Find out what led Joe to become a Licensed Lay Minister
Joe McNulty is a management consultant, a former churchwarden, and is currently training for Licensed Lay Ministry at St Augustine’s College of Theology. We asked him what brought him here – and what he’s found along the way.
This is the second post in our Licensed Lay Ministry blog series. In our first post, we explained what Licensed Lay Ministry is and what the training involves. Now it’s time to hear from someone doing it.
You might also see it referred to as Reader training, and a Licensed Lay Minister called a Lay Reader – they mean the same thing.
A gradual calling to Licensed Lay Ministry
Joe didn’t decide to do Licensed Lay Ministry training overnight.
“About 7, 8 years ago, I started attending church more regularly, my local church. It was Anglo-Catholic in tradition, so very familiar to me, and it grew from there. I started getting more involved, then became church warden a few years ago, which I’ve really enjoyed.
“But I felt that there was still more to discover, and I felt called to do something else, which is why Lay Ministry really appealed to me.”
The gradual buildup from being a regular churchgoer to churchwarden to an LLM student is something many people will see in themselves.
“That bridge between the church and the world”
Part of what attracts people to training is what it isn’t, and Joe describes it well:
“Something I’ve particularly loved about Lay Ministry is that I work a full-time job in the city. I’m a management consultant, and Lay Ministry feels like that bridge between the church and the world. So what you do on a Sunday, you try to bring into your day-to-day life.
“It’s not ordained ministry. It’s not a full-time ministry. It’s not even a non-stipendary ministry – but you are that bridge between the church and the world, and trying to bring something of God and something of Christ to everything you do in your daily life.”
Licensed Lay Ministry isn’t about massively changing your life – it’s more about bringing faith more fully into it.
What the training is actually like
Joe really enjoyed the actual course content, which covers everything from Biblical Studies to Spirituality and Discipleship.
“One of my absolute favourites was Church History. We had a fantastic lecturer, and I used to describe it to people as listening to the most amazing podcast for two hours every single week.
“Whilst it’s been difficult balancing personal life, work, and study, because I’ve got that passion, and because all the lectures are really good and all the assignments are really interesting, it just stirs you on to keep going.”
Could Licensed Lay Ministry training be for you?
Joe talks about the many ways people serve their church:
“There are certain roles in church that are really important, and I mean that at the very basic level – cleaning the church, making the tea and coffee afterwards. If that’s your calling, and you feel that’s enough for you, and you’re giving back to the community, that’s absolutely fantastic. Keep doing what you’re doing.
“If you feel you’re called to something different – you want to do something a bit more academic, that you want to start to preach, to start to help out with the ministry team in your church, and you want to go to that next stage and you’re feeling that calling – then it’s definitely something worth exploring.”
If Joe’s story sounds familiar, and you want to take your calling further, training might be what you’re looking for.
Visit our Licensed Lay Ministry Training page to find out more about the course and how to apply. And keep an eye on our website for details of our taster events, where you can get a feel for St Augustine’s before you commit.
Want to read more? Check out our blog – What is Reader Training?
