lay ministers
Non-ordained church leaders
Lay ministers are church members who perform religious duties without being ordained clergy.
They may lead prayers, read scripture, distribute communion, visit the sick, or assist with services.
The term appears across Christian denominations, though specific roles and responsibilities vary: The lay ministers helped with Sunday's baptism ceremony.
Unlike priests or pastors, lay ministers typically serve part-time and without formal theological training.
- deaconJunior clergy member
- elderSenior figure of authority
- lay preacherUnordained person delivering sermons
- lectorOne who recites aloud
- catechistReligious doctrine instructor
Sunday school · Bible study · eucharistic · parish · parish council · congregation · volunteer · prayer group · ordained · pulpit · vestments · communion · communion service · service · pastoral · pastoral care · reader · usher
- Catholic ChurchVatican, papacy, cardinals, popes, papal
- CatholicismVatican, cardinals, pope, Holy Communion, popes
- church rolesbishop, deacons, priest, pastor, lay readers
- elder ministryvisitation, home visits, sick visits, hospice visits, bereavement support
- Catholic GroupsJesuits, Franciscans, Dominicans, Benedictines, Carmelites
- Catholicsparishioners, parishioner, communicant, archbishops, lapsed Catholic
lay ministerschurch hierarchy
Ranked religious leadership structure
bishops · archbishops · cardinals · prelates · holy orders
minister, lays, laying, layman, laymen, laywoman, laywomen, layperson, laypeople