultation with the Bishop. Their job is to help the church work through any grief or issues from the last pastor, create a parish profile, and be ready to call a new permanent priest. The interim stays for a year or more, but cannot be considered for the permanent position.
- Priests-in-Charge: To make things even more confusing, a parish may also have a Priest-in-Charge. I call this the “rent-to-own” option. A priest-in-charge is generally recommended by the Bishop to a parish that either doesn’t want to or can’t really afford to do a search process. They are contracted for up to three years and can be considered for the permanent position.
- Supply Clergy: A priest who provides services on a week by week basis is typically not called to a parish, but is a supply priest, filling in for a week or sometimes longer.
2. You said that in the Upper Peninsula that volunteers preside over the Eucharist. I thought at a previous session you mentioned that the apostolic succession is recognized and that it matters insofar as the Eucharist and real presence is concerned. How then could a volunteer who is not a priest validly preside over the Eucharistic prayer?
Regarding the UP and other so-called Total Ministry or Baptismal Ministry dioceses and parishes, here is what the Episcopal Church has said. The Episcopal Church does not allow lay presidency at the Eucharist. When a person is ordained as a priest or deacon, they receive the laying on of hands by the Bishop and are fully and equally seen as ordained in the Apostolic Succession. Formerly, these "Canon 9" priests were limited in the scope of their ministry and were restricted to serving in the parish that called them. But upon reflection, the church realized that this was not consonant with the theology of ordination. And so the canons were changed. These priests are no longer treated as different canonically to priests in other dioceses. The difference is in the way they are trained and the way they typically exercise their calling. A priest like me who was trained in a full-time three-year seminary program and is employed full-time in a parish has many responsibilities (administration, staff supervision, education, pastoral care, etc) in addition to the sacramental responsibilities of presiding at the Eucharist, Baptizing, Marrying, etc. What these Total Ministry parishes do is split up all of those jobs among volunteer parishioners. So the priest in those settings, while fully ordained, is not paid and does not take on those other roles. They operate really as sacramentalists. Total or Baptismal Ministry is an attempt to respond pastorally and creatively to situations where it is hard to provide traditional seminary trained priests.
