A Word on Sobornost #
By Archpriest Andrey Marchenko
“And grant us with one mouth and one heart to glorify and hymn Thy most honorable and majestic Name, of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (from the rite of the Divine Liturgy).
One of the most precious gifts bestowed upon the Church is sobornost—conciliarity or spiritual unity. It is precisely sobornost that testifies to the deep, mutually penetrating unity of the Church’s members with one another through the one Orthodox faith, the one liturgical life, and the one common hope. The spiritual unity of the Church’s members in her one Body may be likened to the unity of the Persons of the Most Holy Trinity. The Great High Priest and Redeemer of the Church Himself desired that His Bride should manifest Herself as one Body, encompassing all truly believing Christians, united to one another by love and like-mindedness: “That they may be one, even as We are” (John 17:11).
The very naming of the Church in the Creed as Catholic (that is, Sobornaya, Conciliar) testifies both that the Church is a Council, and that everyone who becomes a member of the Church becomes a participant in this all-church Council.
By the gift received through divine anointing, every member of the Church is equal to the others; and therefore, each one partakes in the Church’s sobornost, in spiritual equality before our common Heavenly Father.
The pastors of Christ’s flock must not only refrain from fearing sobornost, but must actively encourage it in each member of the Church. They should help each of their spiritual children to find their place in church life, to uncover their gift for service to the common good, and to discover their personal path in the work of building up the Church.
Clergy must not neglect the counsel and opinion of the laity, remembering the teaching of the holy fathers on this matter:
“The first have need of the last, for the former cannot by themselves constitute the Church”
— Blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria, commentary on 1 Corinthians 12:21.
“The mutual need of the Church’s members for one another engenders great love among them”
— St. Ephraim the Syrian, commentary on Ephesians 4:1–16.
“The head cannot say to the feet, ‘I have no need of you,’ for we have members that appear weaker, yet are indispensable to us—God has proportioned the Church just like the body, and has given greater honor to the lesser, so that there be no division in the Body itself, just as there is no discord among the members of the body”
— St. Ephraim the Syrian, commentary on 1 Corinthians 12:14–25.
The expression of this unity of God’s people ought to be the convening of joint Councils, composed of representatives from every rank of clergy and laity. This is necessary not only for the practical and well-balanced resolution of urgent church matters, but first and foremost to satisfy the natural spiritual need of every Christian: to be in constant communion with one another in all matters concerning the Church’s life.
In the Church, there can be no such thing as an unimportant issue for any of Her members. Even a matter that at first seems insignificant must find a response in the hearts of all Her children without exception. Sobornost must be living and vital—not limited to consultations among hierarchs alone, but involving the entire body of the faithful, and extending its concern, as far as possible, to every question of ecclesiastical life, both great and small.
We must understand that Councils fulfill not only a function of church governance and organization, but are also a means of communication among the members of the Church—a way of expressing the true unity of the entire Church in the Holy Spirit. A Church Council is a testimony to the Church’s spiritual life. The Apostle Paul especially valued this aspect of Christian gatherings, urging believers not to neglect fellowship (Hebrews 13:16) and not to quench the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19).
Therefore, fraternal communion among all members of the Church—without exception—is the very meaning of true sobornost.
Recognition of the laity’s right to full participation in church life clearly testifies that the Church is not merely a hierarchy, but a hierarchy and the people together. For together we form one family and are all responsible for its well-being; thus, all must participate in shaping the life of the Church.
This vision of the Church as one family, as a community in which all members take part fully in ecclesiastical building, goes back to apostolic times. The example of true sobornost and unanimity is shown to us already in the first Church Council in history—the Council of the Apostles. The Evangelist Luke, describing the acts of the Apostolic Council, testifies to the participation of all Christians who were at that time in Jerusalem, and all of them took the most active and direct part in the Council. “Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole Church” (Acts 15:22), it says in the Acts.
But the Apostolic Council was not the first and last assembly of the whole people. The Church historian Eusebius writes about similar gatherings of the faithful in opposition to the Montanist heresy: “The believers began to gather frequently and in many places in Asia.” Saint Cyprian of Carthage also bears witness to the unanimous participation of both clergy and laity in Church Councils, for “the Church consists in the bishop, the clergy, and all who stand firm in the faith.” Based on this principle, Saint Cyprian always convened Councils with the participation of both hierarchs and laypeople: “From the very beginning of my episcopate,” he wrote to the presbyters and deacons, “I resolved to do nothing on my own authority, without your counsel and the consent of the people.” According to Saint Cyprian, Councils were conducted similarly in the Roman Church—the Roman bishop Cornelius always discussed all matters with “the glorious clergy sitting with him, and the most holy and distinguished people.” The entire ancient Church was united in the building up of the Body of Christ: “But speaking the truth in love, [we] may grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love” (Ephesians 4:15–16).
