Whenever the “message” of our words and the “message” of our actions conflict, the message of our actions will always win out.
After many years of experience with lay pastoral care, one conclusion becomes increasingly clear: lay people really can pastor. Yes, they are doing it—authentically and effectively.
Dr. Melvin Steinbron often spoke of lay people as caregivers and, in that sense, encouraged us to recognize them as lay pastors. The word “pastor” here does not mean that lay people replace ordained clergy. Rather, it describes what they actually do: they care, visit, pray, listen, encourage, nurture, and walk alongside people through the ordinary and difficult moments of life.
My own fifteen years of personal experience with PACE ministry confirms this truth.
I remember hearing a wonderful story from one of the pastors in our PACE network. One day, Mrs. Oakja Kim, the PACE Ministry Leader, came into her pastor’s office. She expressed her deep gratitude to him because the church had entrusted her with leadership of the PACE ministry.
Her story was especially moving.
She had been an ordinary farmer’s wife. She herself had spent her entire life working as a farmer. For many years, she assumed that her life would simply continue as the wife of a poor farmer. She never imagined that one day she would become a leader of an important ministry in her church.
But the church gave her an opportunity.
The pastor trusted her.
The church entrusted her.
And she discovered something within herself that she had never fully recognized before.
She became a leader. She became a caregiver. She became a spiritual partner in ministry.
And something happened inside her: her sense of dignity and self-esteem was restored.
This is one of the beautiful things about lay ministry. We are not simply asking lay people to do more work for the church. We are helping them discover that God can use their ordinary lives for extraordinary ministry.
A farmer can pastor.
A homemaker can pastor.
A businessman can pastor.
A retired person can pastor.
They do not need a seminary degree to visit someone who is lonely. They do not need an ordination certificate to pray with a grieving family. They do not need a title to listen to someone who is hurting.
They need a willing heart, a caring spirit, and the opportunity to serve.
And this brings us to an important question:
What does it mean to a senior pastor to know that scores of his people are reaching out—visiting, praying, contacting, encouraging, and nurturing his people?
For the senior pastor, it means freedom.
It means gratitude.
And it means partnership in ministry.
The pastor no longer carries the burden of pastoral care alone. He is surrounded by people who are sharing the ministry with him.
This is not a reduction of the pastor’s ministry. It is an expansion of the pastor’s ministry.
When lay people begin to pastor, the pastor does not become less important. Rather, the pastor becomes what God intended the pastor to be: an equipper who releases God’s people into ministry.
The result is a healthier church.
The pastor has freedom to lead.
The lay people have opportunities to serve.
The congregation receives more personal care.
And God’s people experience the blessing of shared ministry.
That is why I believe so strongly in PACE.
They are not merely being trained to help the pastor.
They are being equipped to care for God’s people.
And when they begin to do it, something beautiful happens.
The people are cared for.
The pastor is strengthened.
And the lay people themselves are transformed.
Yes, lay people can really pastor.
Not merely in theory.
They are doing it.
Authentically.
Effectively.
And with great blessing to the church.