Bishop Smith to commission 11 women, one man for service as lay ecclesial ministers in Church

[didymus]

dioceseoftrenton.org/diocese/pressreleases_detail.asp?prid=1891

Bishop Smith to commission 11 women, one man for service as lay ecclesial ministers in Church

Bishop John M. Smith of the Diocese of Trenton will commission 12 lay ecclesial ministers Dec. 14 in St. Mary Cathedral, Trenton.

Hailing from Burlington, Mercer, Monmouth and Ocean Counties, the candidates have completed the requirements of the diocese’s Institute for Lay Ecclesial Ministry, a rigorous three-year program of education, spiritual formation, pastoral skills development and practical experience. The commissioning qualifies the candidates for professional positions of leadership in the Church.

What is an ecclesial minister? Are any other dioceses doing this or is it Bishop Smith’s innovation?

 

[KathleenElsie]

Identity as a lay ecclesial minister is partly a question of personal awareness and intentionality and partly a matter of recognition by official church authority. The two dimensions must converge. In our project and in this report, “lay ecclesial minister” has come to mean the following:

• A fully initiated lay member of the Christian faithful (including vowed religious) who is responding to the empowerment and gifts of the Holy Spirit received in baptism and confirmation, which enable one to share in some form of ministry
• One who responds to a call or invitation to participate in ministry and who has prepared through a process of prayerful discernment
• One who has received the necessary formation, education, and training to function competently within the given area of ministry
• One who intentionally brings personal competencies and gifts to serve the Church’s mission through a specific ministry of ecclesial leadership and who does so with community recognition and support
• One to whom a formal and public role in ministry has been entrusted or upon whom an office has been conferred by competent ecclesiastical authority
• One who has been installed in a ministry through the authority of the bishop or his representative, perhaps using a public ritual
• One who commits to performing the duties of a ministry in a stable manner
• A paid staff person (full- or part-time) or a volunteer who has responsibility and the necessary authority for institutional leadership in a particular area of ministry

We propose that the characteristics enumerated above depict our vision of the lay ecclesial minister; in other words, it is highly desirable that each of them be present to some degree in every minister. We do not consider it our responsibility to develop an exhaustive list of persons who fit into the category of “lay ecclesial minister.” The needs of the local church as well as the perspective and authority of its diocesan bishop are essential to determining this.

 

[nobeerinheaven]

Words and phrases that stand out as this being a silly baby-boomer pat on the back: empowerment, invitation to participate, community recognition and support, etc.

 

[mystified]

I think the word “commission” is key here. A commission can be an indefinite period of time or have a set beginning and end.

Commissioning someone in a position of lay ministry is a way of presenting them as having a modicum of authority, be it a reader at Mass, an usher, president of the parish council, etc.

I was once commissioned as a lay chaplain for a large by remote youth camp where it would have been difficult to have a priest available. The position was more as a “senior counselor” who also conducted paraliturgical worship services, making very clear that I was not a priest or deacon, and that the service was NOT a Mass and that there would be no Communion. Shorts and T-shirt en lieu of any semblance of “vestments” emphasized this point.

 

[KathleenElsie]

Words and phrases that stand out as this being a silly baby-boomer pat on the back: empowerment, invitation to participate, community recognition and support, etc.

My Diocese of Greensburg has instituted this. I think it is a precursor to having these people run parishes and the priest not be available to the people. The reasoning behind this was to give the priests more time to work with the people. Now at my parish there is a staff of four lay people full time and our priest still does not come to anything that we do unless it is the church festival. He did not even show up for the alter servers pool party or the children’s Christmas with Santa.

 

[Brendan]

My Diocese of Greensburg has instituted this. I think it is a precursor to having these people run parishes and the priest not be available to the people.

Here in Detroit, that is reserved strictly to Deacons. In other words, if a priest is not permanently assigned to a parish, a Deacon (and a Deacon only) will be assigned to run the parish.

 

[Eucharisted]

There are no such thing as “lay ecclesial ministers” in the Church. This is just people who think they can do a better job than the Church at hierarchy and authority. Quite sad.

 

[Genesis315]

If it meant that the lay people took care of all the administrative grunt work (subject ultimately to the Pastor) to allow the priests more time to administer the sacraments, offer Masses, visit the sick, pray the Liturgy of the Hours, etc., etc. I think it would be a good idea.

 

[richard_wang]

First, the abolition of minor orders.

Second, the establishment of the permanent deaconate with married deacons.

Third, the very ordinary use of extraordinary ministers of the eucharist.

Now, this commissioning of lay ecclesial ministers.

Will we ever see the end of the assault of the priesthood?

Remember - No priest, No Eucharist. No Eucharist, No eternal life.

 

[Tigg]

My first reaction to this is a very big red flag! Whatever will be next?

 

[Lujack]

I can understand this, to be honest. The Diocese just doesn’t have enough priests. My high school (in the diocese) is part of the largest parish in our county. We had a chaplain and a pastor. The chaplain was with us for a year, and then boom, off to his own parish.

In the two parishes I’ve been to in the diocese, I’ve seen a grand total of three deacons over a total of thirteen years. If there’ anywhere where the shortage of priests has really hit a crisis point, its in Trenton,