Westminster: study day on 'a theology of lay ministry'

A study day on a theology for lay ministry takes place on Saturday 30 April from 11am-4pm at Vaughan House, 46 Francis Street, behind Westminster Cathedral. Anne Cross writes: Someone said to me recently: 'the trouble with Christianity is that it is marketed as a leisure activity'. This struck me as so relevant to the questions that we are asking about lay ministry - my husband works in the entertainment business; he works while others play! This is often the model that the institutional church operates with; there are those who are in ministry who serve those who pray! Where is the radical gospel message of Jesus for all? We are all called at the end of each Mass to 'go in peace to love and serve the Lord'. Is what we do next not ministry? These are the kind of questions we will be exploring in our study day at Vaughan House in April. It would be great for as many people as possible to be there to offer their experience of ministry - in the institutional church, in the home, in the workplace - our individual calling is a unique experience of God, for every person not with us on that day, the group will be poorer for it. The Network for Lay Ministry has been in existence now for over 10 years to support those in active, (paid or unpaid) work in the church. The nature of ministry in the church has changed hugely over the last decade, not least in the numbers of paid workers but also in the support that they receive from each other and various networks as their numbers increase. This has had an impact on the role of the Network for Lay Ministry and has led us to ask questions of our function. We are asking key questions about the nature of 'ministry' in the church and what the response of the Network should be to that. For more information, e-mail: lay_ministry@hotmail.com NLM, c/o Westminster House, Watford Way, Hendon, NW4 4TY Anne Cross is chair of the Core Group, Network for Lay Ministry