Social Construction of the Sacrament of Orders

Abstract

All institutions are the product of human activity. This article will consider how the development of the Sacrament of Orders is embedded in the social construction of the church as an institution, with a leadership structure and a system of symbols and rituals. Drawing on the perspectives of sociologists, theologians and social constructionists, it will focus on churches of the West with more highly developed liturgical traditions, examining the history of how this sacrament, and the clergy roles and lifestyle it initiates, has been constructed and reconstructed in response to the social forces that have influenced the church from its origins to the current day.