LAY REPRESENTATIOX
298
LAY REPRESENTATION
Not only was great good accomplishcil V)v the Wes- loyaii lay [ircachers in England, hut hy ])crsons of this class Methodism was introduced into America. See Embuuy, Philip ; Strawukidge, liOUEur ; Webb, Capt. In all parts of the Avorld, wherever Methodism lias extended its activities, organized lay preaching has been a leading feature of its evangelical movements. See ExiiouTERS; Local PiiEACiiEits; Keaders. Dur- ing the current century other evangelical churches have adopted analogous measures in various forms, and em- ployed lay evangelists under such names as-Bible-read- ers, prayer-leaders, colporteurs, etc. In some cliiirches in which official sanction has not been given to lay jireaching — e. g. the national churches of England and Scotland, many earnest Christian laymen, including some noblemen, have gone forth independently, under their personal convictions of duty, preaching wherever they could assemble congregations.
The vast Sunday-school enterprises of modern times are themselves at once a grand result and agency of lay teaching in perfect harmony with the design of the Christian ministry, and powerfully auxiliary to its most effective administration by regularly ordained ministers of the Word. The Christian Associations of the pres- ent day are chiefly composed of laymen, and the whole weight of their intluence is given to encourage the evangelization of the neglected classes of society by all available agencies, such as lay preaching and its various auxiliary forms of Christian work. By these numerous and multiplying means of Christian teaching and influ- ence the modern Church is approximating the intense activity of the apostolic Church, and at the same time adapting itself to the moral necessities and special con- ditions of the present age. In this manner the pri- mary design of Christianity is answered, and great good is accomplished among classes of people that would scarcely be reached by the regular clergy of any of the churches. Nor are the just prerogatives of ordained preachers in any degree prejudiced by the co-operative action of pious and judicious laymen. On the other hand, all ministers of a truly apostolic type cannot fail to see that their own success is greatly promoted by their imitation of the apostle to the Gentiles in enlist- ing and encouraging as extensively as possible all wor- thy helpers in Christ. See Young Men's Christian Assot'iATiONS. (D. P. K.)
Lay Representation. The participation of the laity, by their representatives, in the government of the Church, is one of the fruits of the Protestant Keforma- tion. The ground of their claim to be represented in ecclesiastical government is found, however, in the na- ture of the Christian priesthood, and the constitution of the Church itself. Christ having satisfied, by his offer- ing of himself, that sense of need which leads men to seek for mediators, there remains to the Christian com- munity the offering of themselves, as a priestly body, in sacrilice and service to their Eedeemer. Towards God, all are spiritually equal, and the Church, therefore, as originally constituted, was without an external priest- ly caste. '-As all believers," says Neandcr, in his Plant- iiKj (iiiil TnwdiKi of the Church, "were conscious of an equal relation to Clirist as their Pedeemer, and of a common participation of communion with God through him, so on this consciousness an equal relation of believ- ers to one another was grounded, which utterly preclu- ded any relation like that found in other forms of relig- ion subsisting between a priestly caste and a people of whom they were mediators and spiritual guides. The apostles tliemselves were very far from jjlacing them- selves in a relation to believers which bore any relation to a mediating priesthood: in this respect they always placed themselves on a footing of etpiality."
Yet ajmstolic churches were bv no means without a distinct method of government. Following the exam- ple of the synagogue, elders very soon ajipear in the Christian community; and the choosing of deacons by the people, with the approval of the apostles, is one of
the earliest facts recorded in the New Testament history of the organizing Church. The charisins, or gifts of the Spirit, included that of government (1 Cor. xii) ; j'et this gift was used, not as of exclusive right, but in co-operation with other gifts for the common Melfarc. The gift of the Spirit was a designation to the Christian community of the persons fitted for the exercise of this function. The Gentile churches adopted substantially the form of government in use among their Jewish fel- low-Christians; ''but their government," says Neander, " by no means excluded the participation of the whole Church in the management of their common concerns, as may be inferred from what we have already remark- ed respecting the nature of the Christian communion, and is also evident from many individual examples in the apostolic Church. The whole Church at Jerusalem took part in the deliberation respecting the relation of the Jewish and Gentile Christians to each other, and the epistle drawn up after these deliberations was like- wise in the name of the whole Church. The epistles of the apostle Paul, which treat of various controverted ecclesiastical matters, are addressed to whole churches, and he assumes that the decision belonged to the whole body. Had it been otherwise, he would have addressed liis instructions and advice principally, at least, to the overseers of the Church."
In the post-apostolic age, with the growth of the sac- erdotal system, the laity gradually disappeared from participation in the government of the Church. As re- ligion became more external, the minister became more a mediating priest, until finally the churches were rep- resented in the provincial and other councils solely by their bishops. See Laity. The hardening process went on till the fabric of mediaaval Christianity was complete. The laity were held in a state of pupilage, their capability of self-guidance in matters of faith and practice was denied, and the powers of the Church were wholly absorbed by the hierarchy. This continued till the spell of mediffivalism was broken by Luther.