Called to Serve: Readings on Ministry from the Orthodox Church

Called to Serve is a contribution to the ongoing theological discussion of ordained and lay ministry, taking into special consideration the numerous discussions and debates which are currently at the forefront of the Church, namely, how both the clergy and laity can work together for the good of the entire Body of Christ. The essays included in this volume are from some of the most noteworthy and ecumenically minded theologians in the Eastern Church. Most lived and ministered on the European Continent, although some eventually immigrated to the United States. Among the authors included in this volume are Metropolitans Kallistos Ware of Diokleia and Maximos Aghiorgoussis of Pittsburgh, Fathers Alexander Schmemann, Nicholas Afanasiev, Kyprian Kern, Sergius Bulgakov, and Georges Florovsky, as well as the lay theologians, such as Nicholas Berdiaev, Anton Kartashev, and Elizabeth Behr-Sigel. These theologians have been influential in a theological and liturgical renewal in the Eastern Church in both Europe and North America and were very active in ecumenical discussions and debates. They participated in the World Council of Churches as well as many local and international ecumenical organizations. These voices, many still unknown to a generation of readers, can once again help us to understand the various relationships among the people of God, both ordained and lay, and how we call can foster and encourage greater openness, understanding, and freedom in Christ.