THIS is an excellent book, which I wish I had been able to read when I was ordained bishop rather than nearly 25 years later. That said, I found it hugely refreshing and feel that it should be compulsory reading for all serving bishops.

On the correct assumption that the doctrine of the Church of England has always been made manifest more in its liturgy than anywhere else, the book argues that the Ordinal of the Church of England is the key document for understanding its ecclesiology. What follows is a thorough analysis of the Common Worship ordination rites, elucidating the theology implied by them and how they differ from the Ordinal of 1662 and those of some other Anglican Provinces.

The author argues, correctly in my view, that “Anglican orders are cumulative, with each ordination being lifelong, and successive ordinations built on the continuing foundation of the previous ordination.” I believe he is right, too, in further maintaining that cumulative orders speak of ontology rather than functionality: “The bishop relates to the Church as one of the baptized, as deacon, priest and bishop in each and every interaction.”

The root of all these rites is baptism, and Pottinger demonstrates how baptismal ecclesiology is highly developed and explicit in the Common Worship ordination services as the foundation of the life and ministry of the Church. Ordination requires not just the bishop’s hands, but the Church’s prayers: all the baptised are involved.

The nature of episcopal ministry from the earliest times, we read, has not been just about role and the function, but about the relationship between the bishop and the rest of the Church. This relationship, the author argues, should be primarily pastoral, theological, and spiritual rather than institutional. It is expressed liturgically when, during the ordination of deacons, the bishop washes the deacons’ feet “as an experienced co-deacon, and as an act of solidarity”. It also indicates that any tendency towards a bishop’s being “given greater rank, status or power” undermines “not just the ministry of the bishop but the nature of the whole church”.

The introduction to the episcopal ordination rite in Common Worship uses several descriptors, of which, the author argues, the most significant is “shepherd”: the rite “builds on the analogy of priests as shepherds to make shepherd-hood the controlling metaphor for the ontology of the relationship that the bishop must embody with the other members of the Church”. Shepherding, he argues, is the antithesis of the power and authority of a monarchical bishop: the shepherd guides with personal knowledge and love of the people.

Clear that the ordination rite is not an isolated ritual that must be passed through before the bishop can get on with the real working “leadership” within the institution, the author argues that “The rite defines the new relationship the bishop has with the rest of the Church, and that this relationship should be as shepherd.”

The pastoral staff illustrates this relationship as a symbol that roots it in the analogy with a shepherd who has no authority over the flock other than the flock’s willingness to be led. The staff is a symbol of care and rescue, emphatically not a “rod” of discipline or symbol of authority. The bishop is not one who “drums out heresy”. Rather, he or she embodies and encourages trust in the life and resurrection of Jesus.

The book concludes with some helpful conclusions for contemporary episcopal ministry. This includes the suggestion — traced to Anthony Hodgson with reference to Geoffrey Fisher’s time as Bishop of London — that dioceses should be smaller rather than larger, to reduce the number of people to whom bishops need to relate as shepherd.

As I said at the outset, I think this is an excellent book. I should have liked to see more reference to understandings of episcopal ministry in other denominations, but perhaps that could come in a subsequent volume.

Dr John Inge is a former Bishop of Worcester.

The Bishop and the Baptized: Anglican episcopal ministry through the lens of the Ordinal
Justin Pottinger
SCM Press £40
(978-0-334-06702-3)
Church Times Bookshop £32