Reader Ministry is a preaching and teaching ministry. The Diocese of Oxford Handbook for Licensed Lay Ministry describes the duties of Licensed Lay Ministers as follows:-
a) To read the word of God
b) To preach
c) To read Morning and Evening Prayer (with the exception of the Absolution).
d) To administer the elements at the Holy Communion
e) To take the service of Holy Communion using Reserved Sacrament
f) To visit the sick; to read and pray with them
g) To teach in Sunday School and elsewhere, and generally to undertake such pastoral and educational work and to give such assistance to any minister as the bishop may direct
h) To conduct Funeral Services with the goodwill of the persons responsible
i) To publish Banns of Marriage at Morning and Evening Prayer, (subject to the conditions laid down in the Marriage Act 1949)
j) Take a service of dedication after a civil marriage
Our ministry can be summed up under the three headings of Preaching, Leading Worship and Pastoral Care, and as theologically articulate lay people in the workplace and in society we are regarded as an essential link between the world and the church. Usually we are based in the Parish or Benefice where we live and worship, but we can also be based in a hospital or prison or other institution where we act as chaplain or assistant chaplain.
In addition, many LLMs who are in full time employment find that they fulfil a very important mission/pastoral role at their places of work.
The following figures have been arrived at from responses to a detailed questionnaire sent to all LLMs in the Diocese of Oxford in February 2006 in order to answer the basic question:
“What Ministry do you – as an LLM - actually DO?”
It was undertaken for interest rather than water-tight research – so cannot be proven - but none-the-less gives an interesting indication of what is actually happening at grass-roots level.
There are 375 LLMs in active ministry in the Diocese and replies were received from 150 of them.
The chart below shows the percentages of the areas of Ministry in which LLMs are currently engaged. Where an LLM is engaged in more than one area of ministry – all areas in which they are engaged are recorded.
Points of interest
- 73% are engaged in formal Liturgy,
- 70.5% in total are engaged in Pastoral Care/Children and Youth work / Outreach and people on the fringe
- 20% are part of effective Ministry Teams – (so 80% are not!)
- 59% in total are engaged with the fringe/outreach/and activities and networks in the community – beyond the parish
- The percentage of LLMs explicitly engaged in Mission is low – though much more is implicit.
The Church
Beyond the Church
As Readers and Lay Ministers, we are committed to life long learning. To support this we are required to undertake Continuing Ministerial Education (CME) and a regular programme of CME is organised in the Diocese. Attendance at the annual LLM Forum, Annual Conference and LAMP group events (see Events page) are counted as CME and it should also be noted that all LLMs are welcome at any clergy events put on in Diocesan Church House. Additionally, if there are any other courses that an LLM wishes to attend, for example those organised by the College of Preachers and the Central Readers Council, there is money available to assist attendance and requests for this should be made to the Diocesan Advisor, Revd Jo Coney.
