Theology of Lay Leadership Apostolate, Ministry, Mission
Edward P. Hahnenberg John Carroll University
Archdiocese of Louisville Lay Ecclesial Ministry Assembly August 7, 2018 “The same God who called Prisca and Aquila to work with Paul in the first century calls thousands of men and women to minister in our Church in this twenty-first century. This call is a cause for rejoicing.”
—Co-Workers in the Vineyard
Prisca/Priscilla & Aquila Paul 1 Cor 16:19 (Aquila and Prisca) Rom 16:3 (Prisca and Aquila)
Luke Acts 18:1-3 (Aquila . . . his wife Prisca) Acts 18:18-19 (Priscilla and Aquila) Acts 18:26-27 (Priscilla and Aquila)
Deutero-Paul 2 Tim 4:19 (Prisca and Aquila) The Missions of Priscilla & Aquila
Rome
Ephesus Corinth Clerics Monks
Authority Holiness Laity Clerics Monks
Laity
“Men” of Religion
“Men” of the World
“Duo sunt genera christianorum” Gratian (12th cent.) Missionary Discipleship Ministry Apostolate
Vatican II on the Lay Apostolate
Vatican II on the Lay Apostolate
1. Mission of Laity Rooted in Baptism
“Lay people’s right and duty to be apostles derives from their union with Christ their head. Inserted as they are in the mystical body of Christ by baptism and strengthened by the power of the Holy Spirit in confirmation, it is by the Lord himself that they are assigned to the apostolate.” (Apostolicam Actuositatem, n. 3)
Vatican II on the Lay Apostolate
2. Laity Have a “Secular Character”
“[The laity] live in the world, in each and every one of the world’s occupations and callings and in the ordinary circumstances of social and family life which, as it were, form the context of their existence. There they are called by God to contribute to the sanctification of the world from within, like leaven, in the spirit of the Gospel, by fulfilling their own particular duties.” (Lumen Gentium, n. 31) Ministry in the Post-Conciliar Church
Abbot Christopher Butler
Ministry in the Post-Conciliar Church
Fr. Yves Congar Ministry in the Post-Conciliar Church
Clergy Ministries Laity Community
Dividing-Line Concentric-Circles Model Model Lay Ecclesial Ministers 39,651 total 2.3 per parish 19,969 in formation
Priests Deacons Religious 37,181 total 18,287 total 45,605 sisters 25,757 diocesan 2,670 in formation 4,007 brothers 3,405 in seminary 17,156 parishes
Between 1992 and 1997 (i.e., five years), Murnion and DeLambo estimated an increase of LEMs by 35 percent. However, between 1997 and 2005 (eight years), Delambo estimated that the number of these ministry professionals increased by only 5 percent. The current study estimates that LEMS have grown by 24 percent in the last five years. It is possible that the DeLambo estimate from 2005 slightly underestimates the number of LEMs. It is likely that respondents to the 2005 survey behaved similarly to those in the current study and left off some of their LEM staff members. This may have become more likely in recent years as pastors, LEMs, and Americans in general have become more aware and concerned about the collection of personal information.16
Overall, we expect that the growth in LEMs has slowed a bit from the 5-year pace between 1992 and 1997 but that there is still continued substantial growth as the number of priests and vowed religious in the U.S. available for ministry becomes smaller each year. Given
16 In 1997, the Murnion and DeLambo estimate of the number of LEMs was 34 percent larger than the number of Aprofessional lay ministersC (vowed religious and other lay persons) reported by territorial dioceses and eparchies in the United States in The Official Catholic Directory. In 2005, DeLamboLs estimate was 26 percent larger than the OCD number of professional lay ministers. The estimate in the current study is 39 percent larger than the number of professional lay ministers reported in the 2009 OCD (a year prior to the study). The OCD estimate of this population is consistently underestimated by an average of 33 percent. This rule of thumb may be useful in estimating the number of LEMs annually.
59 Ministry Trends
Religious
Priests
Lay Ecclesial Ministers Deacons 1965 1975 1985 1995 2005 2016
Church of Missionary Disciples Church of Missionary Disciples
Ministries
Church
Church of Missionary Disciples
World
Ministries
Church
World
Aparecida
Our Lady of Aparecida
Lessons from Aparecida
✓ Collaborative ✓ Be with the People ✓ Mission To learn more . . .