Pre-Assembly Talk

The Models of the Church

Some Questions to Consider

• What is the Church?

• Who is the Church?
• Who founded the Church?
• What is the purpose of the Church?
What is the Church?

• Cardinal Avery Dulles developed a way of

answering this question using models.
The title of his book, Models of the
Church, is still important today.
• His original book contained five models, or
ways of understanding the Church, but
later he added a sixth.
The Church as Institution
• This model of Church emphasizes the
structure and order of the Church. Jesus
says to Peter, “You are ‘Rock’, and on this
rock I will build my Church.”
• This model emphasizes the hierarchy of
the Church.
• This model of Church is evident in the
New Testament in the Council of
Jerusalem, when the question of whether
converts to the Church had to be
circumcised was discussed.
The Church as Institution
• A strength of this model is a clear
understanding of right and wrong. There
are clear roles and guidelines for living the
faith.
• A weakness of this understanding of the
Church is that it can lead to legalism, and
an overemphasis upon law.
• Moreover, it can lead to difficulty among
believers to sort out a priority of laws, or
an understanding of the relative
importance of laws.
The Church as Communion
• This model of Church emphasizes the
community nature of the Church. In Paul’s
letter to the Corinthians, he refers to the
Church as the Body of Christ.
• This model emphasizes the notion that a
parish is a family.
• The Acts of the Apostles emphasizes this
model when it discusses the community of
believers being of one mind and heart,
and sharing possessions in common.
The Church as Communion
• The strength of this model is the creation
of a strong sense of belonging. The
community is warm and welcoming.
• The weakness of this model is that the
community can so lack structure there is
no sense of purpose or direction. There
can be too limited a sense of belief in a
certain set of principles.
• Over-emphasis on community can make
the group stifling. Conflicts can be
avoided in the name of belonging.
The Church as Sacrament
• The Church is seen first and foremost as a
visible sign of the presence of Christ in the
world.
• The Church becomes the visible way the
Christ works in the world. “Christ is at
once manifesting and actualizing the
mystery of God’s love for humans.”
• Emphasizes the visible (human) and
invisible (spiritual) sides of the Church.
The Church as Sacrament
• The strength of this model is the clear
connection with a “Catholic way of seeing
the world” sacramentally in signs and
symbols.
• The weakness of this model is that it
requires a high level of catechesis and
theological education. Not always readily
apparent.
The Church as Herald
• The Church is primarily the messenger of
the Gospel. The Church is the voice, the
announcer of the Kingdom of God.
• The Church proclaims a new reality of
peace, and a reign of God that is both
already here and not yet fully realized.
• The members of the Church then are
called to be the heralds of this Church.
The Church as Herald
• The strength of this model is the heavy
emphasis and understanding of
proclaiming the gospel as an important
part of the gospel life.
• A weakness of this model is that it can
lead to a cerebral understanding of faith.
Also, it can de-emphasize the visible
nature of the sacramental life.
The Church as Servant
• This model sees the Church as having a
primary commitment to the creation of
social justice, which is at the heart of the
gospel mission.
• This is the action which underscores the
importance of the words.
• This is the aspect where the Church
understands its need to underscore the
words of the gospel with the need to put
those words into action.
The Church as Servant
• The strength of this model is that the
Church is filled with believers who live
authentically their faith. Believers work for
a better world where all receive the things
they deserve.
• The weakness is that there can be such
an emphasis on action, that a faith
dimension is lost. The community can
simply be a collection of activists with no
distinctive belief in God or Jesus.
The Church as Community of
Disciples
• The Church is seen as a community of
people who follow Jesus. Not simply
admiring Jesus, but striving, in everything
they do, to imitate Jesus both in word and
action.
• Knowing that Jesus suffered for his
beliefs, they too know that suffering may
be a part of their lives too.
• This understanding also includes personal
and communal accountability.
The Church as Community of
Disciples
• The strength of this model is a stronger
sense of connection to Jesus, his mission,
and others who believe.
• A weakness of this model is that it might
still become too local, without a strong
emphasis on a universal nature of Church.
How the models work together
• The Church as Sacrament: founded by
Christ, combining visible (human) with
invisible (divine) dimensions. Baptism,
Eucharist and the other sacraments
combine these elements. This leads to
• The Church as Community. Strengthened
and called together by the sacraments, a
community is created. This leads to . . .
• The Church as Herald. The community
feels compelled to share the good news
with others. Which leads to . . .
How the models work together
• The Church as Institution. A need to
codify the beliefs of the community, so that
the essential parts of the message are
preserved. Which leads to . . .
• The Church as Servant. A community of
believers compelled to put their beliefs into
action. Which leads to . . .
• The Church as a Community of Disciples.
Founded by Jesus, this Church strives to
imitate more and more clearly the life of its
founder.
How the models work together
• Which calls the Church more clearly to be
the visible and invisible reality of its
founder.
• This is best understood not as a circle, but
as a spiral, leading us deeper and deeper
into the mystery of Christ.