Living by the staff: a perspective on episcopacy and authority

ABSTRACT The paper sets out a range of challenges facing ministry in today’s increasingly regulated church contexts. Noting the three foci of prophet, priest and king in the Christian’s self-understanding as a disciple of Jesus Christ, the paper goes on to make the case for looking afresh at the prophetic role of the bishop as a member of the community of faith. The bishop, it is argued, speaks from within the community of the church, as the church seeks to engage fruitfully with the world outside the confines of the church. A reassessment of the use of the imagery of the rod and the staff from psalm 23 in the life of episcopacy is offered as the paper explores the sacramentality of ordination.