Total Ministry fulfils the dream of how church might be. This dream was expressed in the 1980s by Bishop Wesley Frensdorff, Bishop of Nevada, 1972-1985:
Let us dream of a church in which all members know surely and simply God's great love, and each is certain that in the divine heart we are all known by name... Let us dream of a church in which the sacraments, free from captivity by a professional elite, are available in every congregation regardless of size, culture, location or budget. In which every congregation is free to call forth from its midst priests and deacons, sure in the knowledge that training and support services are available to back them up... Let us dream of a church with a radically renewed concept and practice of ministry and a primitive understanding of the ordained offices. Where there is no clerical status and no classes of Christians, but all know themselves to be part of the laos - the holy people of God. A ministering community rather than a community gathered around a minister...By permission from Reshaping Ministry: Essays in Memory of Wesley Frensdorff, edited by Josephine Borgeson and Lynne Wilson, Jethro Publications, Arvada, CO, 1990