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I don't think there's a 'region' in Canada capable of enforcing any rules about anything, quite frankly. I'm guessing that the on-going convo is more likely to be "you're alive and okay with whatever model? good for you..."
I believe there is a UC process for 'others' to apply for being granted the official status to lead communion.I recall past conversations about requiring a ordained minister to lead communion but I guess that could be a retired but still active minister, like some of the ministers of visitation around here, volunteering for a Sunday as needed. Certainly, that's how the last communion I was at was led.
There is a church in my area that has consciously chosen NOT to have a minister on their staff. They use supply ministers & lay worship leaders, guest speakers etc. on Sundays. So actually - it IS possible to have a community of faith that does not have an identified minister on staff.
It's interesting to me how 'organized/corporate' religion has imposed all these rules of who can do what - and the Anglican church is certainly not alone in this!The Anglican Church of Canada does things a bit differently.
Officially, a parish is lead by a priest – typically called the "incumbent" – who is kind of the spiritual leader of the parish. But technically, a parish can be a multi-point parish, and if a parish has 6 or 7 points far apart from each other, it's evident that the priest can't be there every Sunday.
Technically, nothing prevents a parish priest to decide to never visit congregation X, whether it is because of distance, because the congregation is too small, or because that congregation prefers to use lay leadership. Practically, a church community could do almost all its services without a priest if the priest and the bishop are OK with that. But there are a few limitations to such a scenario:
So there may not be any official Anglican rule requiring a parish priest, but in practice, it's almost as if there were one.
- Lay leaders must be licensed to preach and lead the service.
- Only a priest (either the regular priest or any other visiting priest) can consecrate the bread and wine and serve communion.
- Prior to 1970 (±), most Anglican congregations had Eucharist once a month, or maybe twice a month. Nowadays, most parishes like to have a weekly Eucharist, so it's typically rural parishes that end up having Eucharist only once or twice a month.
We have definite rules in our region for LLWL regarding number of times we can preach at one church in a row. I imagine each region has its own rules. And, during the re-licensing process, we need to meet certain criteria (Boundaries course, police check, on-going education). I'm okay with that. However, if, for some reason, I don't get re-licensed, apparently I can still be a worship leader. I know someone who didn't complete the LLWL course, and she still leads worship services. However, if I don't get re-licensed, it will be a clear sign from God to give this part of my life up and find something else to do!
Hi! I was told our church could not use lay-ministry indefinitely even though we only have two services a month. How many years can we do this according to the United Church of Canada? Thanks!
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