Accredited Lay Ministers

Accredited Lay Ministers are people who serve in pastoral ministry or church administration or social and community work. They are people who feel called to a professional ministry in the Church of England but not to ordination. They value their lay status and wish to walk alongside people, as Christ walked with his friend son the Emmaus Road.  ALMs used to be parish based but new ALMs often have a specialist ministry, working, for example,  with ethnic minorities or in counselling clergy or as a university pastoral worker or as an industrial chaplain.

Selection & training

Candidates offering for this ministry are selected and trained in the same way as ordinands. The criteria for selection are the same. as for ordained ministry When training is completed the candidate is admitted and commissioned. S/he is licensed to a training parish so as to receive training in parish ministry, even if the focus of their work is elsewhere. They would also participate in IME.