Clergy
Holy orders are considered one of the seven sacraments practiced by the church. Clergy are of both major and minor holy orders. The five minor orders are: cleric, doorkeeper, reader, Exorcist, and Acolyte. The major orders are: subdeacon, deacon, priest, and bishop. Clergy formation (training) is progressive, with individuals being ordained to and serving in each order in succession. Formation of priests is generally over seven or more years. All levels of holy orders are open to both male and female; married, divorced, and single; and both gay and straight candidates. Clergy are self-sustaining, not receiving a salary from the church.
Read more about this topic: Ecclesia Gnostica, Organization
Famous quotes containing the word clergy:
“To impose celibacy on such a large body as the clergy of the Catholic Church is not to forbid it to have wives but to order it to be content with the wives of others.”
—Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778)
“I never saw, heard, nor read, that the clergy were beloved in any nation where Christianity was the religion of the country. Nothing can render them popular, but some degree of persecution.”
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)
“I never saw, heard, nor read, that the clergy were beloved in any nation where Christianity was the religion of the country. Nothing can render them popular, but some degree of persecution.”
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)