An Authorized Lay Pastor is a member, called by God and affirmed by his/her church and trained, authorized and nurtured by the Association to be a preacher/teacher to a particular congregation. He or she may serve full-time or part-time, with or without salary. The authorization is valid only within the bounds of the Southwest Association and only in the church specified and is valid for a period of up to three years. It may be renewed at the expiration or terminated anytime at the discretion of the Division on Church and Ministry.

Within every congregation, God bestows multiple gifts upon the members of that church. As churches have lifted individuals and encouraged them to pursue ordained ministry, it is important that churches today actively search for the gifts of the laity of the church that can also be used in the ministry of the church in the office of Authorized Lay Pastor.

In the briefest of descriptions-an interested individual goes through a discernment process, then proceeds to evaluations that clarify both the gifts and fitness of the individual for ministry. After the evaluations, a individualized program with a mentor is developed. Following the successful completion of the program, the Authorized Lay Pastor is evaluated by the ALP Committee and recommended to the Division of Church and Ministry for authorization.

The program is administered by the Authorized Lay Pastor Committee. The Committee carries out the functions of recruitment, training, encouragement, examination and post-authorization care and oversight. The Division on Church and MInistry handles deployment and authorization.

The Authorized Lay Pastor program has successfully nurtured and grown the skills of selected laity so that they may fully use their gifts for ministry. Presently, the Southwest Association has a number of Authorized Lay Pastors serving in small, rural churches that were previously under-served. ALP Phil Haslanger went on to pursue ordination. He was ordained on October 28th and is now serving as Associate Pastor at Fitchburg Memorial UCC.

For more information or to obtain an application packet, contact the Association office.