Historical Background
The development of the Church through the centuries.
Ministry of Jesus (30-33):
The main sources of information about the life and teachings of Jesus are the four canonical gospels and, to a lesser extent, the Acts of the Apostles and the Pauline epistles. According to the Gospels, Jesus is the Son of God, who was crucified around 30-33 in Jerusalem. His followers believed that he had risen from the dead and had been exalted by God, announcing the arrival of the Kingdom of God.
THE EARLY CHURCH.
Apostolic Period (30-100 AD):
Christianity began among a small number of Jews. About 120 are mentioned in Acts 1:15. By the third century, Christianity grew to become the dominant congregation in the northern Mediterranean world. It also spread significantly to the eastern and southern Mediterranean.
The events of the early years of Christianity are recounted in the Acts of the Apostles. Much of it has retained the essence of the message, confirmed by recent archaeological evidence.
Pre-Nicene Period (100 to 325):
In the Church, after the first charismatic authorities in the form of apostles, when they disappeared, hierarchical structures emerged in Christian communities that resembled those of the societies from which they came. Two blocks can be distinguished:
In communities of Hebrew origin, a collegial government of elders or presbyters was established, which followed the Jewish tradition, coming from the most important families or from the synagogues. This collegiality was in turn presided over by another elder, who in earlier times, in Jerusalem, became James, the brother of Jesus.
In communities with a Gentile majority, the Church was governed by a college of bishops (episcopoi) and deacons. The figures of the bishops as prototypes of authority and supervisors of the urban Christian population are those in charge of administration, prefects and managers, while the deacons are the servants or servants.
This initial double hierarchical structure of Christianity slowly tended towards unification for all churches, merging bishops and priests, although for a time they were called indistinctly.
1st Council of Nicaea (325 AD):
Emperor Constantine I, together with Licinius, issued the Edict of Milan in 313, decreeing freedom of worship throughout the Roman Empire and thus ending the persecution of Christians.
Constantine supported the Church financially, built several basilicas, granted privileges (e.g., exemption from certain taxes) to the clergy, promoted Christians to some high positions, and returned confiscated property. Constantine played an active role in the leadership of the Church. In 325 he convened the Council of Nicaea, the first ecumenical council. He thus set a precedent for the emperor as responsible before God for the spiritual health of his subjects and thus with a duty to maintain orthodoxy. He was to enforce doctrine, eradicate heresy, and defend ecclesiastical unity.
At the Council of Nicaea, the assembly composed a creed to express the faith of the Christian Church, declaring that Jesus was "consubstantial" with God the Father.
Catholic Church (325–present):
Over time, schisms have disrupted the unity of Christianity. The Catholic Church considers the major divisions to have occurred in c. 144 with Marcionism, 318 with Arianism, 451 with the Eastern Orthodox, 1054 with the Eastern Schism, during which the Eastern Orthodox Churches split from the Western Church over doctrinal issues (see the filioque) and papal primacy, and in 1517 with the Protestant Reformation, from which there were many divisions, giving rise to over 200 denominations.
The Catholic Church has been a driving force behind some of the major events in world history, including the Christianization of the West and Latin America, the spread of literacy and the founding of universities, hospitals, the Western tradition of monasticism, the development of art and music, literature, architecture, contributions to the scientific method, just war theory, and trial by jury. It has played a powerful role in world affairs, including the Reconquista, the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Investiture Controversy, the establishment of the Holy Roman Empire, and the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe in the late twentieth century.
Roman Catholic Apostolic Church and Orthodox Church (1054–Present):
The Eastern-Western Schism, Great Schism or Schism of 1054, known in Western historiography as the Eastern Schism, was the event that, breaking the unity of what was the state Church of the Roman Empire based on the pentarchy, divided Chalcedonian Christianity between the Catholic Church in the West and the Orthodox Church in the East. Although 1054 is usually indicated as the year of the schism, it was in fact the result of a long period of progressive theological and political estrangement between the two ecclesiastical branches that subsists to the present day.
A series of ecclesiastical and theological differences between the Greek East and the Latin West preceded the formal break that occurred in 1054. These included the Procession of the Holy Spirit ('Filioque), whether leavened or unleavened bread should be used in the Eucharist, the claim of the Bishop of Rome to universal jurisdiction, and the place of the See of Constantinople in relation to the pentarchy.
Anglican Church (1534 to Present):
The Anglican Communion is a relatively recent concept. Since the Church of England (which until the twentieth century included the Church in Wales) broke its communion with Catholicism during the reign of Henry VIII, it has thought of itself not as a new foundation, but as a reformed continuation of the old "English Church" and reaffirmed the rights of that Church. But such a phenomenon was for quite some time something distinctly local. Thus, the only members of what we now know as the Anglican Communion in the mid-eighteenth century were the Church of England, its closely allied sister Church, the Church of Ireland (which also broke with the pope under Henry VIII), and the Scottish Episcopal Church.
