Laity
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In religious organizations, the laity
consists of all members who are not a part of the clergy, whether they are or are not
members of religious institutes, for example a nun or lay brother.
In Christian
cultures, the term lay priest is sometimes used in the past to refer to
a secular priest, a diocesan priest who is not a member of a religious
institute. Terms such as lay priest, lay clergy and lay nun
were also once used in Buddhist cultures to indicate ordained persons who continued to live
in the wider community instead of retiring to a monastery.
In the context of specialized professions,
the term lay is often used to refer to those who are not members of that
profession.
The word lay derives from the
Anglo-French lai (from Late Latin
laicus, from the Greek
λαϊκός, laikos, of the people, from λαός, laos, the people at
large).
Christian
laity
Anglicanism
In Anglicanism, the term
"laity" refers to anyone who is not a bishop, priest, or deacon in the Church. In the Anglican
tradition, all baptized persons are expected to minister in Christ's name. The
orders of ministry are thus laymen, deacons, priests, and bishops.
The ministry of the laity is
"to represent Christ and his Church; to bear witness to him wherever they
may be; and, according to the gifts given them, to carry on Christ's work of
reconciliation in the world; and to take their place in the life, worship, and
governance of the Church".
Much of the ministry of the laity thus takes place outside official church
structures in homes, workplaces, schools, and so forth. Laymen also play
important roles in the structures of the church.
There are elected lay
representatives on the various governing bodies of churches in the Anglican communion. In the Church of England, these governing bodies range from a local Parochial
Church Council, through Deanery
Synods and Diocesan Synods. At the topmost level, the General Synod
includes a house of Laity. Likewise, in the Episcopal Church in the USA the General Convention includes four laymen from each diocese
in the House of Deputies, and each diocesan convention includes lay delegates
from the parishes. On the local parish level, laymen are elected to a
church council called a vestry which manages church finances and elects the parish rector.
Parish musicians, bookkeepers,
administrative assistants, sextons,
sacristans,
etc., are all roles normally filled by laymen. At higher levels, diocesan and
national offices rely on laymen in many important areas of responsibility.
Often specialized ministries as campus ministers, youth ministers, or hospital
chaplains are performed by laymen.
Laymen serve in worship services in
a number of important positions, including vergers, acolytes,
lectors,
intercessors,
ushers,
and so forth. Acolytes include torch bearers, crucifers,
thurifers,
and boat bearers.
Lectors read the lessons from the Bible appointed for the day (except for the
Gospel reading, which is read by a Deacon), and may also lead the Prayers of
the People.
Some specialized lay ministries
require special licensing by the bishop. Which ministries require a license varies
from province to province. In the Episcopal Church, there are six specialized
lay ministries requiring a license: Pastoral Leader, Worship Leader, Preacher,
Eucharistic Minister, Eucharistic Visitor, and Catechist.
Roman
Catholicism
The Second Vatican Council [1962–1965] devoted its decree on the apostolate of the
laity Apostolicam actuositatem and chapter IV of its dogmatic
constitution Lumen gentium to the laity in a sense narrower than that which is normal
in the Catholic Church. The normal definition of laity is that given in the Code of Canon Law:
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By divine institution, there are
among the Christian faithful in the Church sacred ministers who in law are
also called clerics; the other members of the Christian faithful are called
lay persons.
There are members of the Christian
faithful from both these groups who, through the profession of the
evangelical counsels by means of vows or other sacred bonds recognized and
sanctioned by the Church, are consecrated to God in their own special way and
contribute to the salvific mission of the Church; although their state does
not belong to the hierarchical structure of the Church, it nevertheless
belongs to its life and holiness.
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The narrower sense in which the
Second Vatican Council gave instruction concerning the laity is as follows:
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The term laity is here understood
to mean all the faithful except those in holy orders and those in the state
of religious life specially approved by the Church. These faithful are by
baptism made one body with Christ and are constituted among the People of
God; they are in their own way made sharers in the priestly, prophetical, and
kingly functions of Christ; and they carry out for their own part the mission
of the whole Christian people in the Church and in the world.
