Releasing the Laity

One of the courses I teach at the seminary goes by the clumsy title of “Developing Lay Leadership in the Congregation.” I think it’s one of the most important courses I teach, though I’m frustrated that I’ve not found the best way to teach this one. I think it’s important because the future of the viability of the congregation as church lies with reclaiming a “theology of the laity,” to use Findley Edge’s term from the Church Renewal movement.

Evidence of such a theological movement abounds. Programs designed to involve lay congregational members (and one can argue with how theologically appropriate it is to use the term “layperson” in the broader context of Christian vocation) continue to appear (The Equipping Church, Stephen Ministries, etc.). One of the most frequent calls I get from pastors and congregational staff is about how to get lay ministry programs started at their congregations. Sadly, when the idea of “what it takes” dawns on them, they tend to lose their enthusiasm. It takes a lot of work, commitment to change, and a whole different way to go about “doing church.” (It’s been interesting to observe that the people who get most excited and worked up in the course are laypersons from congregations—much more so than seminarians and pastors in the course. What does that say, I wonder?)

Author and media specialist Bill Kinnon, in his blog, Achievable Ends, talks about the issue of the laity in an imaginative post he calls “The People formerly known as The Congregation.” Worth reading—it packs a punch.