Total Ministry, also sometimes called Local Shared Ministry, Ministering Communities in Mission, Mutual Ministry, or Circular Ministry, is a style of

Christian ministry In Christianity, ministry is an activity carried out by Christians to express or spread their faith, the prototype being the Great Commission. The '' Encyclopedia of Christianity'' defines it as "carrying forth Christ's mission in the world", in ...

which empowers

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 ...

to take on roles traditionally given to

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

s, etc. The total ministry movement began in and has largely remained distinctively

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

. At the heart of the understanding of Total Ministry is the belief that through

baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...

all Christian people are gifted for mission and ministry within and for the Church. Many people are introduced to Total Ministry through workshops offered in their

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

or region, through spiritual direction or via retreat. The concept is widely credited with having originated with the apostle

Paul Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

, who is said to have commented that the church is a "body with many limbs and organs". This concept of the "

priesthood of all believers The priesthood of all believers or universal priesthood is a biblical principle in most Protestant branches of Christianity which is distinct from the institution of the ''ministerial'' priesthood ( holy orders) found in some other branches, incl ...

" has led to the development of new patterns of ministry including Total Ministry. More recently the re-discovery of the writings of Father

Roland Allen Roland Allen (29 December 1868 – 9 June 1947) was an English missionary to China sent by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG). Early life He was born in Bristol, England, the son of an Anglican priest; but was orphaned early in ...

, an Anglican missionary in China, has acted as a catalyst for the development of the ecclesiology. Ecclesiology

References

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