Called to Be Church

We are emerging from a long period of history in which the responsibility for the mission of the church was projected to be primarily that of the clergy and religious, with little or no lay involvement, at least in leadership roles.

The clergy and religious, in other words, have been perceived as exercising the main responsibility for the life, work, and mission of the church, and the role of the laity has consistently been relegated to pitching in or to helping out on a temporary standby basis when father, sister, or brother needed assistance in fulfilling that responsibility that was basically and essentially theirs.

However, with the ‘people of God’ concept so well articulated by the Second Vatican Council, we have come to appreciate more fully that if the Gospel of Jesus is to be seriously taken at all, then it must be taken seriously by all.

Thus, the council pointed out that the responsibility for the life and mission of the church is a responsibility whose dimensions are universal, applying to clergy, religious, and laity alike. All are bound together by a variety of gifts and ministries and all are called to serve the one mission, the mission of Jesus, to be served by a multiplicity of ministries and ministers.

Fulfilling the Vision  
Bishop Howard J. Hubbard