More lay people, please

I wish to protest the tone of Marites Sison’s lead article in the November Journal [Women in the church, p. 1]. My problem is not with women in orders. Far from it, as I think we’ve ignored half the brains and spiritual strength God has given us. No, it is the underlying suggestion that the church consists primarily, if not exclusively, of the ordained clergy. This is a fallacy and a fatal one, in my view. If it were not for the prayers, the volunteer and paid work and the financial support of countless lay people, our clergy would starve. Perhaps it is high time that our clergy return to the apostolic Hebraic practice of earning a lay livelihood. At the least, it would go a long way to excising the attitude of entitlement among some of our clergy. At best, it would free our money to be used in charitable work rather than on salaries.