This study of bishops, presbyters, and deacons identifies four conceptualizations of the Church influencing the relationship between ordained ministry and the Church; a monarchial and hierarchial conceptualization; a eucharist, collegial model representing the communion of particular churches; the priest, prophet, and king motif that structures the concept of the Church and ordained ministry as a sacrament of the Church. It examines the 1990 ordination rites and discusses the sacramentality of episcopal ordination, the identity of the presbyterate, and questions concerning the diaconate.
