Lay ecclesial ministry is the term adopted to identify the relatively new category of pastoral ministers in the Catholic Church who serve the Church but are not ordained. Lay ecclesial ministers are coworkers with the bishop alongside priests and deacons. In other contexts, these may be known as “lay pastoral workers”, “pastoral assistants”, etc.
Prior to and since the Second Vatican Council, several ministries that had for a time been retained by the presbyterate (priests) were returned to the laity, and several new forms of ministry emerged. The burgeoning awareness of the vocation of the laity as apostles to the secular world and stewards of the Church’s mission as an evangelizer has given rise to the popular term “lay ministry” to refer to the active vocation of all the baptized. This general ministry of the laity has at times also been called the “lay apostolate” and the “lay vocation”. Included in this general lay ministry are several specific ministries designed to support the Church community, such as lector/reader, extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, catechist, sponsor/godparent, spouse, parent, etc.
In addition to this general lay ministry, there are a number of non-ordained people who have undertaken roles, that immediately prior to Vatican II belonged entirely to the ordained, including parish pastoral and catechetical staff, hospital and prison chaplains, campus ministers, and many other diocesan leadership roles. Today, even the Roman Curia includes a small number of lay ecclesial ministers. Lay ecclesial ministry includes a broad category rather than a specific job title. It has been adopted by the Church to “establish a framework to indicate what is common to many roles and responsibilities undertaken by lay persons, for example, Pastoral Coordinator or Moderator of a Parish, Pastoral Associate, Director of Religious Education, Youth Minister, Campus Minister, Hospital Chaplain.”
Accordingly, this ecclesial ministry includes:
- Authorization of the hierarchy to serve publicly in the local Church
- Leadership in a particular area of ministry
- Close mutual collaboration with the pastoral ministry of bishops, priests, and deacons
Preparation and formation appropriate to the level of responsibilities that are assigned to them including; human, spiritual, pastoral, and theological dimensions. While many bishops are quick to note that this does not represent a new level of the hierarchy, the Church has observed a clear differentiation between Lay Ecclesial Ministry and the general ministry of the laity. Clearly members of the laity, lay ecclesial ministers, serve as ecclesial ministers in the same vocation as bishops, priests, deacons, and theologians. Programs for the theological education and pastoral formation of laypersons, for the purpose in engaging in full-time and often lifelong ministry in the Church, have grown exponentially in the last four decades.
In the year 2021, in the parish of Katukurunda, Moratuwa, several areas for lay ministry were identified by the Parish Priest and it was discussed at the Daham Pasal teachers’ meetings to be implemented in a preliminary way within the Daham Pasal structure to train students first as a preparatory stage to gradually realize this goal in the long run at the level of the adults in the parish. The Feast of the Pentecost was chosen to have this day of the Lay Ministries, yet due to the pandemic it could not be realized. The ten areas for possible lay ministries were identified as follows:
- Ministers of Sacred Music
- Ministers of Arrangements
- Ministers of Proclamation
- Ministers of Sacristy and Serving
- Ministers of Prayer and Announcing
- Ministers of Collecting and Distributing
- Ministers of Physical Cleanliness
- Ministers of Health and Security
- Ministers of Welcoming and Ushering
- Ministers of Operations and Maintenance
These ten Lay Ministries can give the Parish Priest a well-rounded pastoral team who can efficiently organize, run, and maintain the parish in the most effective and efficient manner. This is the dream awaiting to be realized in this parish one day if at all it is to overcome its present ordeal. For further information of these proposed lay ministries go to Daham Pasala Regular Program on Sundays under the heading The Students’ Record Book under the Catechism Tab, also refer the heading Daham Pasala Administrative Structure under the Catechism Tab.
