For thus it says in 1 Peter 2[:9], “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a priestly royalty.” Therefore we are all priests, as many of us as are Christians. But the priests, as we call them, are ministers chosen from among us. All that they do is done in our name; the priesthood is nothing but a ministry. This we learn from 1 Corinthians 4:1, “This is how one should regard us. Servants of Christ, and stewards of the ministries of God.”

Let everyone therefore who knows himself to be Christian be assured of this: that we are all equally priests. That is to say, we have the same power and respect to the word and the sacraments. However, no one may take use of this power, except by the consent of the community, or by a call of a superior. For what is the common property of all. No individual may arrogate to himself, unless he is called.

And therefore, this sacrament of ordination, if it is anything at all, is nothing else than a certain right, where by one is called to the ministry of the church.

Furthermore, the priesthood is properly nothing but the ministry of the Word; the Word, I say; not the law, but the gospel.
Martin Luther King on Priesthood

Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female slaves, in those days I will pour out my spirit.
Joel 2:28-29 (NRSVUE)

Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region around the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the River Jordan, confessing their sins.

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Therefore, bear fruit worthy of repentance, and do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.
Matthew 3:4-9 (NRSVUE)

So, binasa natin ang quote from Martin Luther, one of the prominent Protestant reformers, who also happens to be an Augustinian monk. What many people do not know is that he was also a Bible scholar.

Maraming gumugulo sa isip ni Martin Luther noon. Takot na takot talaga siya sa Diyos. The fear was very palpable. Hindi talaga siya mapakali. Walang panalangin, walang misa, walang sacred space na kayang mag-alis ng takot niya sa Diyos at ng pakiramdam na makasalanan siya, through and through.

One of the suggestions given to him by the head of his religious order was to go to the university and study theology and the Bible. Eventually, he became an expert in the New Testament. Para sa akin, doon nagsimula ang kanyang critical response at critical view of the Catholic Church.

Inaamin naman ng Catholic Church na mayroong mga abuses during that time. Some of these abuses can be read in the writings of Martin Luther. Isa sa mga tinuligsa niya ay ang hierarchy of the church based on priesthood, where ordinary people were treated as inferior.

May mga sulat siya describing how priests and bishops treated ordinary people like basura, parang hayop, according to him. There was this strong distinction between the priesthood and the lay people, and he saw this as deeply oppressive.

When he studied Scripture, one of the things he articulated—particularly in The Babylonian Captivity of the Church—was his critique of the seven sacraments. He argued that only two were truly sacraments, while the rest were ministries and did not carry special power or grace.

Later on, Protestant scholars pointed out that the Greek word for priest, hierus, is almost always used in the New Testament to refer to Jesus Christ as the High Priest. The only other time it is used for people is in First Peter, where it says, “You are a royal priesthood, a chosen race.”

One of the arguments, then, is that Jesus Christ did not try to establish a new priesthood in the way that it later developed in the Roman Church. Scripturally, the word for priest does not refer to church leaders. Leaders were called episcopos (overseers), presbyteroi (elders), and diakonoi (servants or ministers). There is a specific Greek word for priest, and it is not used for church leadership.

Some Protestant arguments say that Jesus did not intend to establish a priesthood similar to the temple priesthood, which was hereditary and separated from the people. There are also interpretations pointing to the tearing of the temple veil at Jesus’ death, symbolizing direct access to God’s holiness for all.

For Luther and the Reformers, ordination was not about special grace or spiritual superpowers. It was simply a difference in ministry. Any power connected to sacraments and rituals belongs to the whole community—to the priesthood of all believers. All sacramental authority has already been given to every baptized Christian.

This is why some churches emphasize apostolic succession, while others do not. In Reformed, Protestant, and evangelical traditions—including MCC—ministry flows from baptism and faith, and leaders are discerned and called by the community.

There is also a connection between the Reformation and Western democracy. The Reformers helped democratize Christianity by declaring that no special group has sole authority over Scripture and sacraments. It is the people of God who discern, and from among themselves, call leaders to serve on their behalf.

For MCC, this matters deeply. MCC was formed by LGBTQ+ Christians who were excluded, rejected, or oppressed by their churches. From its earliest years in the 1970s, MCC affirmed that women could and should be ordained.

That decision came very early in its life, even when many other churches still resisted women’s leadership. As MCC grew rapidly across different countries, the question became both practical and theological: who will lead the church?

Looking back to its Pentecostal and Baptist roots, MCC affirmed that the call to ministry is not limited by gender, sexuality, or status, but grounded in the priesthood of all believers.

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