Priest of the Church or Priest of a Church?

Noel Cox is a priest in the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, currently Priest-in-Charge, St Jude’s Avondale, and Port Chaplain, Auckland, for The Mission to Seafarers.

• Chapter 1 The church and Holy OrdersChapter 2 Sources and Limits on AuthorityChapter 3 The Priesthood of All BelieversChapter 4 Local Ordained MinistryChapter 5 Local or Universal MinistryChapter 6 Challenges to New Forms of MinistryChapter 7 Ecumenism and Holy OrdersChapter 8 Implications

Churches within the Anglican Communion view themselves as being part of the “one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church”, and Anglicanism’s via media has enabled it to be viewed as a focus for ecumenism. Recent innovations with regard to ordained ministry may, however, have compromised both the claim to catholicity and its ecumenical usefulness. In this book, Noel Cox – a scholar priest with experience of ministry in several Anglican provinces world-wide – examines the historical, theological, and legal aspects of these developments and their consequences, with particular attention to Ordained Local Ministry. His analysis and conclusions deserve careful and prayerful consideration.