“So, you’re saying we don’t need the Ministry?!”
Early in those days of 2023 — which already feels like a lifetime ago — the 2×2 world was turned upside down and the halo over the Workers’ heads started to flicker. Almost any time someone questioned their integrity, the response came back sharp and immediate:
“So, you’re saying we don’t need the Ministry?!”
That response sounded like a question, but it wasn’t. It was a deflection. Instead of talking about integrity, it shifted the conversation to supposed loyalty. Instead of asking whether something was true, it asked whether you were betraying the system. That reaction revealed something many of us now see clearly: the church was never really about the message. It was about protecting and idolizing the Ministry itself.
At the time, my answer was usually, “We need ministering, but we don’t need a Ministry that hides abuse.” Today I’d put it even more plainly: “We’ll always need ministering, but we never needed a priesthood.” But that requires defining some terms.
Ministering is simple. It’s care, encouragement, teaching. It’s service. It’s what healthy families and healthy communities naturally do for one another.
Leadership is similar. As communities grow, people step up to lead. Someone needs to direct traffic. Someone needs to organize things. That’s normal human interaction. That’s sociology, not theology. There’s nothing wrong with leadership.
But neither ministering nor leadership is the same thing as mediation, or authority and control for that matter. Mediation is when someone stands between you and God. That’s called a priesthood.
A priest, functionally speaking — and also, somewhat scripturally speaking — is anyone whose presence becomes necessary for your relationship with God to be considered legitimate: someone who controls access, validates belonging, determines worthiness. It doesn’t matter if they wear robes or navy blue suits. It doesn’t matter if they’re called Workers or Ministers or Priests. What they do defines what they are.
And here’s where it gets interesting.
Since the founding of the 2×2 church, the Workers have said, “We’re not like those other churches and those other preachers.” They rejected priests, rejected ordination, rejected hierarchy, and rejected the idea that anyone should stand between people and God. In word, they rejected priesthood completely.
And to be fair, that instinct isn’t wrong. Jesus himself relentlessly confronted religious gatekeepers. The removal of mediated access to God is at the heart of the Christian story. But rejecting the word “priest” doesn’t mean much if you keep the function and simply relabel it.
Priesthood is defined by what it does, not by what it’s called.
If an office regulates who may speak or pray, decides which gatherings are legitimate (sanctioned), decides who is worthy of baptism, decides who is worthy of the bread and wine, and ties salvation to itself, then that office is functioning as a priesthood.
The Workers do all of these things. Which means the Workers aren’t simply a Ministry. They are a priesthood.
That’s the uncomfortable truth.
They’ve spent generations criticizing priests in other churches while quietly assuming the same role themselves — controlling access, claiming authority, and positioning themselves as necessary intermediaries.
At this point someone usually says, “But Jesus established a Ministry.” Sure, Jesus sent people. Of course he did — the story had to be told. But sending messengers is not the same thing as creating a mediating class. And it’s certainly not the same thing as establishing an official “office” in a religious organization.
There’s a difference between serving someone and standing in someone’s way. There’s a difference between teaching and gatekeeping. The early church clearly had leaders and teachers. Scripture even names apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. But look at how they’re also described: “to equip the saints for the work of ministry.” Equip, not mediate. Serve, not control. Yes, roles existed in the early church, like they do in any community. But rank didn’t. Guidance existed; priesthood didn’t. Those leaders and teachers never became the doorway to God, and nor were they asked to.
This tension isn’t unique to the Workers. It’s as old as the story itself. The biblical narrative keeps repeating the same cycle: God draws near looking for partnership, and people build structures to manage and control that partnership — kings, temples, priests. Then prophets push back and call people to trust God directly again.
Jesus stands squarely in that cycle with the same message the prophets had, but this time with the final word, insisting that access to God isn’t controlled by institutions or ethnicity or merit, and certainly not by a priesthood. The Spirit indwells. The veil was torn. The barriers were removed.
Yet we keep rebuilding those barriers and keep asking for kings and priests in between.
History confirms this. Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, and Protestant traditions all developed clergy and hierarchy. Sometimes that preserved teaching and stability. Sometimes it helped. But historical development just explains what happened; it doesn’t prove original divine intent. Longevity isn’t the same thing as divinity. Just because something became normal doesn’t mean it was the point.
What’s really at stake here is simple — and important. If our connection to God depends on a certified mediator, someone who must approve, validate, or grant access, then we’ve quietly rebuilt the very system Jesus seemed determined to dismantle. The Jesus story was never about dependency on a new class of religious gatekeepers. It was about spiritual maturity and fulfillment. It was about directness, trust, and presence.
So, am I saying we don’t need a Ministry?
Not exactly.
We’ll always need people who care, teach, guide, and serve. We’ll always be grateful for good leaders and wise teachers and good storytellers. We’ll always benefit and grow from ministering.
What we don’t need is a priesthood hiding behind the word “ministry” while functioning exactly like the thing it claims to reject. And once you see it for what it is, it’s impossible to unsee it.
By Tim Borys
February 4, 2026
Originally posted on Connected and Concerned Friends:
https://connected-and-concerned-friends.mn.co/posts/so-youre-saying-we-dont-need-the-ministry