In religious organizations, the laity comprises all persons who are not clergy. Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given Religion. A person who is a member of a religious order who is not ordained clergy is considered as a member of the laity, even though they are members of a religious order (for example a nun or lay brother). A religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion usually In a general sense the term Holy Orders refers to those in the Christian religion who have been ordained in Apostolic Succession. A Nun is a Woman who has taken special vows committing her to a religious life In the most common usage lay brothers are those members of Catholic Religious orders particularly of monastic orders occupied primarily with manual labor and with [1]
In the past in Christian cultures, the term lay priest was sometimes used to refer to a secular priest, a diocesan priest who is not a memeber of a religious order. A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth Terms such as lay priest, lay clergy and lay nun were once used in Buddhist cultures to indicate ordained persons who continued to live in the wider community instead of retiring to a monastery. Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices In recent centuries, the term is often used more generally, in the context of any specialized profession, to refer to those who are not members of that profession. The term profession is applied to those persons who have specialized and technical skill or knowledge which they apply for a fee to certain tasks that ordinary and unqualified people cannot
The word lay derives from the Anglo-French lai (from Late Latin laicus, from the Greek λαϊκός, laikos, of the people, from λαός, laos, the people at large). Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly
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Christian laity
Anglicanism
In Anglicanism, the term "laity" refers to anyone who is not a bishop, priest, or deacon, that is, the fourth order of ministers in the Church. A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight A priest or priestess is a person having the authority or power to administer religious rites in particular rites of sacrifice to and propitiation of a deity or deities Deacon is a role in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind but which varies among theological and denominational traditions In the Anglican tradition, all baptised persons are expected to minister in Christ's name. The orders of ministry are thus lay persons, deacons, priests, and bishops.
The ministry of the laity is "to represent Christ and his Church; to bear witness to him wherever they may be; and, according to the gifts given them, to carry on Christ's work of reconciliation in the world; and to take their place in the life, worship, and governance of the Church"[2]. Much of the ministry of the laity thus takes place outside official church structures in homes, workplaces, schools, and so forth. Lay people also play important roles in the structures of the church.
There are elected lay representatives on the various governing bodies of churches in the Anglican communion. The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England, the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican In the Church of England, these governing bodies range from a local Parochial Church Council, through Deanery Synods and Diocesan Synods. The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England, the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican The Parochial Church Council or PCC is the executive body of a Church of England Parish. Deanery is an ecclesiastical entity in both the Catholic Church and the Church of England. In the Anglican Communion, the model of government is the 'Bishop in Synod ' meaning that a diocese is governed by a bishop acting with the advice and consent of representatives At the topmost level, the General Synod includes a house of Laity. The General Synod is the title of the governing body of some church organizations Likewise, in the Episcopal Church in the United States the General Convention includes four lay persons from each diocese in the House of Deputies, and each diocesan convention includes lay delegates from the parishes. The Episcopal Church is the official name of the Province of the Anglican Communion in the United States. The General Convention of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America is its primary governing and legislative body In many rites of the Roman Catholic Church and in Anglican churches, a diocese is an administrative territorial unit administered by a Bishop. On the local parish level, lay persons are elected to a church council called a vestry which manages church finances and elects the parish rector. A parish is a Local church; it is an administrative unit typically found in episcopal or presbyterian churches A vestry is a storage room in or attached to a church or Synagogue. The word rector ("ruler" from the Latin regere and Rector meaning "Teacher" In Latin has a number of different meanings but all of them indicate an academic
Parish musicians, bookkeepers, administrative assistants, sextons, sacristans, etc. See also Sacristan A sexton is a church officer charged with the maintenance of the church buildings and/or the surrounding Graveyard. A sacristan is an officer who is charged with the care of the Sacristy, the church, and their contents , are all roles normally filled by lay people. At higher levels, diocesan and national offices rely on lay people in many important areas of responsibility. Often specialized ministries as campus ministers, youth ministers, or hospital chaplains are performed by lay people.
Lay people serve in worship services in a number of important positions, including vergers, acolytes, lectors, intercessors, ushers, and so forth. A verger (or virger, so called after the staff of the office is a person usually a layperson, who assists in the ordering of religious services particularly This article is about religious acolytes For other uses see Acolyte (disambiguation. Lector is a Latin term for one who reads whether aloud or not Distinguish from "inter-session" ie "between Sessions " Intercession, in both Christianity and Islam, A church usher is a person in a church who completes many tasks such as seating people serving communion and collecting the offering Acolytes include include torch bearers, crucifers, thurifers, and boat bearers. Originally a torch was a portable source of Fire used as a source of light usually a rod-shaped piece of wood with a rag soaked in pitch and/or some other A crucifer is in some Christian churches (particularly the Roman Catholic Church, the United Methodist Church and the Anglican Communion, as well as on A thurible is a metal Censer suspended from chains in which Incense is burned during Worship services Boat boy or boat bearer are terms used for a junior Acolyte position found in Roman Catholic and Anglican churches Lectors read the lessons from the Bible appointed for the day (except for the Gospel reading, which is read by a Deacon), and may also lead the Prayers of the People.
