Q. What/who is a lay person?
A lay person is a member of the Church who in baptism is called upon to participate in the salvific work of the Church in the secular realm; in a special way, the laity are commissioned to make the Church present and operative in those places and circumstances of daily life where only through them can the Church become the salt of the earth. Distinguished from the ordained clergy – whose fundamental calling is the care of the baptized – the calling of the lay person is to transform secular society through living the faith in all aspects of life: in the family, socially and recreationally, in one’s occupation, etc.
Q. What sets the Lay Mission Project apart from academic programs?
While there are graduate degree programs in systematic and applied theology, pastoral ministry, and religious studies, the “end” or goal of an academic education is, first, knowledge of the subject matter, and only secondarily, by choice of the student, its integration in his or her life.
By contrast, the Lay Mission Project is formation, the end or goal of which is the very integration of faith and life and the transformation of secular society, inspired by the faith. Formation requires growth in personal discipleship and an educational method that enables participants to appreciate how revelation illumines their secular commitments.
Another practical difference is, quite frankly, the fact that academic degree programs are far more expensive than the Lay Mission Project formation.
The Lay Mission Project’s formation process includes online delivery of content, as well as occasions to process the information – both individually and in small groups. These moments of reflection provide the opportunity for integration of the material as it relates to present relationships and commitments. Built from the ground-up, each course, lesson, topic, assignment and discussion is designed with immediate applicability in mind.
In addition, unlike program-based initiatives, which often do not offer the resources for follow-up, the Lay Mission Project is a collaborative project that ensures ongoing formation. Those who complete the formation curriculum will be enabled not only to evaluate and analyze real-life situations based on a deeper appreciation for Catholic moral and social teaching and profoundly live the faith in secular society, but they will also receive the formation necessary to utilize their secular competencies in dialogue and collaboration with their pastors, which in turn results in parish-level mission effectiveness. Additionally, since one of the fundamental components of the Projects formation process is coming to know one’s own charism(s), participants will better understand how God has specifically graced them and called them to exercise their spiritual gifts in the mission of the Church, and to assist others in doing so as well.
Q. What sets the Lay Mission Project apart from other formation programs?
There are many educational programs that prepare the laity for the pastoral care of the baptized in activities known as lay ecclesial ministry – for example: catechesis, visiting the sick or home-bound, and in liturgical ministries such as lectoring, ushering, etc. However, such activities are extra-ordinary; they are ordinarily the pastor’s responsibility, and lay women and men who serve as “extraordinary” ministers must be delegated to do so by their pastor.
The primary and ordinary call of the laity is the care of the secular order: in other words, to transform secular society through living the faith in family life, social life, in one’s occupation, and every aspect of life. It is only when laypeople are adequately formed for this primary call that they are able to use their competence and experience in ministries within the parish.
Because lay ecclesial ministry is secondary to that of the secular apostolate, those who take on roles of ministry ought to first be formed for their primary role as secular apostles. The “M.Div.” and other ministerial prep programs are inherently designed for this secondary role, and is not designed to form apostles.
Each lay person – as are each member of the clergy – shares in Christ’s of priestly, prophetic, and kingly functions in the Church’s mission [see LG 31] . Appreciating the rightful desire of all the Church’s members to fully integrate their faith with their daily lives, and recognizing the distinctive call of the laity to live out these offices in the secular order, Lay Mission Project aims to prepare apostles to engage all aspects of secular society.
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