The Ministry of Lay Pastor
Overview
The ministry of Lay Pastor has been a valued specified ministry, normally stipended and full time. It is a pastoral ministry within a local or particular setting. Lay Pastors continue to serve as a significant and valued part of the life of the church in NSW-ACT. However, with the new and flexible Ministry of Pastor, the Ministry of Lay Pastor is now closed to new applications. Only those who applied to Candidate before the end of 2007 are eligible to become Lay Pastors under the old system. Those who are already Lay Pastors are continuing to serve the Church in Placements.
The ministry of Lay Pastor
- A Lay Pastor candidate will have accumulated life experience that helps equip them for ministry within the local Christian community a Lay Pastor fulfils a very similar role to a Minister of the Word. However they are lay people, commissioned as Lay Pastors when they commence an approved placement or other ministry position recognised by a Presbytery.
- As lay people, Lay Pastors must still receive permission from the Presbytery in which they are placed to conduct the sacraments.
- Lay Pastors have the same stipend and conditions as Ministers of the Word, except that superanuation is offered under a lay staff scheme.
The rest of this section of the website will contain information about the Specified Lay Ministry of Lay Pastor. (Note that the new Ministry of Pastor has its own major section of the website.)
Synod of NSW-ACT Lay Pastors' Association
The Lay Pastors' Association came together informally at the 2008 Lay Ministry In-service (Seeds of Hope Conference) and will meet again in May 2009.
The Association's primary purpose is to gather and network Lay Pastors, Candidates and people who have previously served as Lay Pastors for mutual encouragement and accountability.
In the NSW-ACT Synod, there are currently 21 Lay Pastors and 7 Candidates. Recently, a couple of former Lay Pastors have transitioned to Ordination as Ministers of the Word or Deacon.
For more information, please call the ELM staff.
Annual In-service
Lay Pastors and Candidates gather annually for an In-service week for Formation and Networking.
The 2010 In-Service will be held in Bathurst from Monday 24th to Friday 28th May. It is compulsory for all serving Lay Pastors. More information will be available about this in November.
In the meantime, you can look at the outline from the last In-service at:http://www.elm.org.au/lay-ministry-is-sched/
Transition to Ordination
The 11th Assembly recognised that there may be people who are currently serving in one of the Lay Specified Ministries of the Lay Pastor, Community Minister or Youth Worker who have a call to the ordained ministry. The time of transition to the ministry of Pastor and the discontinuation of these other lay Specified Ministries provides an opportunity for the person and the Church to explore that call. Lay Pastors considering applying to Tranistion should contact their Presbytery immediately, as applications close at the end of 2009.
http://assembly.uca.org.au/images/stories/resources/MOP/moptransition08.pdf
Note: If you are considering applying to transition, ELM may be able to help you prepare your Statements on Prior Learning and Prior Experience for your Portfolio. Those who have attended Lay Ministry In-service should include details from the following:
