Lay Ecclesial Ministry

The nine AMECEA Countries participated in the III Extraordinary World Synod of Bishops on "The Pastoral Challenges of the Family in the Context of Evangelization" in Rome from 5-19 October, 2014. In Eastern Africa Small Christian Communities (SCCs) were part of the consultation process and answered 11 of the 39 questions in the poll. Research on the 180,000 SCCs in Eastern Africa reveals that SCCs elect lay ministers/animators/coordinators for specific groups such as couples (married and engaged), youth and children and for specific pastoral ministries such as Catechesis, Justice and Peace, Religious Education, Sacraments and Spiritual/Religious Formation. A SCC is a communion of families. The SCC is an important support group for families and promotes a family culture. The SCC is both a place and a path for the pastoral care and evangelization of families and marriages. This praxis of SCCs in Africa is contributing to the development of the theology of the Church as Family of God.

      Now SCCs in the AMECEA Region are preparing for the XIV Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the "The Vocation and Mission of the Family in the Church and in the Contemporary  World" to take place in Rome from 4-25 October, 2015 The meeting will ”seek working guidelines in the pastoral care of the person and the family.” We are challenged to continue to explore how SCC members and others can accompany families and couples who are wounded. This is the Ministry of Compassionate Accompaniment. This is part of the imperative for all Catholics to go to the margins of society to serve the poor, migrants and those without hope. Pope Francis also emphasizes the importance of welcoming, listening to and accompanying young people today.

        After the October, 2015 Synod of Bishops itself there will be an ongoing process involving collegiality and subsidiarity. There will be follow-up meetings and various commissions related to pastoral solutions to the challenges of family and marriage. Ongoing discussion and decision-making will take place on the local level through national episcopal conferences. Pope Francis is expected to issue a Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation with an ongoing plan of action that includes concrete pastoral solutions. SCCs help to promote this family and marriage ministry.

This article examines the exegesis and history of exegesis of Eph. 4:11-12 to engage whether these verses allow for the popular interpretation of the theology and practice of “lay ministry.” “Lay ministry” is defined throughout the article as lay people who are not Called or ordained, but may be licensed by a district or congregation to publicly preach and administer Sacraments. The history of exegesis, as to why Eph. 4:11-12 has been used for lay ministry is shown, going back to the mid-20th century with the World Council of Churches, Markus Barth, and D. T. Niles. The popular Confessional Lutheran argument against lay ministry from Eph. 4:11-12 using the “comma” between key phrases, is looked at but ultimately challenged. However, a key argument against lay ministry is found exegetically analyzing the term καταρτισμὸν in Eph. 4:12, in which it is argued that the lay ministry popular interpretation has misunderstood and misinterpreted.

Doctoral Thesis for the completion of the Ecumenical Doctorate of Ministry at Catholic Theological Union. This research dissects the beauty of the desert wisdoms from the fourth century desert mystics, specifically Evagrius and Syncletica.  Their wisdoms and writings are then examined and utilized in the formation of lay ministry in our contemporary church.

Summary – During the last few years, the situation of the Catholic Church within Western societies has been radically shaken. The Christian can no longer live as though he were in a context of Christianity. The ideal of Christian life has itself been affected and has led to a new perception of the “good Christian”. An empirical study in French-speaking Belgium has shown that priest do not have the same common goal of pastoral care shaped by the ideal of a “good Christian” to accompany. A rereading of a model established pour catechism (A. Fossion) allows one to define this pastoral finality as a series of competencies to be acquired. These changes bring about a rethinking of the ministry of the priest-curate which is henceforth characterized by: team-work, communional pastoral care, faith recentred  on Christ the crucified and glorified Messiah with whom the Paschal crossing of each individual and collective crisis is possible.

Des laïcs sont embauchés par les diocèses pour accomplir une mission qui leur est confiée. Lettre de mission signée par l’évêque et contrat de travail sont les deux documents qui attestent de cela. Par ailleurs, ces laïcs sont formés au « métier » d’animateur en pastorale. Le concile Vatican II a ouvert les portes à ce nouveau possible, tout en semant les germes des questions qui se posent aujourd’hui. A partir d’une analyse de l’histoire de l’apparition de ces laïcs d’un genre nouveau dans le diocèse d’Arras jusqu’à la réalité qui est la leur aujourd’hui, ce travail veut ébaucher les problématiques qui se posent.