Old Catholic Church (1870 to Present):
The Old Catholic Church or Old Catholic is a group of Christian Churches that separated from the Roman Catholic Apostolic Church in the 19th century, because of the dogma of Papal Infallibility, which the Roman Catholic Apostolic Church considers the infallibility of the Pope as an effect of a special assistance that God would give to the Roman Pontiff when he proposes to define as "divinely revealed" a certain doctrine on faith or morality.
Currently, the Old Catholic Churches of the different countries are grouped in the Union of Utrecht and are in full communion with the Anglican Churches. However, as a consequence of the ordination of women and the blessing of same-sex couples, some members such as the Polish National Church and the Nordic Catholic Church, formed the so-called Union of Scranton.
Liberal Catholic Church (1916 to Present):
The founding Bishop of the Liberal Catholic Church in England was James I. Wedgwood, formerly a Priest of the Anglican Church, and was ordained as a Priest of the Liberal Catholic Church on July 22, 1913 by Arnold Harris Mathew. Archbishop Mathew was a Priest who had abdicated as a Roman Catholic and had been consecrated by Archbishop Gerardus Gul of Utrecht on April 28, 1908 and nominated as the first Bishop of the Old Catholic Church in England. Thus the Liberal Catholic Church traces its apostolic succession back to Rome.
Wedgwood was consecrated to the episcopate on 13 February 1916 by Bishop Frederick Samuel Willoughby (who had been consecrated by Bishop Mathew), and began the organisation that later became the Liberal Catholic Church, of which Wedgwood was to become the first Presiding Bishop. Bishop Wedgwood published articles on ceremonial work. These interested Charles Webster Leadbeater, a claimed clairvoyant and Anglican priest who was consecrated as a Liberal Catholic Bishop in 1916. C. W Leadbeater became the second Presiding Bishop.
Bonn Agreement (1931):
Old Catholics were actively interested in Christian unity from their very beginnings, especially with Anglicans and Orthodox. In the Bonn Agreement of 1931, Anglicans and Old Catholics agreed to intercommunion, without requiring mutual acceptance of all doctrinal positions and all liturgical or devotional practices.
Father Johnny (2019 to Present):
Father Johnny, previously a Priest of the Liberal Catholic Church, was ordained on July 1, 2018 by Archbishop Miguel Ángel Batet, in the city of Rosario, Santa Fe.
Father Johnny began his pastoral work in the city of Capilla del Monte, Córdoba, in the Liberal Catholic Church, in charge of the "San Gabriel Arcángel" Chapel and the "San Albano" publishing house, an organization of said Church, from which he became independent in 2019.
Currently, Father Johnny develops and grows as an independent priest open to all, since "through faith, we are all children of the same God", maintaining the tradition and the priestly lineage but at the same time, adapting to current times and the real and immediate needs of the people.
On the 1st Sunday of Advent 2019 (1st December) Father Johnny celebrates his first Eucharist as an independent priest.
Brief Chronology of Events.
Born in England on 24 May 1883, at 31 Queen Anne Street, Marylebone, London, James Ingall Wedgwood was a member of the eminent pottery family. He was the son of Alfred Allen Wedgwood (1842-1892) and Margaret Rosena Ingall (1854-1922).
Wedgwood was the great-great-grandson of the potter Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795), and the grandson of the spiritualist Hensleigh Wedgwood (1803-1891), and the great-nephew of Charles Darwin (1809-1882).
1916:
BISHOP JAMES WEDGWOOD FOUNDS "THE LIBERAL CATHOLIC CHURCH" IN LONDON, ENGLAND, WHICH DERIVES ITS ORDERS FROM THE OLD CATHOLIC CHURCH OF HOLLAND, WHICH IN TURN HAD BECOME INDEPENDENT FROM THE ROMAN CATHOLIC APOSTOLIC CHURCH IN 1870.
1927:
SEPTEMBER 24: THE LIBERAL CATHOLIC CHURCH ARRIVES FOR THE FIRST TIME IN ARGENTINA (CITY OF ROSARIO - SANTA FE) WITH THE HELP OF FATHER ENRIQUE GOSSWEILER, WHO WAS ORDAINED PRIEST BY BISHOP JAMES INGALL WEDGWOOD, ON AUGUST 28, IN THE CITY OF HUIZEN, NETHERLANDS. FATHER GOSSWEILER WOULD LATER BECOME THE FIRST LIBERAL CATHOLIC BISHOP OF ARGENTINA.
2017:
MARCH 15: THEN ACOLYTE BROTHER IVÁN J. MUZZIO BEGINS THE MISSION (LATER ON THE CHAPEL) SAN GABRIEL ARCHANGEL OF THE LIBERAL CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE TOWN OF CAPILLA DEL MONTE, CÓRDOBA, ARGENTINA. HE SERVES AS A CLERGYMAN IN CHARGE OF THE MISSION, EDITOR IN CHARGE OF THE MAGAZINE "EL CÁLIZ" FOR THE ENTIRE SPANISH-SPEAKING CHURCH IN LATIN AMERICA AND IN CHARGE OF THE PUBLISHING HOUSE "ST. ALBAN", AN ORGANIZATION OF SAID CHURCH.
