Lay ministry is a term used for ministers of faiths in Christian denominations who are not ordained in their faith tradition. Lay ministers are people who are elected by the church, full-time or part-time. They may have theological degrees and training, which may be required in certain instances, but not all lay ministries require this qualification. Lay ministers are generally chosen in small communities where it is difficult to find professional clergy to serve or serve in roles in which lay ministers are appropriate to fulfill the pastoral duties (ex: a Catholic hospital chaplain does not have to be an ordained priest). In most Protestant churches, deacons, Sunday School teachers, youth ministers, and praise teams are considered lay ministry positions.
Role
The lay ministry's role and importance varies, depending on confession and regional situation:
Examples
The
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 1966 as the joint National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and United States Catholic Conference (US ...
uses the term
Lay ecclesial ministry
Lay ecclesial ministry is the term adopted by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to identify the relatively new category of pastoral ministers in the Catholic Church who serve the Church but are not ordained. Lay ecclesial ministers ...
for a category of non-ordained (non-priest) pastoral ministers.
The idea of volunteer, unpaid leadership and service is very important in
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...
. Ordinary church members may receive "callings" to serve in any number of positions, from leadership and administration to teaching sunday school classes for adults or for children. Some of the leadership positions (e.g. bishop) require ordination to the priesthood, and all worthy male members are ordained to the priesthood and thus have the authority necessary to serve in any ecclesiastical position.
Some of the general global church leadership positions (e.g. apostle) require full-time service; in those positions, a relatively small stipend is provided for them to support themselves.
See also
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Laity
In religious organizations, the laity () consists of all members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-ordained members of religious orders, e.g. a nun or a lay brother.
In both religious and wider secular usage, a layperson ...
External links
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References
Christian terminology
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