Neil Darragh describes why sharing the leadership in Sunday Eucharist is a model for today's communities.

The movement for greater participation and collaborative leadership in the Church influenced most of the mainstream Christian Churches in the later part of the 20th century. In the Catholic Church it was ignited by the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s. This reform has faltered in recent decades but has been revived again, today, by the recognition that current church structures are in need of serious reform.

The Eucharist is a demonstration (a sacramental expression) of how ministry in the Church, especially leadership, actually works. No reform of church leadership in general can be successful unless it is accompanied by a reform of the Sunday Eucharist.

In its current form, the leadership pattern in the Eucharist is normally that of a priest (presider) with a number of assistants (ministers) such as readers, communion ministers, altar servers and sometimes other people who say prayers or give announcements/information. The priest is not only in charge of everything that happens there but is “up front” in the sanctuary, facing the congregation practically all the time and talking to the congregation most of the time. The assistants (other ministers) come and go as needed for their own special tasks.

This is not a “collaborative model” but a “line management model” of leadership. In a line management (monarchical) model of leadership, one person is in charge of the operation but has subordinates below and superiors above. A collaborative model, on the other hand, implies that several leaders have complementary roles and they work together to accomplish a liturgical whole.

A single “presider”, up front and talking most of the time, is limited by ethnicity, gender (male in the Catholic and Orthodox Churches), age, occupational experience, specialist training and personal talents. A single presider cannot be a channel for the diversity and richness of the Triune God whose presence there the liturgy seeks to symbolise. Nor can that single presider represent the diversity of the gifts of the Spirit already there within that congregation.

In an age when we are seeking more participation and collaborative ministry throughout the Church, we don’t have to settle for this model of a single presider with subordinate assistants. It wasn’t like that in the early Church as we know it from the New Testament. We could look for different models of leadership. And we don’t have far to look.

The traditional structure of the Eucharist liturgy itself suggests a way in which a collaborative or “shared” leadership can operate. The liturgical actions of Eucharist move through four distinct phases: Gathering, Word, Eucharist and Sending. The Gathering Rite (often called simply the “Introductory Rites”) brings the people together in a single assembly; the Liturgy of the Word is a proclamation and interpretation of the Christian Scriptures for today; the Liturgy of Eucharist is a communal thanksgiving to God and communion in the life of Christ; the Sending Rite (often called the “Concluding Rites”) sends the people back out into the world to be active participants in the mission of God there.

Each of these phases has its own special identity and purpose, each has its own part to play in an organic liturgical movement and each has its own associated ministries. Each of these four phases can also have its own leader. Each of the leaders is responsible for their own phase of the liturgy including supporting and coordinating the other ministries associated with that phase. The leaders collaborate with one another to ensure a sense of organic movement from gathering to outward mission.

In this model of shared leadership there is no need for a single presider over all. The diversity of the community — ethnicity, gender, age, occupation, personal talents — can be represented there. And the God who inspires this community can be seen as both diverse and unified. A shared leadership is much less vulnerable to the potential problems of the single presider who is not quite competent or, has a tendency to be authoritarian or, has too narrow a view of the message of Christ. It encourages participation and collaboration and it points to their value for the life of the Church outside as well as inside the liturgy.

Tui Motu Magazine. Issue 243 November 2019: 6