A fascinating part of Crossing Over was the realization that the German church, in addition to supporting itself differently from the American church, also has a different way to authorize lay ecclesial ministry. While this is a deep challenge within the US church and is the subject of an upcoming gathering in Collegeville, it has taken a different path in German.
Our colleagues there are appointed to parish ministry by the bishop, and serve at the pleasure of the bishop rather than the pastor. One can immediately begin to guess the gifts and challenges of this style of appointment. What it does do is clearly place the lay ecclesial minister within the context of the diocese and the ministry of the bishop.
Writing for the CLSA (CLSA Proceedings 64), M. Wiljens talks about the 'pastoral workers' or pastoral referrants who are received by the bishop once they have completed an extensive education - usually at the master's level. They are received by the bishop, in the context of a Eucharist, into 'service in the diocese.' They promise obedience to the bishop and receive from him a civilly valid contract and a mandate for a concrete assignment.
I will leave it to you to draw implications but as we gather to look at the authorization questions for lay ecclesial ministry this is another point to think about.
