A preaching chart and our understanding of priesthood

By John Hamer, Director of Outreach and Innovative Ministries
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The archive of the Woodfield Community of Christ in London, Ontario, preserves a “Preaching Chart” drawn in the 1930s. In the early 20th century, ministers from our church traveled in circuits, visiting congregations, cottage meetings, and revivals, holding preaching services that could last for hours. Much of the preaching was extemporaneous: the speaker would begin with a passage of scripture and perhaps a rough outline, then expound from that jumping-off point. Preaching charts served as both a memory device for the speaker and a visual aid for the audience.

The preaching chart at Woodfield is a symbolic representation of the church with all its essential elements according to understandings at the time. At the center of the foundation is a block labelled “JESUS CHRIST CHIEF CORNERSTONE” — an image taken from Psalm 118:22, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” which is quoted in the synoptic gospels, Ephesians, and 1 Peter as referring to Christ. The rest of the edifice of the “CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST” is built on this cornerstone: “FAITH, REPENTANCE, BAPTISM,” and the “LAYING ON OF HANDS.”

From the church’s central tower, we see two great walls supporting windows labelled to the right: “FAITH, WISDOM, KNOWLEDGE, DISCERNMENT, HEALING” — which are still in keeping with how we see the church today, especially if we understand “healing” as spiritual restoration. The labels to the left are less familiar in today’s church: “MIRACLES, PROPHECY, TONGUES, INTERPRETATION OF TONGUES, DREAMS/VISIONS.” Our predecessors in the church were far more Pentecostal than we are today. Services at reunions frequently included the spiritual practice of glossolalia, where one member caught up in the spirit utters syllables they believed were an unknown language. A second minister would then “interpret” the tongues, by speaking a pronouncement in English that was given the weight of revelation. The practice could be used irresponsibly when commands were directed at others, and it consequently was phased out.

Although these beliefs were earnestly held, they were factually incorrect. Scholars have now reconstructed the development of the early Christian movement, giving us new insights into our history. At the earliest stratum, the movement was spread by committed disciples who sold their property, gave the proceeds to the poor, and lived a life of voluntary poverty, begging for their daily bread as they spoke in the spirit and shared the gospel. These mendicant disciples were alternatively called “teachers,” “apostles,” and “prophets” — all of which were synonyms.  In the next generations, as fixed congregations were established, they began to require ongoing local leadership, calling “helpers” διάκονος (deacons) and “overseers” ἐπίσκοπος (bishops), along with πρεσβύτερος (presbyters) — a word that the King James Bible alternately translated as “elders” and “priests.” Elder and priest are thus synonyms for the same early priesthood role. As the apostolic age ended, the mendicant apostle/prophet/teachers were fully replaced deacons, priest/elders, and bishops.

If we go back to our preaching chart, we may ask: what about evangelists, pastors, and seventies? There are three references to “evangelists” in the New Testament, which literally means “bringer of the good news” — essentially a synonym for “apostle.” (Over time, “evangelist” developed the technical definition of the author of a gospel.) “Pastor” is Latin for shepherd (ποιμένας poiménas in the original Greek) and has a single mention in the New Testament as a priesthood office, likely meant as the leader of a congregation — making it a synonym for bishop. Use of the word pastor was revived during the Protestant Reformation as some Protestants rejected the evolution of the episcopacy during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages.  Finally, “Seventy” is not really an office at all. Historically, there were many more than 12 apostles (the “Twelve” were a subset of the larger group of mendicant teachers). In the 1830s, early members of our church read the story in Luke of Jesus sending out “seventy” more disciples after the twelve and used that story to create the office of “Seventy.”

The foundations for the two great walls on the chart are labelled “AARONIC PRIESTHOOD” and “MELCHISEDEC PRIESTHOOD” and include the offices of each, as understood in our tradition: “PRIESTS, BISHOPS, DEACONS, and TEACHERS” to the left and “HIGH-PRIESTS, SEVENTIES, ELDERS, PASTORS, EVANGELISTS, APOSTLES, and PROPHETS” to the right.  Speaking at a revival a century ago, a minister could expound at length on all of these offices. Their conclusion would inevitably be that these offices were established by Jesus himself; that they were essential to the functioning of the true Church of Jesus Christ on the earth; and that our church alone operated with the fullness of this structure. To them, this proved that ours was the one and only true church.

This leaves us with the office of “High Priest” and the two priesthood orders: Aaronic and Melchisedec. Members in the 1830s based these on their interpretation of the Epistle to the Hebrews. The author of Hebrews develops an extended argument contrasting the Old Covenant of Moses with the New Covenant in Christ. At the heart of the Old Covenant was the Jerusalem Temple, led by a mortal High Priest descended from Aaron, who performed a ritual sacrifice each year to atone for his sins and the sins of the people. But this practice has been superseded, according to Hebrews, by “a better covenant.” Christ has given himself as an atoning sacrifice for everyone and for all time and thus has become our eternal High Priest. The author of Hebrews quotes Psalm 110:4, “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchisedec,” as the basis for this image.  Early members of our church got the idea that we should have two orders of priesthood from Hebrews, but they clearly misread the point the author was making. The priesthood of Aaron with its High Priest was part of the Old Covenant and has been done away with. In the New Covenant, there is only one High Priest after the Order of Melchisedec: Jesus Christ, our eternal High Priest.

Centuries of study have given us a window in Christian origins that our ancestors in the Restoration could only imagine. Learning about things that they got right (and wrong) is not an occasion for discouragement. As the Community of Christ “Principles of History” teach: “The responsible study of church history involves learning, repentance, and transformation.” Understanding the path we’ve taken, allows us to be better informed for the path ahead.  Recognizing the intersection of devout conviction and the inevitable imperfections of our predecessors renders our shared narrative far more authentic and grounded in reality.

In creating two orders of priesthood and the many offices referenced on the preaching chart, members of our movement believed they were “restoring” practices established by Jesus in the First Century. Instead, they were creating something new, which has now become part of our legacy and inheritance in Community of Christ. Generations of faithful ministers have worked to magnify their callings, finding new and innovative ways to serve as servants of Christ. Doctrine and Covenants 162:1e reminds us: “The spirit of the Restoration is not locked in one moment of time, but is instead the call to every generation to witness to essential truths in its own language and form.”  

As we discern our path forward as a sacred community, it’s important that we understand and honor the many inheritances that have informed our journey, while opening our minds and hearts to new light and knowledge for the road ahead.