Priesthood of All Believers

Tommy Dillon

In her book Leaving Church Barbara Brown Taylor chronicles her spiritual journey as she decided to leave the local parish priesthood and enter a life of teaching. She candidly struggles with her own second-guessing and the difficulties in leaving a calling that she loved, but that had drained life from her. In talking about the loss of her identity she writes:

“A priest is a priest, no matter where she happens to be. Her job is to recognize the holiness in things and hold them up to God.”

If you have been around St. Aidan's and the Episcopal Church very long, you probably have heard the saying “the ministers are the ones in the pews.” There is an ancient belief of the Church called “the priesthood of all believers.” In very simple terms it means that no matter your profession (teacher, mechanic, pharmacist) your vocation is to serve God and to serve neighbor. So no matter if you have been ordained or not, your vocation in Barbara Brown Taylor’s words is to “recognize the holiness in things and hold them up to God.” What an amazing calling! What an amazing opportunity!

So what is it in your life that is holy that you need to hold up to God? What is it in the lives of those around you that is holy and that you need to hold up to God? As people of faith, it is our sacred calling; it is our sacred vocation to be witnesses to all that is holy around us.

In a time where our nation seems to be in the grips of fear-mongers, perhaps we can rise above that and be the ministers that God has called each of us to be. Perhaps we can respond in faith, rather than fear.