How Would John Wesley Do Bishops’ Elections?

He wouldn’t.

Just for what it’s worth as the UMC elects Bishops.

Wesley actually noted that Pastors were frequently called Bishops in the New Testament, suggesting no real distinction. (See his sermon “The Ministerial Office”)

More to the point — from a letter Wesley wrote to Francis Asbury (a self-proclaimed American Methodist Bishop):

But, in one point, my dear brother, I am a little afraid, both the Doctor [i.e. Thomas Coke – the other original American Methodist Bishop] and you differ from me. I study to be little; you study to be great. I creep; you strut along. I found a school: you a college! Nay, and call it after your own names! [i.e. Cokesbury College]

One instance of this, of your greatness, has given me great concern. How can you, how dare you, suffer yourself to be called BISHOP? I shudder, I start at the very thought! Men may call me a knave or a fool; a rascal, a scoundrel, and I am content: But they shall never, by my consent, call me Bishop! For my sake, for God’s sake, for Christ’s sake, put a full end to this! Let the Presbyterians do what they please, but let the Methodists know their calling better.

We certainly haven’t put a full end to this. What do you think? Would the UMC be better if we would stop electing Bishops?

Some other UMC posts:
John Wesley never heard of a traveling pastor
What does ordination mean?
Pastors’ salaries and church buildings

John Wesley never heard of a traveling pastor

This post may only interest my Methodist friends. Indulge me. I’ll get back to broader themes soon.

If you’re a Methodist, you may be surprised to see how clearly John Wesley distinguished between the itinerant ministry and pastoral ministry. He insisted that he wasn’t appointing pastors, but preachers. Look at what he says in his sermon “The Ministerial Office”:

So, the great High-Priest of our profession sent apostles and evangelists to proclaim glad tidings to all the world; and then Pastors, Preachers, and Teachers, to build up in the faith the congregations that should be found. But I do not find that ever the office of an Evangelist was the same with that of a Pastor, frequently called a Bishop. He presided over the flock, and administered the sacraments: The former assisted him, and preached the Word, either in one or more congregations. I cannot prove from any part of the New Testament, or from any author of the three first centuries, that the office of an evangelist gave any man a right to act as a Pastor or Bishop. I believe these offices were considered as quite distinct from each other till the time of Constantine.

Let’s highlight two of those points. According to Wesley:

1 – Pastor, Bishop… same thing. Wesley wouldn’t concede any differentiated role between pastors and bishops. It’s hard to make a strong argument for the distinction in the NT either. In other places, Wesley makes his feelings about bishops loud and clear — the people called Methodists should “put a full end to this!” Let the Presbyterians have their bishops, but let the Methodists know their calling better.

2 – Pastor, Evangelist… big difference. He said he could not prove from any part of the NT, or any time until Constantine, that the offices of evangelist and pastor were one in the same.

You should go read that whole sermon if you’re interested in these things. You’ll see a full, deeply theological explanation of ministry orders according to Wesley.

Wesley associated the pastors of the New Testament with priests in the Old Testament. He described them as the “ordinary, established, institutional ministers of the church.”

Meanwhile, he associated Methodist preachers with the prophets of the Old Testament. They were extraordinarily called to the work of itinerant evangelism: “It is true extraordinary prophets were frequently raised up, who had not been educated in the ‘schools of the prophets,’ neither had the outward ordinary call. But we read of no extraordinary priests” (see this in “Ought We to Separate from the Church of England?”).

Wesley did not believe he was appointing institutional ministers of the church for the ordinary work of the church. Wesley was raising up extraordinary leaders as traveling evangelists and apostles “to proclaim glad tidings to all the world.”

John Wesley never heard of a traveling pastor. Pastors were the local ministers, building up congregations in their faith. Wesley was calling traveling preachers to proclaim glad tidings to all the world.

The question for Methodists today: what is the point of our traveling ministers? Are they sent “to proclaim glad tidings to all the world”? If so, we should take a closer look at what they’re actually doing, because it looks more like that ordinary pastoral ministry. Whatever the case, it seems that we have blurred two roles that Wesley was at pains to keep distinct.

