Reader Ministry
Christine Haines
“Readers are lay people in the Church of England, from all walks of life, who are called by God, theologically trained and licensed by the Church to preach, teach, lead worship and assist in pastoral, evangelistic and liturgical work.
The office of Reader is the only lay ministry in the Church of England that is voluntary, nationally accredited, episcopally licensed and governed by canon. There are now over 10,000 Readers, with men and women represented almost equally.
Although nationally authorised, the scope of ministry and roles undertaken by Readers differs across the dioceses. In addition, all dioceses currently provide their own programmes of initial and continued training, which are moderated nationally to ensure consistency in preparing Readers for their office, supporting them and helping to keep them up to date.”
Reader ministry is a unique one. Whilst being theologically educated and episcopally licensed, Readers remain firmly based in the laity of the church. Whilst Reader ministry has traditionally been exercised in the local parish or deanery, today Readers can be seen to minister in a wide variety of situations. Readers are part of the collaborative ministry of the Church and work alongside many of the emerging lay ministries but, whilst the latter can only minister in their local parish or benefice, a Reader has permission to minister across the diocese, subject to the incumbent’s permission and their license can be transferred between dioceses if necessary.