Since the ancient Church embodied the unity of all members, it is necessary even now to preserve that same structure, so that the people of God may in harmony build up their common House—the Church—that the laity may not be mindless executors of the hierarchy’s will, but active participants in Church life and organization.
However, this is not to say that the hierarchy in the Old Orthodox Church (Drevlepravoslavnaya) has set itself in opposition to the laity or limited their rights merely to participation in liturgical life. Not at all—for we have always preserved a living principle of sobornost within the Church. Retaining the people’s place in the Church, Old Orthodox Christians have always held Church Councils communally, with the involvement of both clergy and laity. We know that at certain times, the laity even comprised the majority—and this in no way led to the collapse of Church order. On the contrary, it was precisely such Councils that guided our Church for many years, and it was precisely such a Council that restored the episcopal rank in the Old Orthodox Church 80 years ago.
Unfortunately, during the years of Bolshevik persecution, the practice of parishes delegating lay representatives to Councils became more of a rare exception than a living tradition. That is, while laypeople may be present at Councils, it is infrequent, and in most cases their participation cannot truly be called active—or, more importantly, positive. Interest in church life among the laity has significantly declined; and whereas previously this might have been excused to some extent by persecution, such indifference today becomes deeply reproachable. If this continues, the Church risks becoming divided into a spiritual caste and a mindless, indifferent crowd of laypeople. The principal foundation of Christ’s Church—the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, which Holy Scripture exhorts us to guard diligently (Ephesians 4:3)—will be disrupted.
When speaking of a Joint Council of clergy and laity, we must not ignore the canonical aspect of this matter. In drawing laypeople into active church life, it must be ensured that the canonical decrees are not violated—those which assign the final authority in Church decisions to the bishops (cf. 4th Ecum. Council, Canon 19; 6th Ecum. Council, Canon 8; 7th Ecum. Council, Canon 6; Carthage Canons 14, 27, 87, 141, 142; Laodicea, Canon 40; and others).
The canonical structure of the Church allows for both clergy and laity to take part in conciliar activity—as counselors, not as legislators. Therefore, the proper way to hold Church Councils is to ensure, where possible, the presence of representatives from all parishes of the Church, with the freedom to express their views on various church matters. Yet the authority to affirm decisions of such Councils must remain with the bishops, as overseers of Christ’s Church, established in that role by the Lord Himself. For though “we are all baptized by one Spirit into one body” (1 Corinthians 12:13), we must remember that within the Church there exists, despite our equality in faith, a distinction of ministry: “God hath set some in the Church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers…” (1 Corinthians 12:28), writes the Apostle Paul. Thus, the goal is not to entrust the fate of the entire Body of the Church to the lesser members—the laity—who are appointed by the Lord not as shepherds but as the flock; rather, the aim is to grant the laity, following the model of the ancient Church, the opportunity to serve as witnesses to conciliar decisions and as advisors to the hierarchy.
Including both clergy and laity in conciliar participation allows bishops to gain an objective understanding of the actual state of Church affairs and the thoughts of the faithful regarding various issues, thereby enabling the adoption of well-considered and correct decisions.
Church Councils should not function as parliamentary sessions, and decisions should only be made when there is no one who can object to them on the basis of Holy Scripture or Holy Tradition. It is unacceptable to resolve Church matters by majority vote, for we know that very often the majority has stood apart from the Lord, while only a faithful remnant preserved the Truth. Therefore, a decision should be confirmed only when it is unanimously acknowledged by all the faithful, “for God is not the author of confusion, but of peace” (1 Corinthians 14:33). Only of such a Council can it be said: “It seemed good to the Holy Ghost”; if everything is decided by voting, then it will no longer be the will of the Spirit, but the will of the majority. A Church Council is not a party meeting, and it must be guided not by majority opinion, but by the authority of Church Tradition, for “let all things be done decently and in order” (1 Corinthians 14:40).
The hierarchy must unswervingly strive to ensure that there always exists within the Church a true unity of clergy and laity through joint participation in Church life and structure, in accordance with Holy Scripture and the canons of the Church—so that the Church’s people may be united one with another, as the Persons of the Almighty Trinity are united: “that God may be all in all” (1 Corinthians 15:28), and that within us all there may be “one heart and one soul” (Acts 4:32).