ORDINATION
Holy Orders: Ordained Ministry in the Anglican Tradition
From its earliest days, Anglicanism has understood Holy Orders to be a sacrament—one through which God sets apart individuals [men] for ordained ministry and equips them with grace for the service of the Church. This understanding reflects the consensus of the early Church Fathers and has been consistently affirmed throughout Christian history.
Not merely a functional appointment or professional role. It is a sacred act by which Christ, through His Church, establishes bishops, priests, and deacons as ministers of Word, Sacrament, and pastoral care.
The Threefold Ministry
Christian tradition recognizes three distinct orders of ordained ministry:
Bishops: entrusted with oversight, teaching, and apostolic continuity
Priests: called to preach the Gospel, administer the Sacraments, and shepherd God’s people
Deacons: ordained for service, charity, and assistance in liturgy and mission
This threefold structure is not a later invention. Careful reading of Scripture and the writings of the early Church makes it clear that these orders have existed since apostolic times. Anglican formularies repeatedly affirm that these are the only ordained offices recognized by the Church.
Early Church Attestation
Ignatius of Antioch
Taught by the Apostle John and the Apostle Paul. Successor of the Apostle Peter as Bishop at Antioch
In like manner let everyone respect the deacons as they would respect Jesus Christ, and just as they respect the bishop as a type of the Father, and the presbyters as the council of God and college of the apostles. Without these, it cannot be called a church.
(Letter to the Trallians 3:1–2 [A.D. 110])
Irenaeus
Taught by Polycarp, who was taught by the Apostle John
But, again, when we refer them [heretics] to that tradition which originates from the apostles, [and] which is preserved by means of the succession of presbyters [priests) in the Churches, they object to tradition, saying that they themselves are wiser not merely than the presbyters, but even than the apostles, because they have discovered the unadulterated truth.
(Against Heresies 3:2:2 [A.D. 189])
It is possible, then, for everyone in every church, who may wish to know the truth, to contemplate the tradition of the apostles which has been made known to us throughout the whole world. And we are in a position to enumerate those who were instituted bishops by the apostles and their successors down to our own times, men who neither knew nor taught anything like what these heretics rave about. For if the apostles had known hidden mysteries, which they were in the habit of imparting to "the perfect" apart and privately from the rest, they would have delivered them especially to those to whom they were also committing the churches themselves. For they were desirous that these men should be very perfect and blameless in all things, whom also they were leaving behind as their successors, delivering up their own place of government to these men; which men, if they discharged their functions honestly, would be a great boon [to the Church), but if they should fall away, the direst calamity.
(Against Heresies 3:3:1 [A.D. 189])
Suppose there arise a dispute relative to some important question among us, should we not have recourse to the most ancient Churches with which the apostles held constant intercourse, and learn from them what is certain and clear in regard to the present question? For how should it be if the apostles themselves had not left us writings? Would it not be necessary, [in that case,] to follow the course of the tradition which they handed down to those to whom they did commit the Churches?
(Against Heresies 3:4:1 [A.D. 189])
Hegesippus
When I had come to Rome, I [visited] Anicetus, whose deacon was Eleutherus. And after Anicetus [died], Soter succeeded, and after him Eleutherus. In each succession and in each city there is a continuance of that which is proclaimed by the law, the prophets, and the Lord
(Memoirs, cited in Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 4:22 [A.D. 180])
Tertullian
But if there be any [heresies] which are bold enough to plant [their origin] in the midst of the apostolic age, that they may thereby seem to have been handed down by the apostles, because they existed in the time of the apostles, we can say: Let them produce the original records of their churches; let them unfold the roll of their bishops, running down in due succession from the beginning in such a manner that [their first] bishop shall be able to show for his ordainer and predecessor some one of the apostles or of apostolic men—a man, moreover, who continued steadfast with the apostles. For this is the manner in which the apostolic churches transmit their registers: as the church of Smyrna, which records that Polycarp was placed therein by John; as also the church of Rome, which makes Clement to have been ordained in like manner by Peter.
