Leading the church
Dear People of St. Boniface,
There are some inspiring words, so they say, in my letters, about the nature of the Church. The Church is the body and Christ is its head [Colossians 1:18], or, [Ephesians 1:23] the Church is the whole body of Christ now on earth. I did not actually write the letter to the Ephesians, though I am happy to endorse it.
My letter to the Colossians speaks of a local church, in the house of one Nymphas, and in Laodicea [Colossians 4: 15,16] whereas the letter to the Ephesians speaks only of “the Church” as a whole. I say [Romans 5: 6,8] that Christ died for the weak and for sinners; but Ephesians 5:25, which develops my thought, says that Christ died “for the Church”.
Do you see where we are heading? In my lifetime, “the Church” was something which meant little outside a particular locality. I founded “churches” and set them on their feet, but the leadership was not at all fixed.
The leaders of these churches are called by me, among other things, episkopoi, which means “overseers”, and, to be honest, I am not too precise. But in 1 Corinthians 12:28 I speak of appointing “governors”, in Romans 12:8 “exhorters” or “encouragers”. Some of your experts have worked out that “overseers” often referred to financial matters – like the chairman of your Finance Committee, “Bishop” Richard Pilley?
It has come to my attention that some Christians of your time do not like the word “overseer” being translated as “bishop”. They see “bishops” as a word carrying too much baggage, to say nothing of mitres and croziers. Well, such was not my intention. We lived in a simple age; we had no church buildings, no “Bishop’s House” and if I was insulted in the streets of Rome it was no good my complaining to the Vatican, for it was not there!
My blessing, from Heaven, PAUL.