The denunciation of « clericalism » as cause of the crisis of abuse in the Church questions the very understanding of the clerical ministry. The recent identification between the clericature and the ordained ministry has talœn place in the concext of a Catholic theology of the sacrament of Holy Orders which has not yet been able to resolve ail its ambiguities. In order to remedy this state of things, the author proposes to revisit the structural diversity of ecclesial ministries, in particular by means of a wider application of the clericature to chose who exercise a ministry in nomine Ecclesiae, even without having received the sacrament of Holy Orders.
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La dénonciation du « cléricalisme » comme cause de la crise des abus dans l'Église vient interroger la compréhension même de la cléricature. L'identification récente encre la cléricature et le ministère ordonné s'est faite dans le contexte d'une théologie catholique du sacrement de l' ordre qui n'a pas encore su résoudre toutes ses ambiguïtés. Afin de remédier à cet état de fait, l'auteur propose de redécouvrir la diversité structurelle des ministères ecclésiaux notamment au moyen d'une application élargie de la cléricature pour ceux qui exercent un ministère au nom de l'Église, y compris sans avoir reçu le sacrement de l'ordre.

Cet essai est consécutif à quatre années d’intervention pastorale au sein de l’archidiocèse de Montréal. Il existe plusieurs problématiques dans la gestion du personnel pastoral et ces problématiques semblent nuire à l’avenir de l’Église. La réflexion théologique m’amène à croire que ces problématiques, tout particulièrement celles concernant le personnel laïc, sont révélatrices d’une Église locale ambigüe entre son modèle actuel hérité de sa tradition et un modèle émergent qui montre déjà ses fruits dans certaines Églises à l’étranger.
Pour tenter d’identifier si un tel modèle existe et s’il existe en faire une critique, j’analyserai le discours du Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte Être marguillier dans une Église en changement. J’ai choisi ce discours précis, car traitant de l’administration et de l’avenir de l’Église, il comporte de nombreux indices sur la pensée de Mgr Turcotte sur la problématique des laïcs engagés en dans l’Église.

Covering an adult lifetime from the sixties, when the Roman Catholic Church changed radically, this is the story of a layman's ministry - ' essentially different' from clerical ministry.  It provides a snapshot of the Catholic renewal movement in the UK in the dark years of exile before the election of Pope Francis.

Chapter in an forthcoming Orbis Book (Maryknoll, NY) from the Third Theological Colloquium on Church, Religion and Society in Africa (TCCRSA III) in Nairobi, Kenya in July, 2015 on the Theme: “An Agenda for Vatican III: Ideas, Issues, and Resources from Africa or the World Church.” Treats:

1. "Introduction: Be Bold and Creative"
2. "Rethinking the Structures and Styles of Governing and Decision-making."
3. "From the Perspective of SCCs in Eastern Africa."
4. Pastoral Solutions to the Two Meanings of the Eucharistic Famine in Africa
5. "Integrating African Process and African Content."
6.  "Relevance for the Catholic Church in North America and Europe."
7. "Conclusion: Let Us Journey Ahead Together."

The paper reflects on a study which explored the role of spirituality in the lives of women during the first year after being diagnosed with breast cancer. The study utilised a qualitative method (hermeneutic phenomenology) designed to provide rich and thick understanding of women’s experiences of breast cancer and to explore possible ways in which spirituality may, or may not, be beneficial in enabling coping and enhancing quality of life. The paper draws on the thinking of David Hay and Viktor Frankl to develop a model of spirituality that includes, but is not defined by, religion and that has the possibility to facilitate effective empirical enquiry. It outlines a threefold movement inwards, outwards and upwards – that emerged from in-depth interviews withwomen who have breast cancer. This framework captures something of the spiritual movement that women went through on their cancer journeys and offers some pointers and possibilities for better and more personcentred caring approaches that include recognition of the spiritual dimension of women’s experiences for the management of those with breast cancer.

Review of THE ENLIGHTENMENT  by Nicholas Socrates
Reviewer: Ruel Chavez

Socrates, Nicholas. 2011. The Enlightenment. Socrates Books. 105 pages.