2018:
JULY 1: THE (DEACON) REVEREND IVÁN J. MUZZIO (Johnny) IS ORDAINED PRIEST BY THE ARCHBISHOP OF ARGENTINA AND URUGUAY, MONSIGNOR MIGUEL BATET, IN THE SAN FRANCISCO CATHEDRAL OF THE LIBERAL CATHOLIC CHURCH, IN THE CITY OF ROSARIO, SANTA FE.
2019:
OCTOBER 25: FATHER JOHNNY DISASSOCIATES HIMSELF FROM THE LIBERAL CATHOLIC CHURCH.
DECEMBER 1: FATHER JOHNNY START CARRYING OUT HIS MINISTRY IN A COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT MANNER.
What does the Bible say about the form of church government?
The Lord was very clear in His Word about the way He desires His church on this earth to be led and organized. First, Christ is the head of the church and its supreme authority (Ephesians 1:22; 4:15; Colossians 1:18). Second, the local church is to be autonomous, free from any external authority or control, entitled to self-government and free from interference from any hierarchy of individuals or organizations (Titus 1:5). Third, the church is to be governed by spiritual leadership, composed of two main ministries: elders and deacons.
The "elders" were a group of leaders among the Israelites from the time of Moses. We find them making political decisions (2 Samuel 5:3; 2 Samuel 17:4,15), later in history advising the king (1 Kings 20:7) and representing the people in spiritual matters (Exodus 7:1; 24:1, 9; Numbers 11:16, 24-25). The first Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, used the Greek word presbyteros for "elder." This is the same Greek word used in the New Testament that is also translated "elder."
The New Testament mentions elders who took on leadership roles in the Church several times (Acts 14:23; 15:2; 20:17; Titus 1:5; James 5:14) and apparently every Church had more than one, because the word is usually found in the plural. The only exceptions are cases where an elder is mentioned in the singular for a particular reason (1 Timothy 5:1; 1 Timothy 5:19). In the Jerusalem Church, they were part of the leadership along with the apostles (Acts 15:2-16:4).
The position of elder appears to have been the same as the position of episkopos, translated "overseer" or "bishop" (Acts 11:30; 1 Timothy 5:17). The term "elder" may refer to the dignity of the ministry, while the term "bishop or overseer" denotes its authority and duties (1 Peter 2:25; 5:1,2,4). In Philippians 1:1, Paul greets bishops and deacons but does not mention elders, probably because elders are bishops themselves. Similarly 1 Timothy 3:2, 8 mentions qualifications for bishops and deacons but not for elders for the same reason. Titus 1:5 and 1:7 also seem to tie these two terms into one.
The position of "deacon" from the word diakonos, meaning "servant," was one of service leadership to the Church. Deacons are separate from elders, while having qualifications that are in many ways similar to those of elders (1 Timothy 3:8-13). Deacons assist the Church in whatever way is needed, as recorded in Acts chapter 6.
Regarding the word "pastor," in relation to a human leader of a Church, it is found only once in the New Testament in Ephesians 4:11, "And He gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers." Most associate the two terms "pastors and teachers" as if referring to a single individual who has both characteristics. It is likely that the term pastor-teacher refers to the "spiritual leader of a particular Church."
It would seem from the above passages that there has always been a plurality of elders, but this does not deny that God endows some particular elders with the gift of teaching, while others with the gift of administration, prayer, etc. (Romans 12:3-8; Ephesians 4:11), any more than it denies that He calls them to the ministry in which they will use these gifts (Acts 13:1). Thus, one elder may emerge as a "pastor," another may do most of the visiting of the members because he has the gift of compassion, another may "lead" in the sense of handling organizational details, etc. Many churches that are organized with the administration of a pastor and a deacon perform the functions of a plurality of elders in that they share the burden of ministry and work together in making some decisions. Likewise, you will find in Scripture that there was much congregational participation in decisions as well. Therefore, a "dictatorial" leader who makes decisions (whether he is called an elder, bishop, or pastor) is not biblical (Acts 1:23, 26; 6:3, 5; 15:22, 30; 2 Corinthians 8:19). The same is true of a church governed by the congregation, which does not give importance to the participation of elders or church leaders.
In summary, the Bible teaches a leadership consisting of a plurality of elders (bishops/overseers), along with a group of deacons who work as servants of the Church. But it is not contrary to the plurality of elders to have one of these elders serve in a larger "pastoral" ministry. God calls some as "pastors/teachers" (just as He called some to be missionaries in Acts 13) and gave them as gifts to the Church (Ephesians 4:11). Therefore, a Church may have many elders, but not all elders are called to serve in pastoral ministry. But, as part of the elders, the pastor or "teacher-elder" does not have more decision-making authority than any other elder.