“Being professional” is one of the topics in the twelve PACE Training Modules. Melvin Steinbron made an important distinction between being a professional and being professional.
To be a professional usually means that a person has received a degree, credential, or certificate from a school or professional institution and then entered a particular field of work. In this sense, a person is called a professional because of his or her formal education, credential, or occupation, whether or not that person performs the job well.
On the other hand, being professional focuses more on how a person performs the work itself. It means having knowledge, skill, responsibility, and excellence in a particular area. A person may not have a university degree or professional certificate, but he or she can still be highly professional in a specific area of ministry.
This is Melvin’s and my understanding of the distinction. A layperson can be professional in PACE ministry even without a seminary degree or university certificate. Through training, experience, commitment, and continued growth, a lay pastor can become a specialist in pastoral care.
However, Rev. David Kim, former pastor of Hallelujah Church, expressed the matter somewhat differently. He said that trained lay pastors are truly professionals in their ministry. In other words, we should not merely say that they are being professional; we can also recognize them as professionals. PACE is their ministry responsibility before God, and they should take that responsibility seriously.
I am not trying to debate these two distinctions here. What is more important to me is this question:
How can laypeople become professional—and be recognized as professionals—in their ministry?
I see two important issues:
- They must develop themselves.
- They need approval and recognition from their senior pastor.
These two responsibilities are equally important.
1. Laypeople must develop themselves
For laypeople today, developing themselves is not as difficult as it once was. There are many resources available to help people grow, both inside and outside the church. They can attend seminars, workshops, community programs, online courses, and other training opportunities. In many cities, excellent training is even available through community centers at little or no cost.
Therefore, continuing to develop themselves is largely the responsibility of the laypeople themselves.
A PACE lay pastor should not simply complete the initial training and assume that the training is finished. Professional ministry requires continual learning, practice, reflection, and growth.
2. Laypeople need recognition from their senior pastor
Perhaps even more important is another issue: the recognition and approval of the senior pastor.
I do not mean that laypeople simply need to ask for permission to be called professionals. Rather, the senior past.