Historical Context of Clergy/Pastor/Minister

[Rassin]

Hi I’m a student at the University of Windsor and I have a project on professions so I choose clergy as my area of study. One of the questions is to Provide the Historical background to this profession. My internet search came up with nothing useful so I would figure asking the source would be easier. I understand there is biblical verses of apostles and leaders of the church but what I need is the historical development and origin of what is today’s clergy. I don’t need lots of depth but I do need to show how clergy came to be, major developments, origins, and how it progressed into current Canadian culture starting from nearly 2000 years ago. What I must stress is Sources (be them books, articles, journals, sites, etc) if it does not have a source then it unfortunately (where may be insightful) is useless to me. If there were terms used before the use of clergy that would be useful as well, again need sources. As a last note if you don’t really have sources but you can point me in the proper direction that would be much appreciated. Thank you for your help in advance.

 

[codefro]

Well, ready Paul’s epistles and the book of Acts. Then read the Church Fathers (I would recommend St. Ignatius of Antioch for a specific dialogue on the rise of the monarchial bishop.)

 

[Aelred_Minor]

Let me stress that you look up first the history of the Catholic clergy (especially deacons, priests, and bishops, though you may want to do a little research into the minor orders and subdeacons as well), and then look at the Protestant Reformation and the very different kinds of clergy that developed in the major varieties of Protestantism, like Lutheran, Presbyterian, Anglican, Methodist, Baptist, Evangelical, etc. Unfortunately it’s very complicated due to differences between different Churches or denominaitons, so you’ll have to decide not whether but to what degree you want to simplify the situation in your paper. Also, in Canada several historically distinct denominations have merged into the “United Church of Canada”, so you will want to see how they do things.

If you could use a Catholic Encyclopedia from about a hundred years ago, just click the “Encyclopedia” tab at the top of your screen and you can find some articles there. Be sure to use newer sources too as many things have changed since it was written. Look at it as giving a window into a particular past period of Church practice.

 

[fred_conty]

You might want to start with the old testiment.

You recognize that in the o.t. that there were 3 catagories of priests.
The High Priest, allowed only once a year to enter the Holy of Holies, had the fullness.
The Levites, who were priests designated to serve the temple and people in their offerings
of lambs, or doves, be they for sin, or otherwise.
The People, who were designated as a priestly people who took part in the sacrifices
the Livitical priests offered in their behalf.

Each one had duties, and responsibilites, and special functions.
These 3 catagories of priests were not at all equal. They were appointed and
annointed seperately and for different ends.

The old testiment have figures or types that point to the new testiment. The o.t. high priest prefigured n.t. Apostles and their successors the bishops.
The o.t. Livitical priests prefigured the n.t. priests annointed to this position to serve the church and the people in offering sacrifices.
The n.t. Christians are a priestly people who take part in the divine sacrifice offered in their behalf by the annointed priest which were prefigured by o.t. priestly people.

 

[Rassin]

Thanks for all who took the time to reply, it was much appreciated. As for the project submitted it ended up being 40 pages encompassing the priest profession to a decent degree as well I did use some of these posts as launching bays to find keywords and books. The final mark on the project was 100 % , so thanks again and if there are people interested I could send a file or post of my project (you won’t get my location, student number naturally) just PM or reply.