SACRAMENTS

What is Holy Orders?

Holy Orders is the Mystery by which men are ordained to serve the Church as deacons, priests, or bishops. The ordination is conferred through the laying on of hands by a bishop, who stands in unbroken succession from the apostles. The man being ordained is led around the altar, has hands laid upon him by the bishop, and is vested in the garments proper to his order. He is then introduced by name to the assembled Church, which confirms its support by exclaiming axios! (worthy!).

Three orders make up the ordained ministry of the Orthodox Church: the diaconate, the presbyterate (priesthood), and the episcopate (the office of bishop). Each has its own role, and each is conferred through a distinct rite of ordination during the Divine Liturgy. 

The three orders are not a corporate ladder. A deacon is not a priest-in-training, and a priest is not a bishop-in-waiting. Each order is a distinct calling with a distinct ministry. In practice, a parish's need for priests often means a deacon is ordained to the priesthood after only a short time in the diaconate. Theologically, the Orthodox Church has never understood Holy Orders as a hierarchy of personal status but as a structure of complementary service. 

Holy Orders is not a Mystery of the clergy alone, and is never performed privately. The sacrament always takes place before a gathered laity in the context of a Liturgy. The priesthood and the laity need each other. A priest cannot celebrate the Divine Liturgy by himself; the prayers of the rite assume a gathered Church. The priest acts on behalf of and together with the faithful, not in their place. Clergy and laity are called to a shared ministry, each respecting and serving the other in love.

Why Do We Ordain?

Christ chose twelve apostles and gave them authority to teach, baptize, and forgive sins in His name (Matthew 28:18-20, John 20:21-23). After the Ascension, the apostles in turn laid hands on others, transmitting the ministry they had received (Acts 6:6, Acts 13:3, 1 Timothy 4:14). This continuity of ordination, bishop to bishop, generation to generation, is what the Church calls apostolic succession. It is a living thread that ties Holy Apostles parish in Shoreline, Washington to the original followers of Christ in first century Jerusalem.

Holy Orders is more than a transmission of authority. The deeper Orthodox understanding is that Christ Himself is the only High Priest and the only Teacher of the Church. The clergy serve as the means by which His ongoing presence is made visible: at the altar, in the proclamation of the Gospel, in the forgiveness of sins, and in the care of His people. When the priest blesses the bread and wine at the Divine Liturgy, it is not the priest's blessing that consecrates them; it is the action of the Holy Spirit, sought by the whole Church through the priest's words and gestures.

A member of the clergy is not set apart from the laity by personal holiness, but has been called and ordained for a particular ministry. He is a member of the Body of Christ, and dependent, as every Christian is, on the same grace, the same sacraments, and the same forgiveness as every other member of the Body. The validity of the Mysteries he celebrates does not depend on his personal virtue. The Mysteries belong to Christ and to His Church.

How Are Men Ordained, and Who Serves at Holy Apostles?

The Three Orders

Deacons assist the bishop or priest at the altar, lead the people in litanies and prayer, proclaim the Gospel at the Liturgy, and often carry out works of charity and education in the parish. Priests, who may also be called presbyters, head local congregations. They celebrate the Mysteries, preach, teach, hear confessions, and shepherd their parishes. Bishops oversee dioceses (groups of parishes), maintaining the unity and teaching of the Church across regions.

Ordination

Each ordination takes place during the Divine Liturgy. The man being ordained is presented to the bishop, led around the altar three times, and the bishop lays hands on his head and prays the prayer of ordination invoking the Holy Spirit. He is then vested in the garments of his order and given the kiss of peace by the other clergy. The newly-ordained immediately takes his place in the service.

Marriage and Ordination

In the Orthodox Church, married men may be ordained as deacons or priests, but a man cannot marry after ordination. A married deacon or priest who is widowed may continue in active ministry but does not remarry. Bishops, since the seventh century, are chosen from among single men or widowers, most often from monastic communities. 

Holy Apostles

Holy Apostles is served by Protopresbyter Tom Tsagalakis, our parish priest. Fr. Tom celebrates the Divine Liturgy and other services, leads the parish in its sacramental and pastoral life, and answers to His Eminence the Metropolitan of San Francisco. Holy Apostles is not currently served by deacons, which is not unusual for a small parish. If you are an Orthodox man who is interested in the path of the diaconate, please contact Fr. Tom.

Learn More

For further reading we recommend: 

• Fr. Thomas Hopko's The Orthodox Faith, Volume 2: Worship

• Metropolitan Kallistos Ware's The Orthodox Church.