Schleitheim on Shepherds
Mennonites have an indomitable blindness to history, a friend of mine has repeatedly insisted, when it comes to our understanding of the role of authority in the church. Nearly every ‘progressive’ Mennonite today somehow believes that the Anabaptist tradition has always been anti-hierarchical, ‘radically’ egalitarian, against the concentration of teaching or disciplining power in the church. But look even at the Schleitheim Confession: the fifth of only seven articles is dedicated to “shepherds in the church of God,” necessary to “read and exhort and teach, warn, admonish, or ban in the congregation.” Those who came together on this brotherly union found it particularly important to single out and insist upon this authoritative office in such volatile times. How else could the congregations remain together? Thus, if one shepherd is lost to the cross, another should be immediately ordained–”so that the little folk and the little flock of God may not be destroyed, but be preserved by warning and be consoled.”
This is not a question of absolute power, of course; the Anabaptists were anti-clerical in their refusal to ordain a separate class of church members, and the Confession also stipulates public reprimand for those shepherds who err. But at least this much was clearly and firmly desired: a shepherd from among their number who would guide and care for their little flock.
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