The Ranks of the Clergy

The Holy Trinity has established three ranks of ministry in the Church: those of bishop (“overseer”), priest (“presbyter,” elder), and deacon (“minister,” servant).

The first known Christian use of the word “clergy” (Greek: klēros / κλῆρος) appears in the Epistle of St Clement of Rome: “…the clergy (klēros) are not to transgress the appointed rules, but to perform their duties in the order prescribed” (1 Clement 40:5).

St Clement also uses the Old Testament structure of High Priest, Priests, and Levites to illustrate the principle of good order (taxis) in the Church, applying it to the Christian ministries of bishops, presbyters, and deacons:

The high priest has his own proper services, the priests have been assigned their own place, and the Levites have their own special ministrations. The layman is bound by the ordinance that belongs to the laity. Let each of you, brethren, give thanks to God in his own order, with a good conscience, not transgressing the appointed rule of his ministry… (1 Clement 40:2–5)

The Episcopate

In the New Testament, episcopos (bishop, overseer) and presbyteros (presbyter, elder) are used interchangeably, not because the office of chief presbyter did not exist, but because the term episcopos was not yet exclusively attached to it. That one among the presbyters was indeed first and chief is shown by the role of St James the Just, the first bishop of Jerusalem, who was always recognized as head of the church at Jerusalem and of its presbytery (Act 15:6–22). St Paul admonishes Titus, who clearly exercised the functions later designated by the title of bishop: “For this reason, I left you in Crete so that you might set right what remains to be done and appoint presbyters in every town” (Tit 1:5).

According to the Eastern Fathers, the order of bishop is associated with the role of St Peter as protos (first) among the Twelve: “There is a definite relationship between Peter, called by Christ to ‘strengthen his brethren’ (Luk 22:32; see Q402), and the bishop, as guardian of the faith in his local church. The early Christian concept, best expressed in the third century by Cyprian of Carthage (according to which the ‘see of Peter’ belongs, in each local church, to the bishop) remains the longstanding and obvious pattern for the Byzantines. Gregory of Nyssa, for example, can write that Jesus ‘through Peter gave to the bishops the keys of the heavenly honors’; and Dionysius, when he mentions the ‘hierarchs’, the bishops of the earthly Church, refers immediately to the image of Peter” (John Meyendorff, Byzantine Theology).

Accordingly, the bishop as protos, the one who teaches from the chair of the greater Moses, Jesus Christ (Mat 23:2; Joh 1:17; see Q562, Q490), is the visible source and point of unity of the whole church, as St Ignatius teaches: “we should look upon the bishop as we do upon the Lord himself” (To the Ephesians, 6); “do all things in divine concord, the bishop presiding in the place of God” (To the Magnesians, 6); “wherever the bishop appears, there let the congregation be, just as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the catholic church” (To the Smyrnaeans, 8).

Properly speaking, the bishop is not ‘ordained’ to the episcopate but ‘consecrated.’ With the assent of the people and clergy, neighboring bishops come to the church’s cathedral to consecrate a presbyter to the episcopate for that church; according to the canons, at least three bishops are required, or two in necessity (Nicaea I, canon 4; Apostolic Canon 1; see Q070, Q071). The origins of this practice are traced to the tradition that the Lord, after his Ascension, directed the Apostles Peter, James, and John to consecrate James, the Lord’s brother, as bishop of the church of Jerusalem. This requirement also greatly diminishes the risk of schism, since several bishops must concur, and the public event requires the presence and assent of the community.

It has been the Orthodox practice since the sixth century to choose bishops from among the monastic (celibate) clergy, rather than from among the married presbyters (cf. Council in Trullo, canons 12 and 48; see the Study: Clerical Celibacy).

All active diocesan bishops are equal in their ministry as heads of their respective churches: there is no divinely established order above that of bishop. For the sake of good order, however, the bishops of a region or nation always choose from among themselves one who holds a primacy of honor with specific ecclesiastical privileges, in accordance with the already-cited Apostolic Canons: “The bishops of every nation should recognize the one who is first (protos) among them and consider him as their head, and do nothing of consequence without his consent… but neither let him do anything without the consent of all; for thus there will be unanimity” (Apostolic Canon 34; see the Study: The Structure of the Orthodox Communion).

The Presbytery

The bishop is chosen from among the presbyters to become the permanent ‘president’ of the Eucharist and head of the body of elders called the presbytery, which is referred to in the New Testament: “When they had appointed presbyters for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord” (Act 14:23); “the apostles and the presbyters gathered together to discuss this matter” (Act 15:6); “let them call for the presbyters of the Church” (Jas 5:14; see Q133, Q351); “Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the council of presbyters” (1Ti 4:14).

As the name indicates, the office of elder is reserved for men of proven maturity and wisdom, and the interchangeable title “overseer” emphasizes the responsibility of the office. As the Apostle instructs: “appoint elders in every town as I directed you, men who are blameless, the husband of one wife, whose children are believers… For the overseer, as God’s steward, must be blameless: not arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of goodness, master of himself, upright, holy, and self-controlled; holding firm to the sure word as taught, able both to give instruction in sound doctrine and to confute those who contradict it” (Tit 1:5–9; cf. 1Ti 3:1–7).

It is the prerogative of the bishop, with the support of the presbytery and diaconate, and the assent of the people, to ordain a qualified man to the presbyterate. In most cases, presbyters are detached from the episcopal Eucharist of the cathedral by the bishop to serve communities called parishes. Parishes are not, strictly speaking, ‘churches,’ but parts and extensions of the church, extensions in space of the one Eucharist presided over by the bishop. For this reason, as celebrants of the Eucharist with the blessing of the bishop, the presbyters are also properly called priests (Greek hiereus).

The title ‘priest’ (hiereus; Latin sacerdos) was historically and properly applied to the bishop, but is also rightly applied to the presbyters, as is common in many languages.

By virtue of their ordination, the presbyters share, under the authority of the bishop, in the ministry of the apostolic succession, as the early Fathers testify: “it is necessary to obey the presbyters who are in the Church, those who possess the succession from the Apostles, and who, together with the succession of the episcopate, have received the sure gift of truth, according to the good pleasure of the Father; and to hold in suspicion those who depart from the primitive succession and assemble in any place whatever” (St Irenaeus, Against Heresies, IV.26.2; see Q024, Q090).

The Diaconate

The ministry of connecting the needs of God’s people with the throne of God, and with the bishop, belongs in particular to the deacons. Theirs is an angelic ministry, a ministry of mediation and message between the sanctuary and the people, which is why the deacons’ doors of the iconostasis often bear the icons of the archangels Gabriel and Michael, or of holy deacons such as St Stephen and St Lawrence. The Holy Spirit guided the Church to establish this order in apostolic times:

The Twelve summoned the body of the disciples and said, ‘It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brethren, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this duty’… and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus… These they set before the Apostles; and they prayed and laid their hands upon them. (Act 6:2–6)

The order of deaconess, which may well trace its roots to the apostolic age, “I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon (diakonos) of the church at Cenchreae” (Rom 16:1), has existed in parts of the Orthodox Church at various times in history. One of the most prominent examples is St Olympias the Deaconess (†408), a close friend and supporter of St John Chrysostom, who was ordained a deaconess by Patriarch Nectarius of Constantinople and served the Church with great zeal, caring for the poor, widows, and orphans. The ministry of the deaconess, which fell into disuse in the Middle Ages, was specific and distinct: it is not to be confused with the male diaconate, nor is it equivalent to the priesthood. While the ancient order of deaconesses eventually declined, its historical existence remains an important witness to the diversity of holy service within the one Body of Christ.