“Therefore, appoint for yourselves bishops and deacons worthy of the Lord” – The Didache (ca. A.D. 100)
“But, if it happen that any of the clergy who are now in the Church should die, then those who have been lately received are to succeed to the office of the deceased; always provided that they shall appear to be worthy, and that the people elect them…” – Canons of the Council of Nicea (Syndal Letter)
Studying Church History is always fascinating because people often take much later developments and impute them to earlier periods. For instance, it is a common assumption in the Anglican, Roman Catholic (and presumably Eastern Orthodox) churches, that bishops were chosen by those in authority above them, either by the one bearing the crown or the papal tiara. Power in the Church, like in Aristotle, flowed from the greater to the lesser, from the top to the bottom. However, the empowerment of the local church in the patristic era is fascinating. Tradition at this point was not a code word for: living centralized power, but actually meant: whatever has been done in this location in the past.
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In East Germany (DDR [Deutsche Demokratische Republik]) when the Communists / SED Party came into power, they only had experience dealing with Orthodox prelates. They knew that there were bishops who were the ‘big wigs’ of the church, and that they weilded the real power. In Russia, if the KGB could bribe enough Orthodox bishops, they could safely stifle the work of the church. Bishops there did control everything in their diocese. However, the Evangelical Church in East Germany had bishops who were voted into positions by the synod, and could be deposed by the synod. The people chose their bishops, and a bishop truly was servus servorum Dei, a servant of the servants of God. One Evangelical pastor recalled being talked to by a Communist official who referred to him as a “dignitary” of the Church, he looked down at his jeans and laughed, realizing how misplaced their image of Church hierarchy was. This story is just one of many which outlines how the churches of the Reformation, like the Church of the Patristic Age, understood that the role of Bishops, Pastors, Priests, Deacons, and all of the “dignitaries” was to be ministers and servants, not rulers like the gentiles (Mt. 20:25-26)