In 2014, the Australian Catholic Council for Lay Pastoral Ministry (ACCLPM) of the Australian Catholics Bishops Conference approached the Pastoral Research Office (PRO) to undertake a research project to examine lay pastoral ministry in the Catholic Church in Australia. The ACCLPM asked if Dr Aoife McGrath of the Pastoral Research Office, who had worked in Ireland as a lay pastoral associate and had completed a master’s degree in pastoral ministry, could be engaged to carry out the research. Unfortunately, at that time, the PRO was unable to continue to employ Dr McGrath for the duration of the project due to visa restrictions, so the project was referred to the Christian Research Association (CRA). Consequently, Dr McGrath was employed by the CRA to undertake the project commissioned by the Pastoral Research Office.
The first aim of the project was to find out what lay pastoral ministry looked like in different contexts (e.g. individual parishes, parish clusters, and geographical regions) in order to identify the following:
- How and why lay people become involved in pastoral ministry;
- What kind of tasks and responsibilities they have;
- How their roles are understood and received;
- What structures (if any) of support and supervision surround their involvement;
- How their ministry fits in with the broader mission and ministry in the context;
- What is needed to make this ministry effective and sustainable.
A second aim was to explore the theological understanding of such ministry: to conduct a review of Catholic literature regarding lay pastoral ministry in local, national and international contexts; and to review relevant literature about similar forms of ministry in other Christian denominations.
The project’s overall purpose was to provide the ACCLPM with information on the current landscape of lay pastoral ministry in the Catholic Church in Australia, based on the experiences of people who participated in the project, and provide an outline of the theological foundations of such ministry. This information was to inform the ACCLPM in drafting national guidelines for sustaining and developing this ministry.
The project took a case study approach to explore the variety of ways and contexts in which lay pastoral ministry was exercised. The research covered those in both unpaid and paid positions and from various situations. In total, 94 people were interviewed.
The study found that rigorous processes for selecting, forming, accreditating and authorising lay pastoral ministry encouraged high-quality ministry practice. It identified that while the flexible and transitory nature of many lay pastoral ministry roles suited some people, it could also be detrimental to the stability of that form of ministry. It was also noted that it was important to manage the responsibilities, expectations, and working hours to ensure that people did not burn out. Based on the findings of the study, the following recommendations were made:
- That people be offered remuneration for work done for more than 4 hours a week on a continuing basis;
- That contracts should cover all employed people, containing detailed role descriptions and a realistic assessment of hours of work and should generally specify a length of time for the review of the contract;
- That dioceses develop procedures and systems for the resolution of grievances and disputes and support networks;
- That national systems of recognised training and professional development be facilitated with certificates that could be offered through online courses supported by local or online tutoring;
- That templates for the commissioning of both paid employees and unpaid pastoral workers be developed; and
- That workplaces of lay pastoral ministers be provided and managed in line with the instructions for Catholic Church employees in Good Works.
The report is available from the National Centre for Evangelisation website:
https://nce.catholic.org.au/images/2022/Lay_Pastoral_Ministry_Research_Report_-with_preamble.pdf
Report Details: Aoife McGrath, Philip Hughes and Stephen Reid, Exploring Lay Pastoral Ministry in the Catholic Church, Revised Version (Nunawading, VIC: Christian Research Association, January 2016).