Lay reader

In Anglicanism, a licensed lay minister (LLM) or lay reader (in some jurisdictions simply reader) is a person authorised by a bishop to lead certain services of worship (or parts of the service), to preach and to carry out pastoral and teaching functions. They are formally trained and admitted to the office, but they remain part of the laity, not of the clergy. HistoryAncient office of readerFrom the third century the office of reader (or lector) became recognised as one of the minor orders of the clerical state. Candidates for ordained ministry (as deacons and priests) were first admitted to the sequence of minor orders, including that of lector or reader. The minor orders have been largely absent from the Anglican Church since the Reformation (with some localised exceptions) and in the Roman Catholic Church they have also been suppressed. However, the "ministry of reader" (in the Roman Catholic Church) and the office of reader or lay reader (in the Anglican Church) represent a continuation of the reader tradition. Modern revivalThe office of Reader has existed in its present form since 1866. Reader ministry was originally restricted to men only. The first female readers were lice