You will remember that there are three ranks or orders in the Ministry of the Church: Bishops, Priests and Deacons.  Today we are going to talk about bishops, but in order to understand what a bishop is, we must first understand what the Apostles were, for it was the bishops who took the Apostles’ place.

The Apostolic Commission

On the first Easter Day, when Jesus appeared to his Apostles in the Upper Room, he gave them what is called their Apostolic Commission, that is, the power and the right to act and speak for him, as his personal representatives.  “Peace be with you”, he said.  “As the Father has sent me, so I send you”.   Then Jesus breathed on the Apostles and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (NRSV, John 20:21,22).  So the meaning of the word Apostle is someone who is sent.

Our Lord, you remember, is the Great High Priest who offered himself as a Sacrifice to God for the forgiveness of our sins in order to bring us human beings back to God, and so, in sending his Apostles into the world as his personal representatives, he also made them his high-priestly representatives.  That is why it was to them that he gave, first power to celebrate the Eucharist – “Do this in remembrance of me” – so that in the Eucharist he could offer himself, and bring us with him, to his Father.  And secondly he gave them the power to forgive sins – “If you forgive the sins of any”, he told them, “they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained” (NRSV, John 20:23).

The Apostolate

Last time we saw how the Apostles ordained presbyters in every place where they planted the Church, and to these presbyters they gave some of their own powers and rights, and in particular the power and right to celebrate the Eucharist.  But there were two powers which belonged to the Apostles alone, the power to admit people to full membership of the Church by the Sacrament of Confirmation, and the power to ordain to the Ministry by the Sacrament of Holy Order.  Think what that means.  It means that, without the Apostles, there could have been no Church at all, no clergy and no people.  It was through the Apostles, and through them alone, that Our Lord brought the Church into existence in the various places.  And that meant that, unless they appointed others to take over from them, then it was only a matter of time before the Church itself died out and ceased to exist.

Bishops and the Apostolic Succession

So the Apostles, acting as Our Lord’s personal representatives, appointed others to take their place as Apostles of the Catholic Church.  And Our Lord, through the Apostles, gave to them also the Apostolic Commission so that they too, like the Apostles themselves, now had the right and power to act on his behalf.  These men were put, by the Apostles, in charge of the Church in the chief cities and towns.

Some of them were travelling missionaries known as Apostolic men, others had been presbyters.  In those very early days the presbyters or elders were also known as bishops or overseers.  But from now on they began to be known only as presbyters and the name of bishop came to be given to those who had taken the Apostles’ place.

So each Christian congregation had its own bishop and the Church was able to go on after all the Apostles had died.  It was the bishops now who, as new Apostles, admitted people to full membership of the Church by the Sacrament of Confirmation, and ordained to the Ministry by the Sacrament of Holy Order.  And the bishops in their turn, acting as Our Lord’s personal representatives, appointed other bishops to take their place, and so it has continued through the years and into the 21st century.  The unbroken line of bishops, from the time of the Apostles, is called the Apostolic Succession.

You can see, therefore, why there must always be bishops.  If there were no bishops, there would be no Confirmation, there would be no priests, and therefore there would be no Eucharist and no Blessed Sacrament.  In fact, there would be no Church at all.

The Apostolic Succession, that unbroken line going back to the Apostles, provides assurance that we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit in Confirmation, the gift of Our Lord himself in Holy Communion, and the gift of forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Penance).

It is also by means of this line of bishops, with each bishop taking over from the previous one, that the Catholic Faith has been handed down from one generation to another.  The first bishops learnt it from the Apostles and they passed it on to those whom they appointed, and so on through hundreds of years.  That is why one of the great duties of a bishop is to safeguard the Faith and see that it is handed on in its fullness to the next generation.  So, in the Common Worship Service for the Ordination and Consecration of a Bishop, the Archbishop begins by summarising the duties of bishops, and includes these words:

“Bishops are ordained to be shepherds of Christ's flock and guardians of the faith of the apostles…” (1)

The Sacrament

So we come to the third part of the Sacrament of Holy Order, the Consecration of Bishops.

Minister

The minister of the Sacrament must be a bishop and it is the rule that two other bishops should assist.  Common Worship states: “Bishops must be ordained by at least three other bishops, joining together in the act of ordination, of whom one shall be the Archbishop of the Province or his deputy” (2).

Matter

The matter is the laying on of hands

Form

In the Church of England the form in Common Worship is:

“Send down the Holy Spirit on your servant N
for the office and work of a bishop in your Church”. (3)

Inward grace

The inward grace is the Apostolic Commission which Our Lord first gave to his Apostles – the fullness of the Ministry of the Church with all the powers of a priest and, in addition, the power to administer the Sacraments of Confirmation and Holy Order.

SUMMARY

1. Those whom the Apostles appointed to take their place were called bishops, and they also received the Apostolic Commission to act as Our Lord’s personal representatives.  These bishops in their turn consecrated others to take their place, and so the line of bishops from the Apostles continued unbroken over hundreds of years right into the 21st century.  The unbroken line is called the Apostolic Succession.

2. It is through the Apostolic succession, that unbroken line going back to the Apostles, that the power to consecrate and ordain bishops, priests and deacons and to confirm is given by Our Lord to each generation of bishops.  Thus it is through the office of Bishop that the Church is able to exist, and that we are able to receive the Sacraments.

3. The Apostolic Succession provides sacramental assurance i.e. that we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit in Confirmation, the gift of Our Lord himself in Holy Communion, and the gift of forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Penance). This is why it is essential that the unbroken line going back to the Apostles is not ruptured.

References

1. ©The Archbishops’ Council (2007) Common Worship.  The Ordination and Consecration of a Bishop.  Available from:
http://www.cofe.anglican.org/worship/liturgy/commonworship/texts/ordinal/bishops.html  (Accessed 25 August 2010) (Internet).

2. ©The Archbishops’ Council (2007) Common Worship.  The Ordination and Consecration of a Bishop.  Note 2.  Available from:
http://www.cofe.anglican.org/worship/liturgy/commonworship/texts/ordinal/bishops.html  (Accessed 25 August 2010) (Internet).

3. ©The Archbishops’ Council (2007) Common Worship.  The Ordination and Consecration of a Bishop.  Available from:
http://www.cofe.anglican.org/worship/liturgy/commonworship/texts/ordinal/bishops.html  (Accessed 25 August 2010) (Internet).