Some specialized lay ministries require special licensing by the bishop. Which ministries require a license varies from province to province. In the Episcopal Church, there are six specialized lay ministries requiring a license: Pastoral Leader, Worship Leader, Preacher, Eucharistic Minister, Eucharistic Visitor, and Catechist. [3]
Roman Catholicism
The laity comprises all the faithful who have not received Holy Orders, whether living in religious orders or in the world. In a general sense the term Holy Orders refers to those in the Christian religion who have been ordained in Apostolic Succession. In the past, the term lay priest was sometimes used to refer to a secular priest, a diocesan priest who is not a memeber of a religious order.
Paragraph 31 of the dogmatic constitution Lumen Gentium defines the laity as follows:
| “ | The term laity is here understood to mean all the faithful except those in holy orders and those in the state of religious life specially approved by the Church. For an English translation of the text see Dogmatic Constitution on the Church ''Lumen Gentium'' These faithful are by baptism made one body with Christ and are constituted among the People of God; they are in their own way made sharers in the priestly, prophetical, and kingly functions of Christ; and they carry out for their own part the mission of the whole Christian people in the Church and in the world. | ” |
The Second Vatican Council taught that the laity's specific character is secularity, i. The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, or Vatican II, was the twentieth century Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. e. as Christians who live the life of Christ in the world, their role is to sanctify the created world by directing it to become more Christian in its structures and systems: "It belongs to the laity to seek the kingdom of God by engaging in the affairs of the world and directing them according to God's will," stated the Council in "Lumen Gentium. " The laity are full members of the Church, who fully share in Church's purpose of sanctification, of "inner union of men with God," (CCC 775) acting with freedom and personal responsibility and not as mere agents of the hierarchy. Due to their baptism, they are members of God's family, the Church, and they grow in intimate union with God, "in" and "by means" of the world. In Christianity, baptism ( Greek, "immersing" "performing Ablutions " is the ritual act with the use of water by which one is admitted It is not a matter of departing from the world as the monks and the nuns do that they sanctify themselves; it is precisely through the material world sanctified by the coming of the God made flesh, i. e. made material, that they reach God. Doctors, mothers of a family, farmers, bank tellers, drivers, by doing their jobs in the world with a Christian spirit are already extending the Kingdom of God. According to the repeated statements of Popes and lay Catholic leaders, the laity should say "we are the Church," in the same way that the saints said that "Christ lives in me. "
Lay involvement has taken diverse forms including participation in the life of the parish, unions of prayer, confraternities, communes, guilds, lay apostolates, Catholic Action, secular institutes, and lay ecclesial movements. Communes in Europe in the Middle Ages were sworn allegiances of mutual defense (both physical defense and of traditional freedoms among community members of a town or city A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade The earliest guilds were formed as confraternities of workers The lay apostolate is made up from laypeople and consecrated religious who exercise a ministry in cooperation with the Catholic Church. Catholic Action was the name of many groups of lay Catholics who were attempting to encourage a Catholic influence on society In the Roman Catholic Church, a secular institute is an organization of individuals who are consecrated persons – professing the Evangelical counsels of chastity Lay ecclesial movements, also called associations of the faithful are groups of baptized Catholics organized for the purposes of catechesis, cultural work mutual support and/or
The role of the laity in the Church includes lay ministers. Lay Ecclesial Ministry is the relatively new category of pastoral ministers in the Catholic Church who serve the Church but are not ordained Also, as a result of the priest shortage, members of the laity have had to take on some of the roles previously performed by priests. A priest shortage is the situation of a reduced number of Priests in religions especially the Roman Catholic Church.
