When Scullin retired in 1935, Forde contested the leadership ballot but was defeated by one vote by John Curtin, mainly because he had supported Scullin's economic policies.
Forde was a loyal deputy, and in 1941 when Labor returned to power he became Minister for the Army, a vital role in wartime.
In 1945 Curtin died, and as Deputy Leader Forde was commissioned by the Governor-General as Prime Minister on 6 July.
Ministry is first and foremost the ministry of proclamation, the concrete speaking of the Word of God, doing of the sacramental deed, in the living present.
The primary paradigm for ministry is absolution-present-tense, I-to-you declaration in Word and sacrament authorized by the triune God: “I declare unto you the gracious forgiveness of all your sins in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” That is the culmination of all we have been saying.
Where the public office of ministry is understood as the doing of the divine deed in the living present, however, it is possible to recover a “high” doctrine of ministry without succumbing to mere occasional functionalism on the one hand or an ontologizing view of holy orders on the other.
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