(Demurrer Against the Heretics 32 [A.D. 200])
[W]hat it was which Christ revealed to them [the apostles] can, as I must here likewise prescribe, properly be proved in no other way than by those very churches which the apostles founded in person, by declaring the gospel to them directly themselves . . . If then these things are so, it is in the same degree manifest that all doctrine which agrees with the apostolic churches—those molds and original sources of the faith must be reckoned for truth, as undoubtedly containing that which the churches received from the apostles, the apostles from Christ, [and] Christ from God. Whereas all doctrine must be prejudged as false which savors of contrariety to the truth of the churches and apostles of Christ and God. It remains, then, that we demonstrate whether this doctrine of ours, of which we have now given the rule, has its origin in the tradition of the apostles, and whether all other doctrines do not ipso facto proceed from falsehood
(Demurrer Against the Heretics 21 [A.D. 200])
Clement of Alexandria
Those, then, that adhere to impious words, and dictate them to others, in as much as they do not make a right but a perverse use of the divine words, neither themselves enter into the kingdom of heaven, nor permit those whom they have deluded to attain the truth. But not having the key of entrance, but a false…, a counterfeit key, by which they do not enter in as we enter in, through the tradition of the Lord, by drawing aside the curtain; but bursting through the side-door, and digging clandestinely through the wall of the Church, and stepping over the truth, they constitute themselves the Mystagogues of the soul of the impious.
(The Stromata 7.17 [A.D. 198])
Ordination as a Sacramental Act
Ordination is ontological—it involves a real change in the person being ordained. Through prayer and the laying on of hands, God imparts a lasting spiritual character that sets the ordained apart for holy work.
When a priest is ordained, the bishop invokes the Holy Spirit and commissions the ordinand to preach the Word, administer the Sacraments, and exercise Christ’s authority in forgiveness and reconciliation. Similar language is used for the ordination of deacons, emphasizing divine calling rather than human appointment.
The 2019 Book of Common Prayer continues this theology, using language that underscores the enduring nature of ordination and its grounding in the work of the Holy Spirit.
Authority Rooted in Calling, Not Self-Appointment
Orthodox Christianity, extending all the way back in history to the early Church Fathers firmly rejects the idea that individuals may assume ordained ministry on their own initiative. No one may publicly preach or administer the Sacraments without being lawfully called and sent. It also rejects the idea of women's ordination.
This protects both the integrity of the Church, the continuation of sound doctrine, and the faithful reception of the Sacraments. Ordained ministry exists not for personal authority or prestige, but for service [by a man] within Christ’s Body under the Church’s discernment and oversight.
Witness of Anglican Theology
The great Anglican theologian Richard Hooker strongly affirmed both the threefold order and the sacramental nature of ordination. He described ordination as imparting a spiritual “character” that permanently marks the ordained and consecrates them for sacred service. According to Hooker, this character distinguishes ordained ministers from the laity—not in worth or holiness, but in function and responsibility within the Church.
This teaching helped shape Anglican identity as both reformed and catholic: reformed in rejecting abuses, yet catholic in preserving apostolic order.
Biblical Foundations
Holy Orders is firmly grounded in Scripture.
In the Old Testament, authority was conferred through the laying on of hands, as when Moses appointed Joshua to lead Israel. The New Testament continues this practice. The Apostle Paul reminds Timothy that he received a spiritual gift through the laying on of hands, and he instructs church leaders to appoint presbyters, overseers, and deacons according to clear moral and spiritual qualifications.
The pastoral epistles describe the distinct roles of bishops, priests, and deacons, showing an emerging but recognizable church structure within the apostolic era.
Christ’s Church, Not Just Individual Faith
Jesus said he came to build a church (Mt 16:18), not just tell people how to get to heaven. Just as God ordered Israel with priests and leaders, Christ ordered His Church with ministers entrusted to guide, teach, and serve.
While the New Testament reflects a developing structure, by the early second century the universal Church had clearly settled into the threefold ministry. This is evident in the writings of early bishops such as Ignatius of Antioch, who emphasized unity around bishops, priests, and deacons.
Anglicanism understands this historic episcopate not as optional tradition, but as part of the Church’s faithfulness to Christ’s design.
Holy Orders and the Life of the Church
The Anglican Church affirms that the historic episcopate is essential to the Church’s fullness and unity. Bishops stand in continuity with the apostles, preserving doctrine and sacramental life. Priests and deacons share in that ministry, each according to their calling.
Through Holy Orders, Christ continues to teach, forgive, nourish, and shepherd His people until He comes again.
A Sacrament of Service
Holy Orders exists not for hierarchy’s sake, but for the building up of the Body of Christ. Ordained ministers are given authority so that the Church may be faithfully taught, the Sacraments rightly administered, and God’s people lovingly cared for.
Ordination is both gift and responsibility—a lifelong vocation rooted in Christ’s call and sustained by His grace.