Who is going to lead this ministry in your church?
The senior pastor? No.
This ministry is designed to share the pastoral care burden of the senior pastor, so it would not be a good idea to place the ministry directly in the pastor’s hands.
An assistant pastor or associate pastor? No.
Then who?
Let me give you some examples from two countries: Korea and the United States.
Korea
Mrs. Yoon Haekyoung — Hallelujah Church, Korea
Mrs. Yoon was a member of Hallelujah Church. One day, Pastor David Kim asked her to help with the PACE ministry in the church. At that time, about 5,000 people were attending the church.
She did not know much about PACE ministry or the Lay Pastors Ministry. Yet, once she became involved, she dedicated more than thirteen years to this ministry, to her church, and to God.
She became a faithful lay leader who helped make the ministry a meaningful part of the life of the church.
Mrs. Enock Kim — Sungsan Church, Korea
I once trained a church in PACE ministry. During the training, one of the trainees circled number 10 on the motivation scale. It meant that she wanted to be involved in this kind of ministry for the rest of her life.
She had already been caring for and helping people in her church for many years. In fact, her personal caring ministry was often more effective than that of some associate pastors. She had a strong desire to care for people, but no one in the church had really recognized or encouraged her ministry. Her heart was burning, but she was becoming discouraged because she was doing it almost entirely by herself.
Then, through the PACE equipping sessions, that burning desire was rekindled.
She eventually became the PACE ministry leader in her church. Later, she became one of the national leaders and helped launch the PACE School in Nagaland, India.
Mrs. Oakja Kim — Samki First Church, Korea
Here is another fascinating example that I heard from a pastor in one of our PACE network churches.
One day, Mrs. Oakja Kim, the PACE ministry leader, came to the pastor’s office and expressed her gratitude to him. She thanked him for giving her the opportunity to lead the PACE ministry in the church.
Why was she so grateful?
Because through this ministry, she discovered a new sense of self-esteem and purpose.
She was simply the wife of a farmer, and she had been a farmer herself for most of her life. She had assumed that her life would simply continue as the wife of a poor farmer.
But one day, she became the leader of a significant ministry in her church.
What a fascinating transformation!
United States
Mrs. Parma — Frazer Memorial Methodist Church, Alabama
Frazer Memorial Methodist Church was a large church, with around 7,000 congregants.
Just like Mrs. Yoon Haekyoung at Hallelujah Church, Mrs. Parma was asked by the senior pastor, Dr. John E. Mathison, to become the leader of the PACE ministry.
She served successfully as a ministry leader for about fifteen years.
She once shared this beautiful story:
“Last summer my husband and I had the privilege of being Lay Pastors to a beautiful Christian lady who was dying from cancer. This is an experience we will never forget.
A couple of weeks before she died, I was sitting with her. She hallucinated all day and was not in touch with reality. Late in the afternoon, she was in extreme pain. The nurse gave her a shot. I stood by her bed, held her hands, and tried to calm her until the shot could take effect.
I began to sing ‘Jesus Loves Me,’ and she joined in. We sang it about nine or ten times until she drifted into a peaceful sleep.
Even though she was not aware of the real world around her that day, she did not miss a word while singing about Jesus. There’s power in the name of Jesus!”
That is lay pastoral care.
Mrs. Else — First Presbyterian Church, New Jersey
Mrs. Else served as the leader of the PACE ministry in her church for ten years. She also served for twenty years as the operational manager of the national office of LPMI in New Jersey.
Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things
As we have seen in these stories, laypeople discover something very valuable through this ministry.
That is why I have great hope for the Lay Pastors Ministry.
It gives laypeople a meaningful place in the church. Through serving others, they grow spiritually, discover the joy of ministry, and develop a deep sense of accomplishment. Their self-esteem is strengthened, and, perhaps most importantly, they experience the freedom to use the spiritual gifts God has given them.
When we talk about the freedom of laypeople, however, we should not misunderstand what we mean.
We are not saying that laypeople are somehow being held in bondage by their pastors. Rather, freedom means having the opportunity and responsibility to discover and use the spiritual gifts God has given to each person.
So, the key question is:
If it is not the senior pastor, who can actually lead this ministry?
The answer is one of the strongest principles of the Lay Pastors Ministry:
Ordinary laypeople can lead it—not because they are professionally trained pastors, but because the ministry is designed to be lay-driven.
Look again at these five examples. How was this possible?
- The ministry was entrusted to laypeople.
- They were equipped, not merely instructed.
- They received ongoing support and encouragement.
- They were given real ownership and responsibility.
- The pastor supported the ministry without trying to control it.
So, how was this possible?
We did not ask them to become pastors. We equipped them to do what ordinary Christians can do—care for one another.
This connects beautifully with Dr. Melvin Steinbron’s famous idea:
“Ordinary people are doing extraordinary things.”
The deeper principle is this:
The pastor does not have to do all the pastoral care. The pastor equips the people of God to do the work of ministry.
And that takes us directly to Ephesians 4:11–12.
The pastor’s role is not to do all the ministry. The pastor’s role is to equip God’s people for the work of ministry.
Therefore, these four stories are more than illustrations. They are evidence of the principle.
The Lay Pastors Ministry gives ordinary people the freedom, opportunity, and responsibility to become ministers of care in the body of Christ.