Naming the Ministry
The ministry we are describing is called the Lay Pastors Ministry, meaning a ministry of pastoral care carried out by laypeople. In other words, it is not primarily a ministry of evangelism or discipleship, as emphasized in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19–20), but a ministry of caring for people.
As Dr. Melvin Steinbron observed, there are already many resources for evangelism and discipleship, but comparatively fewer resources for developing a ministry of congregational care.
Someone once said, “Evangelism is men’s ministry; caring is women’s ministry.” While this statement is obviously a generalization, it may point to a difference in emphasis. Evangelism is often understood as more outward, active, and aggressive, while caring is more relational, personal, and inward. Evangelism reaches beyond the walls of the church, while caring often begins within the congregation.
The church therefore has two important dimensions of ministry: the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19–20), which emphasizes evangelism and making disciples, and the Great Commandment of Care, reflected in Jesus’ words to Peter in John 21:15–17: “Feed my sheep.” These two dimensions should not compete with each other. They need to be held together in a healthy balance.
Ministry Tasks
The basic task of the Lay Pastors Ministry is expressed through P.A.C.E.:
- P — Prayer
- A — Availability
- C — Contact
- E — Example
PACE is a simple framework for practicing personal pastoral care.
Pastors who have implemented this ministry in their churches have observed four significant effects or developments:
- Church infrastructure
- Lifestyle
- Church culture
- Ministry engine
These four areas demonstrate that the Lay Pastors Ministry is more than simply adding another activity to the church calendar. When properly established, it can influence the way a church is organized, how its members live, how people relate to one another, and how ministry itself is carried out.
What Should We Call Them?
There are various opinions about what to call the people who participate in this ministry. The official terminology used by LPM USA and LPM Korea is “Lay Pastor.” The terminology has also been influenced by the practice of large churches. When a major church adopts a particular name, other churches often follow it because of the influence and credibility of that church.
In the United States, for example, some churches use the term Lay Minister, while others use PACE Minister, Lay Pastor, or other terms. In Korea, similar variations exist.
The important point is not the title itself but the role and function behind the title. Churches may use the terminology that best fits their own context.
Length of Training
The length of training varies according to the circumstances of each church. Some churches provide twelve hours of training over two evenings, while others conduct three sessions or a twelve-week course.
When churches have invited me to their churches to train their people, I have found that twelve hours over two consecutive evenings has been especially effective. I often call this Basic Training, similar to basic training in the military.
The purpose of Basic Training is not to teach everything about pastoral care. Rather, it is to help people experience a paradigm shift—from seeing themselves merely as church members to seeing themselves as ministers who can care for others.
After twelve hours, participants can understand the basic concept, develop the necessary attitudes, and be prepared to begin PACE ministry. Over many years of experience, I have found this approach to be both practical and effective.
Who Is Responsible?
The senior pastor or assistant pastors should not be the primary people responsible for operating the Lay Pastors Ministry.
Instead, trained laypeople should take responsibility for the ministry. Usually, a Ministry Leadership Group is formed from among the trained PACE ministers. A small church may have four or five members in this group, while a larger church may have seven to ten.
This group is responsible for the progress of the ministry and shares responsibility for both its successes and its failures.
Of course, the senior pastor and assistant pastors must cooperate, provide support, and offer appropriate supervision. Their involvement is essential. However, if the pastors themselves remain responsible for running the ministry, the church simply returns to the traditional model in which the clergy do the ministry and the laity assist them.
When laypeople take responsibility, the church begins to experience a genuine team ministry. The laypeople themselves become the model of what shared ministry can look like.
Resistance to Failure: The Twelve Foundation Blocks
For the Lay Pastors Ministry to succeed and remain healthy, twelve foundational blocks need to be established. They also serve as safeguards against failure:
- Vision
- Sense of Ownership
- Structure
- Calling
- Training
- Accountability
- Affirmation
- Support
- Fellowship
- Communication
- Evaluation
- Maintenance
These twelve foundations should not be considered only at the beginning. They should be checked continuously—at the beginning, in the middle, and especially during regular evaluations.
Biblical Basis
The Lay Pastors Ministry is grounded in four major biblical passages:
- Ephesians 4:11–12 — Theological Foundation
- John 21:15–17 — Ministry Foundation
- 1 Peter 5:1–4 — Practical Foundation
- Exodus 18 — Foundation for Sharing Responsibility
These passages provide the biblical framework for understanding why pastors equip others, why believers are called to care for one another, and why ministry responsibility should be shared rather than concentrated in the hands of a few.
The Scriptures are not simply supporting references for this ministry. They are its core foundation.
Not a Program
The Lay Pastors Ministry is not a program; it is a ministry. Dr. Melvin Steinbron emphasized this distinction strongly.
Many church programs can be organized and completed without requiring deep personal involvement. A program may have a beginning date, an ending date, a schedule, and a set of activities. But pastoral care requires people to become personally involved in the lives of other people.
The Lay Pastors Ministry is therefore designed systematically—from preparation and training to ministry, supervision, evaluation, and continuation.
For this reason, we describe it as a “system of congregational care by laypeople.”
