Apparently 'Goethe once said that he had little time for church history, since it dealt only with the clergy and he could find in it little about ordinary Christians . . . He did not think he could see how faith was lived out concretely'.1
I want to air some thoughts on the role of those whom Goethe describes as 'ordinary Christians'.
I am not suggesting that those who are called to full-time ministry are extraordinary Christians. Nevertheless, Goethe does hint at a difference of function which I believe is of crucial importance. My question is this: what is the function to which those church members are called who are not ordained into the ministry? This will also lead on to another question: what is the function of those who are ordained into the ministry towards those who are not?