You may ask what we do with Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury, and the American ministry that followed. If you want to talk about that, we can use the comments section for it. In short, I think much of what Wesley had taught and fought for elsewhere got undermined when he ordained these two.

Yet we still see in the early American ministry that the traveling preachers were not pastors. You should go to this brilliant article by Don Haynes to see more. He shows that circuit riders weren’t pastors and also argues that “local elders were the pillars and backbone of local churches.”

Next: a proposal for better ministry today.

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The Local Pastor and the Itinerant Apostle in Scripture

This is part of a series addressing the problems with ministry structures in the American Church, and particularly with Methodist itineracy, and proposing change.

We need to re-evaluate our current ministry structures. Changes in the American landscape and problems in the church should be making us aware of that need.

Rather than proposing something entirely new, I’m going to start by looking back to ministry structures in the New Testament.

No One Model in Scripture

Let’s get this out of the way from the start: the New Testament does not prescribe one model for church order.

Brad Harper and Paul Louis Metzger said this well in a brilliant book, Exploring Ecclesiology:

We contend that the scriptures simply do not present a clear argument for any particular church polity. Thus, the most important issue for each church is not to reconsider the fidelity of its polity to scripture and church tradition, but to consider the strengths and weaknesses of its system as a means for ordering the people of God.

This isn’t just a position from some progressive Protestants. Avery Dulles, a prominent Roman Catholic theologian, makes a similar statement: “The New Testament usage [of terms for ministry roles] cannot be decisive of our terminology today, if only because the structure of ministry seems to have been different in different communities.” (emphasis added)

So I’m not exploring the New Testament texts to suggest that they prescribe one particular model. I want to demonstrate some possibilities they present, especially using texts that have been important for those denominations with a hierarchical structure and/or itineracy (i.e. pastors that travel from place to place).

Apostles and Elders

One important note that has been frequently overlooked: apostles (apostoloi) and elders (presbyteroi) are treated as two separate groups in the New Testament. Go do some searches on the two terms to see.

Paul is always identified as an apostle, never as an elder. Same for Barnabas. In fact, only Peter is identified as both apostle and elder.

Many today claim that apostleship was only for Jesus’ small group of disciples, plus Paul. When that group died, there were no apostles. What do you make of Barnabas being called an apostle, then? I think we can and should expect to have apostles today.

The New Testament apostles, such as Paul and Barnabas, are clearly itinerant. They do not provide day-to-day pastoral support for a congregation over the long-term. Rather, they travel from place to place, starting new Christian communities and providing encouragement and support for existing communities.

Meanwhile, elders are appointed to specific, local contexts. Scripture never suggests these elders are itinerant. Instead, I think we would have to reason that the elders appointed in the New Testament (see Acts 14 and Titus 1) are existing members of those local communities. When they are appointed, they are put in charge of regular leadership within their communities.

Elders are appointed (katastēsēs in Titus 1:5, cheirotonēsantes in Acts 14:23) to their positions by other leaders. The root for appointment, (kathistēmi) is used in other New Testament contexts in connection with appointment of high priests (see, e.g., Heb 5:1, 7:28, 8:3). It’s also used in secular situations when those in authority place other people in positions of authority (see, e.g., Matt 25:21; Luke 12:14; Acts 6:3).

From these examples, it seems clear that the New Testament usage of appointment has to do with giving a person authority and an assigned function within a community, not sending that person to a particular place.

We never see elders in the New Testament called or sent. Why are those our biggest talking points for people going into ministry today?

Though I want to be careful not to argue that the Scriptures prescribe a certain model, it is clear that they allow, or even typically suggest, a separation between the itinerant and the pastor. The itinerant apostle does not provide day-to-day oversight to a local community. That person travels for the purposes of evangelism and encouragement. Meanwhile, the elders are most likely permanent members of local communities, placed in charge of those communities’ day-to-day pastoral oversight.

There’s some New Testament support for what I’ll ultimately be suggesting. My next post will focus on my own tradition: how the early Methodists understood the need for local pastors and itinerant evangelists.

What thoughts does this provoke for you? Anything important that I’m leaving out here? Do you see anything different from me?

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