An Assessment as to the Content of the Book
I find in “The Enlightenment” a writer who is overwhelmed by the grandeur and mystery of life. In this “review” I want to join him in his amazement and wonder of everything that is… Actually, I am hesitant to call it a review for it is not an appropriate word and an inappropriate response to the book. If people would still stick to the idea of review, let me say beforehand that it is not a typical kind of review but a response to a conversation initiated by the writer. How can you review a book that goes beyond logic or has logic of its own? How can you review a book coming from a spirit deep within? Something will escape you. Each word is a world, a book, a seed, and a potential tree. In the latter section of the book, my initial impression was confirmed by the words of the author himself. The world is made of words. “Words shape worlds.” They are mysterious. They are “thought containers.” Instead, let me call it a “journey”…a journey through the book. Let me share what thoughts enter my mind as I go along, as I journey through the thoughts of the writer. This is the kind of impact this book can do for you.
An Orientation
The Preface is good place to start for it gives the reader the orientation of what to expect in viewing the panorama “painted” by the writer…painted with “words”…surprising words!
The book is difficult to assess. There is a mixed feeling in me. It is one of a kind and the first kind I have ever read in my more than twenty years of reading a book. Yes, I read few books somewhat like it but totally different. Those books I read are similar in a sense that like the “Enlightenment” are written in poetical terms and in a philosophical manner. But those books never combined the two. The Enlightenment surpassed them all for to my limited knowledge of both philosophy and poetry, the author is paving the way to a new literary genre – “poetical-philosophy.”
The book is both difficult and easy, refreshing and intimidating… refreshing and frustrating. Intimidating because of its grandeur and depth…in words and thoughts. Frustrating because you cannot take hold of it…it is boundless…it is like a liquid that escapes your hand, a thought that eludes your mind…a journey that I do not know its end. When I reach the finish line, I felt that I am just starting for another run. The book calls me to reflect…and reflect…towards a journey of a continuous reflection. It makes me cry. I know I will subject the Enlightenment for a repeated rereading. I thank the author for the gift of giving me a copy of it.
I find the ideas profound, the wealth of experience that formed those thoughts and words. I can’t find a word to describe the author’s choice of words. 
It is a different “orthodoxy” if orthodoxy is a proper way to describe it. It is ambitious in its dreams – world peace and the improvement of it! The Enlightenment is concerned about the future,
The book is about opening the door to spirituality, to a festival of ideas for the future of humanity. It is about addressing what the world needs. Enlightenment is man’s only way to salvation…finding the ultimate truth.
The book opens a series of questions to another series of questions and still to another and to an unending series of questions. To arrive at that conclusion is to come closer in your journey to finding the ultimate truth…for the ultimate truth is that you will never arrive…you will be in a constant journey. And with that you have finally arrived.
Reading the book, you will find peace a constant theme in it. But I asked, what kind of peace? Is it the peace of a lonely man on planet earth? Or is it the gift of peace from the divine?
I suspend my question for you will not find the answer after you reach the last page of the book. And even after reaching the last page, you will be left to yourself contemplating what is it that you have read.
The book is a lesson on humility. It teaches us to imitate the child that no matter what station in life we have reached, we should never forget to laugh and to smile.
The book is about the dawning of a new era. The new era for humanity and for the world…the binding of the spirit and the matter into one.
This is so far the kind of orientation I received from reading the preface for without it, I will be lost in my journey throughout the book.

Start of the Journey
I start my journey in the content proper. I took down notes while beginning reading chapter 1 but when I reached chapter 8, I stopped writing. I might lose what I am supposed to gain. Grasp the spirit of the book for it is alive. There is life in it. The spirit of the author lives through the words written in it. I consider writing about that spirit not a proper response and so I stopped not until I reached chapter 42.
Let me share what I found from chapters 1 to 41.
The book talks about “the new spirituality.” It speaks about Eastern faith going West and the Western faith going East and both traveling all over the world. It tells us about the wisdom of both the ancient and the modern, an enlightened society, a journey within, a journey to change the world.
It speaks about the transformation of human consciousness. I find somehow that each chapter is almost similar with the previous ones but different at the same time. Each chapter serves like a separate lens in seeing the same thing…and so as result, we have in this book a perspective of life and reality coming from various lenses. Though the title of each chapter differs from one another, it is hard to identify specifically the difference for you are in its midst…all I can do is wonder…
The book appears to be simple. I can read it in one sitting in less than two hours, I can write a review of it…but that would be missing the substance of things…and I find it disrespect to a reality of great grandeur passing before my presence…
While reading, I cannot avoid to compare my limited knowledge of the modern world with what I am witnessing. In the modern world, we make easy things complicated. In the book, I find a different world…a world that makes profound truths accessible and simple without losing its profundity.
Chapter 7 talks about “Contributing to Peace, Culture, and Education throughout the World.” The author understands the time but gives a different answer. I see in his words that much of orthodox talk is anemic in terms of action, which is contrary to what you will find in the book.
Some books can be easily digested. This one mystifies me but it does not make me sick. It causes me to stop, ponder, smile and reflect. It causes me to close the book, to be read again when my mind and spirit are prepared…


