What is a Priest?
The Light in Every Thing is a podcast of the Seminary of The Christian Community in North America. Learn more about the Seminary at our website or become a friend and supporter with access to more content at our Patreon.
Our thanks to Elliott Chamberlin who composed the opening music, "On the Road" and the closing music, "Seeking Together". You can find more of his music here.
Episode 1: The Human Calling
In this first episode of a new series, Patrick and Jonah enter into a new theme: What is a priest? Following their conversation last week about the story of Jonah and the whale as a sign of the Spirit, they turn this week to explore the idea of a "Priesthood of all believers," and look at how every human being can be a sign of the spirit and have a quality of priesthood in their work. How can we each become a "sign" of the Spirit? How can we each work to become a consecrated one, and become a beacon in our daily lives for others to see, recognize, and follow
Episode 2: Sacrifice and Consecration
In this episode, Patrick and Jonah enter further into the question, "What is a Priest?" What has the activity of a priest been in the ancient, pre-Christian world? How did Christ renew the priesthood in Jesus? And what is the future of this priestly work? Two fundamental ideas build the core focus for this conversation: the work of consecrating and the activity of offering at an altar. Jonah and Patrick discuss many stories and images from the Old Testament, including the Garden of Eden, Cain and Abel, and the figure of Melchizedek, the first "Priest" named as such in the bible. It becomes clear that we can only come to the idea of ‘priest’ through a cosmology - or larger, world context - in which priestly activity is needed.
Episode 3: Offering and Receiving Blessing at the Shoreline Between Worlds
In this episode of The Light in Every Thing, Jonah and Patrick continue to unpack their question, "What is a Priest?" Two central elements have now emerged in the conversations: the activities of offering and of blessing. In this episode Patrick and Jonah deepen this picture by asking about each of these ‘gifts’, exploring the ways in which a priest works between the two worlds of heaven and earth. But why make an offering in the first place? After exploring this question, the conversation ends on a forward-looking image of the Priest cultivating a consecrated city, as opposed to a backward-looking hope of returning to the Garden of Eden.
Episode 4: From Creature to Creator
This week we pick up the thread of the last three episodes, "What is a Priest?" We describe today the lineage of offering, from the story of Cain and Abel, with the image of them as "creator" and "shepherd," all the way through to Jesus and beyond. But first, we delve into the question, "What is different in the work of a Priest after Christ and what he accomplished at Golgotha?" Through today's episode, we see in Christ Jesus a new image of Priesthood, of the individual, and of community. We see that humanity has moved into a role of "creator-hood," by the priestly example of Christ Jesus.
Episode 5: A New Body, A New Community, A New World - The Creative Work of the Priesthood of Jesus Christ
In this fifth episode on the question, “What is a Priest?”, the conversation deepens the element of creativity, of creation, in priestly work and, especially, what is generated through the creative, priestly activity of Jesus Christ. The focus this time for Patrick and Jonah is on the image of Priest as Creator. It is no longer enough, we come to understand in this episode, to just be there at the threshold between the Spiritual World and the Physical World. Priests, and all humanity as consecrated individuals, are called into active participation in the creation of a new humanity, a new community and even "a new earth."
Episode 6: "Abide in me and I in you" - Reflecting on the Sacrament of Ordination
Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?” - Revelation 7:13
In this episode, Jonah and Patrick turn their attention to the, then upcoming, ordination of priests on the weekend of May 14-16. After describing the ceremony a little, Patrick shares his experience of the first time he attended a Sacrament of Ordination as a young student in Germany. He recognized, with vivid clarity a connection of this Sacrament with scenes from the last book of the bible, John’s Book of Revelation. Jonah's reflections led the conversation into the powerful territory of John’s gospel in chapters 14-16 that touch on the topic of 'mutual indwelling': Abide in me and I in you - John 15:4.
Episode 7: The Sun Enters the Earth at the Horizon - The Sacrament of Ordination Special Episode
This past weekend eight individuals stepped forward to be consecrated into the priesthood. It was a powerful, spiritually potent and beautiful event, blessed by some of the most glorious Ascension-in-nature experiences. During that weekend Jonah and I took the opportunity to sit down with fellow priest, Julia Polter, and have a conversation. Jonah asked Julia about how she experiences her priesthood in the hospital rooms where she has been serving as a chaplain this past year and this opened up essential new elements in our exploration of the question: What is a priest?
We hope you enjoy this conversation and are not distracted by the background sounds! Far away from our ‘studio’ in Toronto and in the middle of a large community event, this was the best we could do.
Episode 8: A New Humanity & Reconciling the Profane with the Sacred
In this final episode on the question, What is a Priest?, Patrick and Jonah turn their attention away from the consecrated priesthood and towards the "Priesthood of all Believers." They take up the idea that everyone who comes into contact with Christ is in the process of consecration, is in the process of changing and transforming into his likeness.