The Lay Preacher in the Wesleyan / Methodist tradition
A very early tradition of preaching in the Wesleyan / Methodist churches was for a Lay Preacher to be appointed to lead services of worship and preach in a group (called a 'circuit') of meeting places or churches. The lay preacher walked or rode on horseback in a prescribed circuit of the preaching places according to an agreed pattern and timing, and people came to the meetings. After the appointment of ministers and pastors, this lay preaching tradition continued with Local Preachers being appointed by individual churches, and in turn approved and invited by nearby churches, as an adjunct to the minister or during their planned absences. A Methodist local preacher is a lay person who has been accredited by a Methodist church to lead worship on a regular basis
In addition to being appointed by members of their local churches, Local and Certified Lay Speakers of the United Methodist Church (more commonly in the United States) attend a series of training sessions. A lay speaker is a position in the United Methodist Church for the Laity. These training sessions prepare the individual to become a leader within the church. All individuals who are full members of the church are laity, but some go on to become Lay Speakers. Some preachers get their start as Lay Speakers.
In the Uniting Church in Australia, that was constituted in part from the Methodist Church, persons can be appointed:
- by the congregation as a Lay Preacher; and/or
- by the regional Presbytery to conduct Communion. The Uniting Church in Australia ( UCA) was formed on June 22 1977 when many congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, Methodism is a movement within Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations The Eucharist, also called Holy Communion or Lord's Supper and other names is a Christian Sacrament by which in a common interpretation those
A well-known lay preacher was the late King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV of Tonga. The Tupou dynasty of Tonga is the only remaining native constitutional monarchy of Polynesia. Tāufaāhau Tupou IV King of Tonga, GCMG, GCVO, KBE, KStJ ( 4 July 1918 &ndash 10 September 2006 The Kingdom of Tonga is an Archipelago in the south Pacific Ocean comprising 169 islands 36 of them inhabited stretching over a distance of about 800 kilometres (500 miles
The comparable term in the Anglican and Episcopal churches is Lay Reader. A lay reader (in some jurisdictions notably the Church of England, simply Reader) is a Layperson authorized by a Bishop of the Anglican
Buddhist lay persons
In Buddhism, a layperson is known as an upasaka (masc. In English translations of Buddhist literature, householder denotes a variety of terms Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices Precepts The five vows to be held by upāsakas are referred to as the " Five Precepts " (Pāli pañcasīla) I will not take ) or upasika (fem. ). Buddhist laypeople take refuge in the Triple Gem (the Buddha, his teaching, and his community of noble disciples) and accept the Five Precepts as rules for conduct. In lay and monastic ordination ceremonies Buddhists take the Three Refuges in the Three Jewels and are said to "take refuge The Three Jewels, also called the Three Treasures, the Three Refuges, or the Triple Gem, are the three things that Buddhists take refuge Siddhārtha Gautama ( Sanskrit; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual Teacher from Ancient India and the founder The Sanskrit term ( Devanāgarī: धर्म Pali transliteration dhamma) is an Indian spiritual and religious This article concerns the concept of Sangha in Buddhism. For information on other senses see Sangha (disambiguation. Laymen and laywomen are two of the "four assemblies" that comprise the Buddha's "Community of Disciples. Buddhist references In Nikaya Buddhism, sāvaka ( m) or sāvikā ( f "
In Chinese Buddhism, there are usually laypersons, who are depicted wearing a black robe and sometimes a brown sash, denoting that they received the five precepts.
Laity as a surname
There are quite a number of people globally with Laity as a surname. A surname is a name added to a Given name and is part of a Personal name. This originates mainly from Cornish ancestry, with a great deal of emigration spreading the surname thinly across the globe. The Cornish people (Kernowyon are regarded as an Ethnic group of the United Kingdom originating in Cornwall.
References
- ^ Laity at the Catholic Encyclopedia
- ^ Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America p. The Book of Common Prayer is the common title of a number of prayer books of the Church of England and used throughout the Anglican Communion. The Episcopal Church is the official name of the Province of the Anglican Communion in the United States. 855
- ^ Canon 4, Title III, Constitution & Canons Together with the Rules of Order for the Government of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, Adopted and Revised in General Convention, 2006
See also
External links
- [1]The Religions of South Vietnam in Faith and Fact: V. To defrock, unfrock, or laicize a minister or Priest is to remove their right to exercise the functions of the priestly office In the most common usage lay brothers are those members of Catholic Religious orders particularly of monastic orders occupied primarily with manual labor and with Laïcité (laisiˈte is the French concept of a Secular society, connoting the absence of religious involvement in government affairs A lay leader is a member of the Laity in any congregation who has been chosen as a leader "RVN" redirects here RVN is also the former callsign of a TV station in Wagga Wagga New South Wales Australia Buddhism in Vietnam (Section E. Buddhism came to Vietnam in the first century CE By the end of the second century Vietnam developed a major Buddhist centre in the region commonly known as the Luy Lâu DEFINITIONS AND EXPLANATION OF BUDDHIST TERMS)
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