Clergy and religious life
Protestant ministry
The Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century rejected the medieval idea of a priesthood that offers sacrifice on behalf of the people. Martin Luther taught the priesthood of all believers: every baptised Christian has direct access to God, and no order of clergy stands spiritually above the laity. Yet the Reformers kept an ordained ministry of word and sacrament, called by the church to preach and to administer baptism and the Lord’s Supper in good order. How that ministry is organised varies widely. Lutheran churches in Scandinavia kept bishops; Reformed and Presbyterian churches govern themselves through ministers and lay elders meeting in councils; Baptist and Congregational churches place authority in the local congregation. Many Protestant churches ordain women, and some do not. This page focuses on the Lutheran and Reformed traditions, whose clergy largely replaced medieval vestments with the black scholar’s gown, although many Lutherans still wear alb, stole and chasuble at the Eucharist.
See also: The Orthodox hierarchy →See also: The Catholic hierarchy →See also: The Anglican hierarchy →
- Bishops and oversight
- Ministers of word and sacrament
- Diaconal ministry
Orders and states of life
Bishops and oversight
In episcopal Lutheran churches bishops oversee a diocese, ordain pastors and visit congregations. The churches of Sweden and Finland kept an episcopal succession through the Reformation, and most Nordic and Baltic Lutheran churches joined the British and Irish Anglican churches in the Porvoo Communion in 1996. In Germany many regional churches call their leader Landesbischof, while others use titles such as Präses or Kirchenpräsident.
Ministers of word and sacrament
Pastors and ministers are ordained, usually after university theology and a period of practical training, to preach, baptise, celebrate the Lord’s Supper, teach and give pastoral care. Protestant churches see ordination as a public call to an office, not a change in a person’s spiritual standing. In Reformed and Presbyterian churches the minister governs the congregation together with ruling elders, lay members ordained to share in its oversight.
Diaconal ministry
Diaconal ministry is the church’s practical care for the sick, the poor and the young. In the nineteenth century the deaconess movement, begun at Kaiserswerth in 1836, gave Protestant women a recognised calling in nursing, teaching and social work, living in community under a motherhouse. Many churches also have deacons, whose roles range from lay church officers to ordained ministers of service.
Bishops and oversight
Lutheran bishop
Bischof (German) / biskop (Swedish, Danish, Norwegian) / piispa (Finnish)
Addressed as The Right Reverend in English; in German Landesbischof or Bischof with the surname
A Lutheran bishop is a pastor entrusted with oversight of other pastors and congregations: ordaining clergy, visiting parishes, teaching and speaking for the church in public life. Lutherans generally understand the office as the one ministry of word and sacrament exercised over a wider area, rather than a separate priestly order. Bishops are usually elected by a synod or by clergy and lay electors, in some churches for a limited term. Women serve as bishops in many Lutheran churches; Maria Jepsen, elected in Hamburg in 1992, was the first.
What the figure wears
- Talar Talar
An ankle-length black gown with full sleeves, the official dress of Protestant clergy in Germany; in German churches the bishop wears the same gown as the pastors.
- Bands Beffchen
Two short white linen bands at the throat. By custom they are split from top to bottom in Lutheran churches, closed in Reformed churches and half split in United churches.
- Pectoral cross Amtskreuz
A large gilt cross on a chain over the gown, the principal sign of episcopal office, received when the bishop is installed.
- Outside services
- Ordinary dark clothes or a clerical shirt with a white collar; in Scandinavia bishops commonly wear a purple clerical shirt with the pectoral cross.
- Insignia
- Pectoral cross; in the Nordic churches also a crozier, mitre, cope and episcopal ring.
Ministers of word and sacrament
Pastor
Pfarrer / Pfarrerin, Pastor / Pastorin (German)
Addressed as Pfarrer or Pfarrerin with the surname; in English The Reverend
The pastor leads a congregation: preaching, baptising, celebrating the Lord’s Supper, preparing young people for confirmation, marrying and burying, and offering pastoral care. In the German regional churches pastors are usually university-trained theologians who complete a practical training period, the Vikariat, before ordination. Lutheran pastors may marry, following the example of Luther’s own marriage to Katharina von Bora in 1525. Women were admitted to the full pastorate in the German regional churches step by step during the second half of the twentieth century.
What the figure wears
- Talar Talar
An ankle-length black gown with full sleeves. King Frederick William III of Prussia prescribed it for Protestant clergy in 1811, and it spread to most German Protestant churches.
- Bands Beffchen
Two short white bands at the throat, a remnant of the falling collar of the seventeenth century; in Lutheran churches they are split from top to bottom.
- Bible Bibel
The Bible, usually in Luther’s translation, carried to the pulpit for the reading and the sermon that stand at the centre of Protestant worship.
- Outside services
- Ordinary clothes, sometimes with a clerical shirt and collar; the Talar is worn only for services, baptisms, weddings and funerals.
- Insignia
- No insignia of rank; the Talar and Beffchen mark the office during worship.
Ministers of word and sacrament
Reformed or Presbyterian minister
Minister of Word and Sacrament; pasteur (French), predikant (Dutch)
Addressed as The Reverend; in Scotland often Mr, Mrs or Dr with the surname
In Reformed and Presbyterian churches, which trace their order to John Calvin’s Geneva and John Knox’s Scotland, the minister is called by a congregation and ordained by the presbytery to preach, administer baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and teach. Government is shared: the minister moderates the kirk session or consistory, made up of ruling elders chosen from the congregation, and ministers and elders sit together in presbyteries, synods and the general assembly. The Church of Scotland has ordained women as elders since 1966 and as ministers since 1968.
