A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend a Wednesday night church service on a business trip. I had missed church on Sunday that week so it was a fortuitous thing. I had been to the church before and was friends with the pastor. As a frequent business traveler I appreciate services at “odd” times and look forward to Advent and Lent. :)

I arrived early, and I couldn’t find the pastor. I sat down in the sanctuary, and two men walked to the front. One man called the other “elder”, and the elder began preparing the altar for Holy Communion. The elder wore no collar or vestments—he wore a Lord’s Gym sweatshirt over Dockers.

The service began, Divine Service II from Lutheran Worship. The elder gave a message at the pulpit on Matthew 22:1-14, the parable of the Wedding Feast. I recognized a little bit of Law, a little bit of Gospel, and then a lot of Law, as he focused on us being the one without the wedding garment in vv. 12-13. His message: don’t be that guy! After the sermon, he officiated Holy Communion with the 25-30 people that were there. I remained seated, suspecting that I was witnessing something wrong.

I emailed the pastor, who was at a conference. He said that the elder was a certified Lay Minister who had been serving the congregation long before the congregation had an ordained pastor. He asked if I had spoken to the lay minister, and I had not; I didn’t know before the service that I would need to.

According to the Apology (Defense) of the Augsburg Confession, Article XIV:

The Fourteenth Article, in which we say that in the Church the administration of the Sacraments and Word ought to be allowed no one unless he be rightly called, they receive, but with the proviso that we employ canonical ordination. Concerning this subject we have frequently testified in this assembly that it is our greatest wish to maintain church-polity and the grades in the Church [old church-regulations and the government of bishops], even though they have been made by human authority [provided the bishops allow our doctrine and receive our priests]. For we know that church discipline was instituted by the Fathers, in the manner laid down in the ancient canons, with a good and useful intention.

Does this mean only pastors can tell people about Christ, or teach? No. A pastor has the responsibility to stand in the place of Christ, having studied the Scriptures and having received formal training so that his teaching is without error and according to what Christ taught. When a pastor says our sins are forgiven, we accept it as Christ said it in Matthew 9 and Mark 2. This is why collars, vestments, and other paraphernalia are worn by clergy, and this is why I didn’t recognize the lay minister.

Ordination is a long process; in the LCMS it usually involves a Masters of Divinity degree, preferably from one of its seminaries and universities. Shortages of the ordained are not unheard of in other denominations. I can understand why someone may not be enthused with getting a master’s degree, but the training would have served in rightly dividing Law and Gospel in the sermon and welcoming visiting members of the same faith to the Lord’s Table.

If ordination wasn’t important, why wasn’t it left out of the Confessions? There are plenty of “adiaphora” that neither harm nor hurt. Is there a list of requirements for lay and ordained ministers? If the requirements are close, why not ordain and save confusion? Does the acceptance of a lay minister by a pastor and his congregation constitute a “regular call”?