Lay preacher is a preacher or a religious proclaimer who is not a formally ordained cleric and who does not hold a formal university degree in

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...

. Lay preaching varies in importance between religions and their sects. Although lay preachers in many

Christian denomination A Christian denomination is a distinct Religion, religious body within Christianity that comprises all Church (congregation), church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadersh ...

s may be accorded titles such as

Reverend The Reverend is an honorific style most often placed before the names of Christian clergy and ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and church traditions. ''The Reverend'' is correctly ...

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 ...

as a courtesy by people – including those in their congregation – it is only once a priest, cleric, minister or reverend has been

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

that he/she can correctly adopt that title. Movements which encourage lay preachership include: * Awakening (Lutheran movement, especially see Hans Nielsen Hauge,

Paavo Ruotsalainen Paavo Heikki Ruotsalainen (; born Påhl Henrik; 9 July 1777 – 27 January 1852) was a Finnish farmer and lay preacher who became the leader of the revivalist Awakening religious movement in Finland. Religious views Born in Tölvänniemi (now a ...

, and lay preachers organized by

Lars Levi Laestadius Lars Levi Laestadius (; 10 January 1800 – 21 February 1861) was a Swedish Sami pastor and administrator of the Swedish state Lutheran church in Lapland who founded the Laestadian pietist revival movement to help his largely Sami congregati ...

) * Methodist local preacher * Lay speaker (United Methodist Church) * Lay reader (Anglican communion) * Plymouth Brethren *

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 ...

(Catholic), see also

Bo Sanchez Eugenio Isabelo Tomas Reyes Sanchez Jr. (born July 11, 1966), or widely known as Bo Sanchez, is a Filipino author, entrepreneur, Catholic lay preacher, motivational speaker and minister. He is known as the "Preacher in Blue Jeans" and the fou ...

and

Hippolytus Guarinonius Hippolytus Guarinonius (18 November 1571 – 31 May 1654) was a Tridentine physician and polymath who spent most of his life in Hall in Tirol. He represented a militant strand of Catholicism and was instrumental in the building of the St Charles ...

* United Reformed Church (England) * Unitarian & Free Christian Accredited Lay Preacher (Great Britain)

References

Religious occupations Religious terminology Christian religious leaders {{reli-stub

See also

References