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Subdeacons marrying is the norm in many churches, esp. those of Byzantine tradition. It's no longer regarded as being by economy.
In countries and societies where Orthodoxy has special status governed by special laws, i.e., are "state religions," the clergy may be financed (or co-financed) by the state, but usually they are supported financially by donations of individual Orthodox Christian members.
The term "clergy " as generally used in the Orthodox Church applies to those who are members of the [[major orders]] and are ordained. Those who assist the clergy in the services of the church and are tonsured are referred to as members of the [[minor orders]].
Those of the major orders are the [[bishop]]s, [[priest]]s, and [[deacon]]s, the same offices identified in the [[New Testament]] and found in the early church. Bishops include [[archbishop]]s, [[metropolitan]]s, and [[patriarch]]s. Priests (also called presbyters or elders) include archpriests, protopresbyters, [[hieromonk]]s (priest-monks) and [[archimandrite]]s (senior hieromonks). Deacons also include hierodeacons (deacon-monks), archdeacons, and protodeacons.
Bishops are usually drawn from the ranks of the [[monk]]s and are required to be celibate. A non-monastic priest may be [[ordination|ordained]] to the [[episcopate]] if he no longer lives with his wife (following Canon XII of the [[Quinisext Council]]). In contemporary usage such a non-[[monasticism|monastic]] priest is usually [[tonsure]]d to the monastic state at some point prior to his [[consecration of a bishop|consecration]] to the episcopacy. Priests , deacons, and deacons subdeacons may be married, provided that they are married before their ordination to the diaconatesubdiaconate (though in practice subdeacons in many places do marry after ordination). If they are later divorced and then desire to remarry, they are not permitted to remarry unless they first leave the clergy and return to lay status. All Orthodox clergy must be male.
There are records of deaconesses [[deaconess]]es in the [[New Testament]] and in the early churchChurch until the [[fall of Constantinople]]. The consensus today is that Many Church historians consider this office was never equivalent to that of deacon, but had separate responsibilities. More recent research suggests female deacons exercised a similar role to male deacons in at least some places. The ancient office of deaconess was subsumed by is still present in various jurisdictions of the Orthodox Church and is often the immediate precursor to the office of [[abbess]].
Those in the minor orders are subdeacons and readers who are tonsured and attendants (acolytes). These The latter two of these offices are not restricted from marriage.
The typical progression of ordination is: reader, subdeacon, deacon, priest, bishop. Each ordination must take place in that order, although it is possible to ordain a layman to all five offices in the course of three days.
The organization of the Orthodox Church is both hierarchical and conciliar (or synodal). It is hierarchical in that priests, deacons, and laymen are expected to follow their bishop and to do nothing without their bishop, in that Jesus Christ is the head of every bishop. It is conciliar or synodal in that there is no single superior position whom all the bishops follow, but rather the bishops meet together in [[synod]]s or [[synod|council]]s and reach binding agreements through consensus. A bishop, even the patriarch, is bound to obey the decisions of his synod. A council with representatives from all the churches is an [[ecumenical council]].
Although Orthodox clergy are given considerable honor by the Orthodox Church, each ordination is also viewed as a kind of [[martyr]]dom. The Orthodox cleric agrees to be a servant of both Jesus Christ and of the people of the church; many of the [[vestment]]s are intended to remind him of this. Much is expected of the clergy, both practically and spiritually; consequently, they also have a special place in the litanies that are prayed, asking God to have mercy on them.
There is no set universal rule for the training of clergy, and there is some variation among the local churchesfrom place to place. Traditionally, candidates for the priesthood either reside with their bishops for a certain period and are given personal instruction by him, or, if they are monks, receive instruction by obedience to their monastic superiors. Modern practice in most places is for them to be trained at a [[seminary]], which may or may not be associated with a [[monastery]]. The course of study generally runs for about three years and an undergraduate degree is often a requirement for admission. Instruction is given in dogmatics, theology, ecclesiastical history, canon law, liturgics, Biblical studies, and other subjects, although emphasis varies from institution to institution. Graduation from a seminary is no guarantee of ordination, however; this is solely at the discretion of the [[diocese|diocesan]] bishop. Requirements for the training of those who intend to remain in the diaconate are often less rigorous than for priests.
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