Lay ecclesial ministers' development guided by U.S. bishops' document
Friday, Feb. 05, 2016
By Susan Northway
Diocese of Salt Lake City
Director of Religious Education
“The dynamic virtue of hope inspires us to keep pressing on, to employ all our energies and abilities on behalf of those for whom we work, accepting results, making it possible to strike out on new paths, being generous even without apparent results, yet keeping hope alive with the constancy and courage that are born from the acceptance of one’s vocation as a guide and as a leader.” – Pope Francis
In a recent column published locally and nationally, Monsignor M. Francis Mannion raised several important issues about lay ecclesial ministry (LEM) programs in the United States. These are not new issues, but the article offers a wonderful opportunity to dialogue and, according to our Holy Father, that is a good thing: “… dialogue, dialogue, dialogue … the only way for the life of peoples to progress. … I call this attitude of openness and availability without prejudice, social humility and it seems that this favors dialogue.”
Those of us involved as formators for lay ecclesial ministers in our diocese welcome dialogue and we hope for greater clarity – for ourselves and for the 39,600 LEMs who serve the U. S. Church.
Msgr. Mannion correctly states that lay service to the Church has been offered since ancient times and that a renewed emphasis on the role of the laity in the mission of the Church has borne fruit since the Second Vatican Council. Historically, the laity received little positive note in official Church documents. Theologian Edward Hahnenberg observes that Vatican II differs from all other Councils “in the amount of attention it gave to the life and activity of laypeople in the church.”
According to Lumen Gentium, laypersons belong to the Body of Christ and people of God through baptism. All people are called to holiness and laity share in the priestly, prophetic and royal roles of Christ. Before Vatican II, vocational calls were discussed in terms of a call to religious life or the priesthood. Our understanding today is that the mission to evangelize the world arises in the vocations of clergy, religious and laity.
The local lay ecclesial ministry formation program has been blessed with collaborative priests and a supportive bishop. Archbishop John C. Wester of Santa Fe, the ninth Bishop of Salt Lake City, served on the USCCB subcommittee and drafting committee that led to the document on lay ecclesial ministry, Co-Workers in the Vineyard of the Lord (2005). He is the episcopal advisor for the National Association for Lay Ministry.
Speaking at the June 2015 Lay Ecclesial Ministry Summit, Archbishop Wester said: “… We cannot look at ordained ministry without looking at lay ecclesial ministry; and we cannot look at lay ecclesial ministry without looking at ordained ministry. … The two go hand in hand. … One brings out the best in the other. … There is an intimate union between the two.”
The summit marked the 10th anniversary of the U.S. bishops’ release of Co-Workers, which is the foundational document guiding the development of lay ecclesial ministry. But Co-Workers contains words of caution that are echoed by Msgr. Mannion. The term “lay ecclesial minister” might be misused to claim some new rank in the Church.
Archbishop Wester addressed this distortion as laicism: “To assume that baptism confers … all rights and powers in the Church so that ordination would not be understood as giving any new sacramental and hierarchical powers [is a danger.] But on the other hand, clericalism … over-emphasizes the value of ordination with the result that the active powers conferred by Baptism-Confirmation-Matrimony are unduly minimized.”
Archbishop Wester called for balance and for deeper reflection on the Sacrament of Baptism that brings all into communion: “ I think that it helps us to see these two ministries, lay and ordained, together and that one does help the other.”
He quoted Archbishop Gregory Aymond: “We must ask an enlightenment of the Holy Spirt so that we know where the Holy Spirit is calling us. We need to be able to name our fears, to claim our questions, and to dialogue instead of becoming alienated. The Spirit is alive and will work in us and through us.” Lay ecclesial ministry will not only survive but flourish through meaningful and ongoing assessment and dialogues that help the Church to realize authentically the vision of Vatican II.
[Editor’s note: Other issues raised in Msgr. Mannion’s column will be addressed in future articles.]
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