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Lay Ministry

Since Christian initiation is the call to active participation in the mission and ministry of the Church, whether one is called to the ordained or lay ministry, and realizing that each person has gifts and charisms to share in the service of the people of God.

The Office for Ministry Formation of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois seeks to enhance the ministry of the ordained clergy and laity by providing academic, spiritual, and pastoral opportunities which give participants a broader sense of self, ministry, Church and God. The program is designed, over a period of two years, to give candidates what they will need to serve more effectively as ministers in the Church. The link above will give you more information on candidate formation.

The following are excerpts from Catholic documents in regards to lay ministry::

Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity, #30

Baptism and Confirmation empower all believers to share in some form of ministry. Although the specific form of participation in ministry varies according to the gifts of the Holy Spirit, all who share in this work are united with one another. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and not all the members have the same function, so too we, though many, are one body in Christ and individually members of one another. We have gifts that differ according to the favor bestowed on each of us. (Romans 12:4-6)

Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity, #3

From the reception of these charisms or gifts, including those which are less dramatic, there arise for each believer the right and duty to use them in the Church and the world for humankind and for the up building of the Church.

Called and Gifted: The American Catholic Laity, NCCB

Indeed, everyone should painstakingly ready himself or herself personally for the apostolate, especially as an adult. For the advantage of age brings with it better self-knowledge, thus enabling each person to evaluate more accurately the talents with which God has enriched each soul and to exercise more effectively those charismatic gifts which the Holy Spirit has bestowed on all for the good of others.

Christifideles Laci, No.21

The ministries which exist and are at work at this time in the Church are all, even in their variety of forms, a participation in Jesus Christ’s own ministry as the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep, the humble servant who gives himself without reserve for the salvation of all.