Ministry in the churches of the Reformation

The way in which the Churches marked by the Reformation understand ministry derives from the emphasis on salvation by grace and faith and the resulting ecclesiology. The ordained ministry instituted by Christ cannot be separated from the priesthood of all the baptized. It differs from it, however, without giving the minister a different nature. This ministry is conferred by ordination. The forms of ministry (deacon, presbyter, bishop) participate in the organization of the local Church within a supra-local context expressed through the episcopal ministry. This latter ministry is the sign, but not the guarantor, of the apostolic succession of the whole Church.