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In this narrower sense, the Council
taught that the laity's specific character is secularity: they are Christians
who live the life of Christ in the world. Their role is to sanctify the created
world by directing it to become more Christian in its structures and systems:
"the laity, by their very vocation, seek the kingdom of God by engaging in
temporal affairs and by ordering them according to the plan of God". The
laity are full members of the Church, fully share in Church's purpose of
sanctification, of "inner union of men with God", acting with freedom and personal responsibility and not as
mere agents of the hierarchy. Due to their baptism,
they are members of God's family, the Church, and they grow in intimate union
with God, "in" and "by means" of the world. It is not a
matter of departing from the world as the monks and the nuns do that they
sanctify themselves; it is precisely through the material world sanctified by
the coming of the God made flesh, i.e. made material, that they reach God.
Doctors, mothers of a family, farmers, bank tellers, drivers, by doing their
jobs in the world with a Christian spirit are already extending the Kingdom of
God. According to the repeated statements of Popes and lay Catholic leaders,
the laity should say "we are the Church," in the same way that the
saints said that "Christ lives in me."
Lay involvement takes diverse forms,
including participation in the life of the parish, confraternities,
lay apostolates, secular institutes, and lay ecclesial movements.
There are also lay ecclesiastical
ministries, and where there is a priest shortage,
lay people have to take on some functions previously performed by priests.
Methodist
lay preacher
A very early tradition of preaching
in the Wesleyan / Methodist churches was for a lay preacher to be appointed to
lead services of worship and preach in a group (called a 'circuit') of meeting
places or churches. The lay preacher walked or rode on horseback in a
prescribed circuit of the preaching places according to an agreed pattern and
timing, and people came to the meetings. After the appointment of ministers and
pastors, this lay preaching tradition continued with local
preachers being appointed by individual
churches, and in turn approved and invited by nearby churches, as an adjunct to
the minister or during their planned absences.
In addition to being appointed by
members of their local churches, Local and Certified Lay Speakers of the United Methodist Church (more commonly in the United
States) attend a series of training sessions. These training sessions prepare
the individual to become a leader within the church. All individuals who are
full members of the church are laity, but some go on to become Lay Speakers.
Some preachers get their start as Lay Speakers.
In the Uniting
Church in Australia, that was constituted in part from
the Methodist Church, persons can be appointed:
- by the congregation as a Lay Preacher; and/or
- by the regional Presbytery to conduct Communion.
Presbyterianism
Presbyterians do not use the term
"lay". Thus the Church of Scotland has "Readers", men and women set apart by presbyteries to conduct public worship. This arises out of the belief in
the priesthood
of all believers. Ministers are officially 'teaching
elders' alongside the 'ruling elders' of the Kirk Session
and have equivalent status, regardless of any other office. In the Church of
Scotland, as the Established church in Scotland, this gives ruling elders in
congregations the same status as Queen's chaplains, professors of theology and
other highly qualified ministers. All are humble servants of the people in the
congregation and parish. Ministers are simply men and women whose gift is for
their role in teaching and possibly pastoral work. They are thus selected for
advanced theological education. All elders (teaching and ruling) in meetings of
Session, Presbytery, or Assembly are subject to the Moderator, who may or may
not be a minister but is always an elder.
The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints practices the principle of having a lay ministry.
Essentially all worthy male members above the age of 12 are ordained to an
office of the priesthood and hold
various positions in the church. With the exception of General Authorities, all leadership positions are temporary. Permanent
positions are only held by apostles and the First
Quorum of the Seventy. They are also unpaid positions,
and they are often called to these positions after a long secular career.
Buddhist
lay persons
In Buddhism,
a layperson is known as an upasaka (masc.) or upasika (fem.). Buddhist laypeople take refuge
in the Triple Gem (the Buddha,
his teaching,
and his community of noble disciples) and accept the Five Precepts
(or the Eight Precepts) as rules for conduct. Laymen and laywomen are two of
the "four assemblies" that comprise the Buddha's "Community of Disciples."
In Chinese Buddhism, there are
usually laypersons, who are depicted wearing a black robe and sometimes a brown
sash, denoting that they received the five precepts.
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