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Posted Wednesday June 14, 2006 at 9:12 a.m. CDT
Lay ministers applaud bishops' statement on their ministry By Dennis Sadowski
Catholic News Service
Cleveland When the U.S. bishops issued their document on lay ecclesial ministers last November, it sent a message to the nearly 31,000 professionals and another 2,100 volunteers in lay parish ministry that they play an important role in the work of the church. Feelings of affirmation, satisfaction and gratefulness about the document were expressed widely by 200 lay ecclesial ministers who gathered in Cleveland June 1-4 for the 30th annual conference of the National Association for Lay Ministry. They discussed and analyzed the practical implications of the bishops' document, "Co-Workers in the Vineyard of the Lord," and what it means in their work at parishes across the country. "Lay ecclesial ministry has emerged and taken shape in our country through the working of the Holy Spirit," the document states. Karla Bellinger, pastoral minister at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Wadsworth, Ohio, said the document acknowledges the "validity" of the call of lay people to ministry within the church. "Perhaps the document will, in time, give a name and credibility to the role of lay ecclesial ministers," she said. Sister Florita Rodman, a Sister of Divine Providence who is resident pastoral minister at St. Helen Parish in Amory, Miss., appreciated affirmation of her work that covers everything a priest does except celebrate Mass and administer the sacraments. The document raises the "visibility of what we are doing" while acknowledging that lay ministry is here to stay, she said. "For the bishops to call us co-workers means a lot. For so long we were temporarily accepted as workers in the church," Sister Florita said. The document comes at a time when a study by the New York City-based National Pastoral Life Center found that paid lay parish ministers and volunteers who work in parish ministry at least 20 hours a week now outnumber priests in parish ministry. Lay ecclesial ministers have taken on roles once largely the domain of priests in areas such as sacramental preparation, religious education, and ministries serving the grieving, youth, the sick and homebound, the study by David DeLambo, associate director of pastoral planning for the Cleveland Diocese, found. The average parish has 1.6 paid lay ministers, he discovered. Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas of Tucson, Ariz., chairman of the bishops' Subcommittee on Lay Ministry, which wrote the document, told the lay ministers in his opening address that the bishops wanted to show appreciation for the "value and the contribution" of lay ecclesial ministers. "This document was meant to say they're appreciated, they make a difference and they're not going away," Kicanas later told the Catholic Universe Bulletin, the Cleveland diocesan newspaper. "Lay ecclesial ministers are a full flowering of our mission of communion in the church." He said the bishops wanted the document, three years in the making, to offer insight into the theology of vocation and how it applies just as much to lay ecclesial ministers as it does to men called to ordination. Kathleen Heffern, director of the Office of Church Ministry in the Diocese of Buffalo, N.Y., said laypeople are called by the Second Vatican Council to help transform the world. "One of their important responsibilities is transforming the world according to the values of the kingdom," she said. At the same time, she added, lay ecclesial ministers are called to help the people in the pews to understand that lay leadership in all its forms is a calling that stems from baptism. "So those who are called to that role have a responsibility to encourage the vocation of the laity in the world ... to work for justice," she said. The 67-page document covers the discernment of lay people to ministry and outlines the importance of the proper formation of lay ecclesial ministers. Kicanas explained that the recognition of the importance of lay ecclesial ministers requires that their formation parallels that for priests and deacons and must cover human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral needs. Discussions during workshops delved into discernment, developing adequate training programs for lay ecclesial ministers in dioceses where none exist, and the certification of candidates for ministry positions. While no definitive formation process is spelled out in the document, it outlines areas of preparation that must be put into place. Conference round-table discussions also looked at professional concerns related to salaries, working arrangements and the portability of benefits across diocesan lines. Kicanas said the document addresses such concerns by stressing that dioceses institute "best practices" in consultation with management experts. "It will help clergy and lay ecclesial ministers to establish workplaces that reflect the values we profess," he said. June 12, 2006, National Catholic Reporter | 
