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“Lay ministry” and “ministry of the laity” – what’s
the difference?
What is your understanding of your ministry? Write to pthorp.ed@votf.org.
“Easy Essay on the Laity” – The Catholic-Labor Network at
www.catholiclabor.org is carrying the text below. It was originally published
in Initiatives, National
Center for the Laity newsletter .
All Christians are called to ministry of the laity; not all, however, are
invited to lay ministry. Lay ministry is conferred by commission; ministry
of the laity begins at baptism.
The field for the ministry of the laity is society; lay ministry, however,
finds its place in the Church.
The locations for lay ministers are sacristy, sanctuary, vestibule; the areas
for the ministry of the laity are job, family and neighborhood.
Lay ministers help proclaim God’s word; ministry of the laity shows
how to live it. Lay ministers help distribute the Body of Christ; ministry
of the laity helps us to become it.
Upon leaving the church [building], lay ministers start exercising the ministry
of the laity.
You don’t have to be a doctor to be concerned about health or a lawyer
to be concerned about the law. So too, you don’t have to be a lay minister
to be involved in ministry of the laity. Msgr. Walter Niebrzydowski, New York,
NY
More on lay ministries
.
National Catholic Reporter June 15: To read the bishops’ statement
on lay ministries “Co-Workers in the Vineyard of the Lord” (November
2005) click here. (you can also order copies at
this link); for “Theologian calls bishops’ lay ministry doctrine
best in field”, click
here.
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