Charakter prawny służby duchownego w Kościele Ewangelicko-Augsburskim w Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej
The legal character of the ministry of the clergy in the Evangelical-Augsburg Church in the Republic of Poland

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this article is to present the legal character of the ministry of the clergy – a deacon, a vicar, and a parish priest – in the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in the Republic of Poland. Since diocesan bishops also typically perform the function of parish priests, which largely determines their formal situation, their legal status is not considered in the present study. The analysis of the legal situation of service of the clergy is based on the acts of ecclesiastical law, including in particular the Fundamental Internal Law and the regulations specifying the rights and obligations of the clergy of the Evangelical-Augsburg Church in Poland (Pragmatyka Służbowa). The office of the clergyman in the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession comes from God. However, it has also its legal dimension, which is defined in the Fundamental Internal Law. The Lutheran Church recognizes one office with the threefold order of ministry: a bishop, a presbyter, and a deacon. The ecclesiastical office is not hierarchical – all of the orders of the ecclesiastical office are equal, although they do differ in terms of duties. What unites them is their shared authority to exercise the Power of the Keys, and thus to forgive or retain sins, proclaim the Gospel, and administer the sacraments. The ordination is not sacramental in its character. The law of the Church specifies the terms and conditions of ordination, the rights and duties of the clergy, as well as the rules of appointing to office and removing clergymen from the list of the clergy.

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