A Change in the Roles of Clergy and Laity
The Lay Pastors Ministry requires a significant change in the traditional understanding of clergy and laity.
For many years, the common model of church ministry has been that the pastor does the ministry while laypeople receive the ministry or assist the pastor.
The Lay Pastors Ministry changes this model.
The pastor becomes the equipper, while the layperson becomes the minister.
This does not diminish the role of the pastor. Rather, it expands the pastor’s ministry by enabling more people to participate in pastoral care.
Equipping
The word “equip” in Ephesians 4:11–12 should be given special attention.
There is a useful distinction between education, training, and equipping.
Education primarily provides knowledge, theories, and concepts in a classroom setting. Training takes those concepts into practice and develops skills according to established principles and procedures.
Equipping goes one step further. It provides people with the tools, confidence, preparation, and responsibility necessary to function in the real ministry field.
The goal of equipping is therefore not simply to make people knowledgeable. It is to make them ready and able to minister.
Textbooks and Resources
Dr. Melvin Steinbron’s books have made an important contribution to the development of this ministry. As one reflection on his first book stated:
“The first book would be a unique and significant contribution to helping churches consider giving the pastoral care of their members to the laity.”
It also has value for seminaries and theological education because it helps future pastors understand how to equip their members to provide pastoral care.
His second book is also a valuable resource because it encourages pastors and churches to equip and partner with laypeople in the important ministry of pastoral care.
These resources helped establish the theological and practical foundation upon which the Lay Pastors Ministry has developed.
Maturity and Growth
The first priority of this ministry is maturity, not merely growth.
Many church programs place their primary emphasis on numerical growth or visible results. When the content and process are weak, however, such growth can produce immature believers.
Sometimes we emphasize results so strongly that people become tired, and when the goals are not achieved, they become frustrated.
The Lay Pastors Ministry takes a different approach. We emphasize the process of becoming mature.
When people are given time to grow, learn, practice, make mistakes, receive encouragement, and continue serving, maturity develops gradually. Healthy growth is therefore not simply about achieving a result; it is about becoming the kind of person who can continue to serve faithfully.
Lay Leadership
George Gallup, associated with the field of church growth research, emphasized the importance of developing lay leadership in the contemporary church. The development of lay leadership is closely related to healthy church growth.
Over many years, I have found that the Lay Pastors Ministry is an effective tool for developing lay leaders.
Here, however, we are not primarily talking about the position of laypeople in the church. We are talking about their role and function.
Every ministry should ultimately contribute to the development of leaders. Yet churches can easily make the ministry itself the final goal. When this happens, people may become merely program participants or managers rather than developing into mature leaders.
The Lay Pastors Ministry seeks to move beyond that. Through actual responsibility for caring for people, laypeople learn to lead, serve, communicate, take responsibility, and work as a team.
Contents of Training
The twelve training modules for PACE ministers include:
- Concept and Theology
- Who Needs It?
- Commitments
- The Call
- Building a Relationship
- About Listening
- “Being” Precedes “Doing”
- Keeping Spirituality Fit
- Anatomy of a Visit
- Being Professional
- Confidentiality
- Difficulties into Possibilities
These materials are drawn from the foundational resources of the Lay Pastors Ministry and have been selected according to what is necessary to prepare PACE ministers.
Based on my experience over the past fifteen years, I have found that these training modules address approximately 85 percent of what we need to prepare people for PACE ministry.
At the same time, training should remain flexible. Depending on the church and the circumstances, additional subjects may be included, such as the work of the Holy Spirit, supervision, and other practical matters.
One-to-One Ministry
The Lay Pastors Ministry is fundamentally a one-to-one ministry.
Many church ministries are designed around a “one-to-many” model. One pastor speaks to many people, one teacher teaches a class, or one leader directs a group.
There are strengths and weaknesses in both approaches.
One-to-many ministry is effective for group leadership, teaching, and creating group dynamics. However, personal care can sometimes become limited.
One-to-one ministry, on the other hand, is particularly strong in personal relationships, listening, encouragement, and individualized care. Its weakness may be that it does not naturally develop group leadership or group dynamics.
Therefore, these two approaches should not compete with each other. They should complement each other.
The church needs both group ministry and personal ministry. However, we should never overlook the importance of personal growth. A church can have large groups and many programs while individual people remain uncared for.
The Lay Pastors Ministry seeks to fill that gap by bringing pastoral care directly into personal relationships.
Conclusion
Ultimately, the Lay Pastors Ministry is a ministry in which laypeople themselves take responsibility for leading and carrying out the ministry.
In the traditional model, senior pastors and assistant pastors lead the ministries, while laypeople mainly assist them. In the Lay Pastors Ministry, the pastor’s primary responsibility is training, preparing, and equipping the laypeople. The laypeople then take responsibility for the actual ministry of caring for others.
This is the essential shift:
The pastor equips; the layperson ministers.
The goal is not to replace the pastor with laypeople. Rather, it is to multiply pastoral care through the whole congregation.
When pastors faithfully equip their people and laypeople willingly accept responsibility for ministry, the church begins to function more like the biblical body of Christ—where every believer has a part to play in building up one another.
This is the heart of the Lay Pastors Ministry.