Fatal-to-the gospel substitutes

We came up with a fatal-to-the-gospel series of substitutes: clergy for laity, rank for brotherhood, learning for devotement, function over relation, prestige for integrity, institution for fellowship, committees instead of service, property for community, and ritual in place of liturgy. . . . Our answer is not a “servanthood of the laity” as a nice additional to round out a hired professional staff; instead, what we are trying to say here is that the lay people must become the ministry of the church in the world. . . . The aim of the church is not to enlist its laymen in its services; the aim is to put laymen as theological competents in the service of the world.

From "Priests to Each Other" by Carlyle Marney