The book speaks about the spontaneity of life. I was looking for a logical arrangement of the chapters and the words but it seems there is none. It has its own arrangement. It is “chaotically” and beautifully arranged. In latter part of the book, I realized that the writer affirmed both chaos and order, one and many, u nity and diversity, change and certainty. How does he do it? I simply don’t know.
Reading the book, I am reminded of the fact that indeed it is great to be alive. This is existentialism at its height…a hunger for something…a hunger and thirst for more…There are too many ideas but too little time…The author affirms the beauty and study of the individual.
The author talks about the importance of meditation, waiting, solitude, serenity, and silence. The spirit behind the book is so peaceful and quiet. It is a rare kind but very strong.
Chapter 81 is the most surprising chapter. Somehow, I anticipated it and at last I found it! It tells about the eternal evolution of humanity, an individualized expression of the universal presence…“you are the world”…“the world is in you”…the world is at your disposal…
What is Enlightenment?
My impression of enlightenment based on what I understand about the words of the author is the state of both rest and continued search. It is indefinable. You can simply describe it but you can neither grasp it nor control it. Enlightenment is about being in a constant journey and the experience of arrival. It is about acceptance of all there is…the one and many, the individual and the whole, chaos and order, change and permanence, being and becoming…
Profound Ideas
Examples of profound ideas that I found as I journey through the book…ideas that I could relate:
“You are the experience.”
“You have a unique relationship with yourself.”
“Watch what you are creating with your thoughts and your actions.”

“Assume authority and take responsibility for your world.”
“Remember what you have truly come here to do.”
“Your entire life unfolds every moment.”
“ Freedom from time. Freedom from your story.”
“For the sake of you future; do not waste a moment.”
“We become what we behold.”
“ Everything is in the moment. There is just this moment. Every moment is now. There is only now.”
“Stop and smell the flowers.”
Few thoughts are familiar. Many are new. Each stands on its own. Each defies explanation. Each has a beauty of its own. To me, the quoted statements above, speak about the glory of being here and being alive in this specific time in history and place in space. This is humanity at its best. The height of human existence!

My Personal Response
About the author, I find his name is not given for nothing. My mind directs me to the old Socrates – the wisest and mysterious philosopher of Greek civilization.
The author is a mystic. His style betrays it. You can identify if you are one yourself.
I envy the man. I have never seen anyone like him so amazed with the wonder of life. It drives me crazy to think that those who claim to know have failed to show the same passion even at least in printed words.
I could not help myself but recite my review, my poem. To use logic on a literary piece that has logic of its own as I have said is really a difficult task. During my youth, I could easily dismiss this kind of book, assume that it is easily known and understood, read it in less than an hour and write a review of it in another hour. But now that I am old, I could not do it…that would be disrespect not only to the writer and the book but also even to myself.

I smiled when the author said, “Be like the sun.” I always think of becoming like a sea not a sun. The sea absorbs all the waste that come from other bodies of water but it appears that due to its vastness and mere size, it is not affected by it. But the sun is far better.
As a result of reading the book, I came to appreciate poetry, spirituality, individuality, human potential, collective intelligence, and others all the more.
I assume that I have given the book a fair reading with the best that I could do. Now, let me share my reservation about the book. I found myself while reading it both resisting and accepting. I could not resist nor I could accept completely. This is part of being me. To do so, I would lose my individuality. If I lose my individuality for the sake of the whole, would it be beneficial to the whole? I find losing it would make my individual existence to be but a shadow.
I do not want to pretend that I understand everything written in the book. Conventional reason does not work here. But I have my personal preconceived thoughts in approaching the book. Are they possible to suspend?
If my reading is right, my basic disagreement lies with the author’s view of man. I do not mean to downplay “Man” but to exalt his real glory. And his real glory to me is found in the recognition that he is a creature of Him. Being a creature of Him, man’s divinity lies in the fact that he is made after the image of his God. But to be an image is different from the Origin of the image. This to me means that there are two levels of being and two levels of knowing. The being of One is eternal and the being of the other has a beginning. The knowing of the One is exhaustive and the knowing of the other is tentative. And that is why there is always room for constant change.
To find meaning for human existence, the Eternal being must initiate to reveal Himself for without it, man is lost. The act of revealing Himself is an act of grace and herein consists the glory of man. And this He did through His Son and thereby restored man to his glory that he once lost.