What the figure wears
- Geneva gown
A full black gown with wide sleeves and velvet facings down the front, derived from the scholar’s gown that Calvin and other Reformers wore in place of medieval vestments.
- Preaching bands
Two white linen tabs hanging from the collar, descended from the falling collar of the seventeenth century and still worn also by some lawyers and academics.
- Academic hood
A university hood over the shoulders, here lined in blue, showing the minister’s degree; in many Presbyterian churches it is worn with the gown on Sundays and formal occasions.
- Open Bible
An open Bible in the hand, reflecting the Reformed emphasis on preaching from Scripture; in Scottish churches the Bible is often carried in by the beadle before worship begins.
- Outside services
- A clerical shirt and collar or ordinary dress; the Geneva gown and bands are kept for Sunday worship, sacraments, weddings and funerals, and some ministers wear no robes at all.
- Insignia
- No insignia of rank; the Moderator of the Church of Scotland's General Assembly wears traditional court dress with a lace jabot during the year of office.
Diaconal ministry
Deaconess
Diakonisse (German)
Addressed as Sister (Schwester) with the first name
In 1836 the pastor Theodor Fliedner and his wife Friederike opened a deaconess house at Kaiserswerth, near Düsseldorf, reviving the early Christian office of deaconess for unmarried Protestant women. Deaconesses trained in nursing, teaching and social care, lived in community under a motherhouse that assigned their work and cared for them in sickness and old age, and served without salary. Florence Nightingale stayed at Kaiserswerth in 1850 and trained there in 1851. The model spread across Europe and North America; today far fewer women join, and many communities have adopted newer, open forms.
What the figure wears
- Dress Tracht
A plain, long-sleeved dress of dark blue-grey cloth reaching to the ankles, modelled on the modest everyday dress of middle-class women of the period and worn as the sisters’ habit.
- White collar
A plain white collar at the neck of the dress, kept starched and clean as part of the orderly appearance expected of the sisters.
- Cap Haube
A white bonnet-like cap framing the face and tied with a bow under the chin, the most recognisable part of the deaconess’s dress.
- Brooch Brosche
A small brooch or cross at the collar; in many motherhouses it is given at the deaconess’s consecration as a sign of belonging to the community.
- Small book
A small hymnal or devotional book for the daily prayers, readings and hymns that structured life in the motherhouse.
- Outside services
- The same dress was worn daily, with a white apron for nursing and housework. In the traditional sisterhoods that remain, many sisters now wear it only on Sundays and festivals.
- Insignia
- The white Haube and the brooch or cross of the motherhouse.
Questions people ask
What is the priesthood of all believers?
It is the Reformation teaching, set out by Martin Luther in 1520, that all baptised Christians share a spiritual priesthood and may pray, read Scripture and serve one another without a human mediator. It does not abolish ordained ministry. Lutheran and Reformed confessions hold that public preaching and the sacraments belong to those properly called by the church, so that the ministry exists for good order and service, not because the clergy possess a holier status than other believers.
Why do Protestant ministers wear black gowns?
Many Reformers set aside the chasuble and other vestments associated with the Mass and preached in the black gown of a scholar, presenting the minister as a teacher of Scripture. In the Reformed churches this became the Geneva gown. In Germany the black Talar was made official dress for Protestant clergy by Prussian decree in 1811. White bands, from seventeenth-century collars, completed the outfit. Many Lutheran churches, especially in Scandinavia, never abandoned the alb, stole and chasuble.
Do all Protestant churches have bishops?
No. Lutheran churches in Scandinavia and the Baltic, and many elsewhere, have bishops, though they understand the office in different ways. Many German regional churches are led by a bishop, while others are led by a Präses or president. Reformed and Presbyterian churches have no bishops and govern themselves through elected councils of ministers and elders. Baptist and Congregational churches hold that each local congregation is self-governing. Methodists in the United States, by contrast, do have bishops.
What does an elder do in a Presbyterian church?
Ruling elders are members of the congregation elected and ordained to share in governing the church. With the minister they form the kirk session, or consistory, which oversees worship, membership, discipline and pastoral care. Elders also sit with ministers in the presbytery, which ordains ministers and supervises congregations, and in synods and the general assembly. In the Church of Scotland elders are ordained for life, and since 1966 women have been eligible for the eldership.
Do Protestant churches ordain women?
Many do. Most Lutheran churches in Scandinavia and Germany ordain women as pastors and bishops; the Church of Sweden has done so since 1960 and elected its first woman archbishop, Antje Jackelén, in 2013. The Church of Scotland and most mainline Reformed churches ordain women as ministers and elders. Other churches, including the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and many conservative Reformed and Baptist bodies, ordain only men, holding that Scripture reserves the pastoral office to them.
Sources and further reading
- Reformation: Europe's House Divided 1490–1700 – Diarmaid MacCulloch (Allen Lane, 2003)
- Luther: Man between God and the Devil – Heiko A. Oberman (Yale University Press, 1989)
- Christianity's Dangerous Idea: The Protestant Revolution – Alister McGrath (HarperOne, 2007)
- The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church – F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone, eds. (Oxford University Press, 3rd revised edition 2005)
- A History of Ecclesiastical Dress – Janet Mayo (Batsford, 1984)