A searchable, downloadable PDF of the original review appears below. Jim Walton is the Coordinator of Youth and Lay Ministries, St Giles’ Church, Prince George, B.C.
Liberating the Laity: Equipping All the Saints for Ministry. R. Paul Stevens. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1985.
In his book Paul Stevens addresses the contemporary issue of the distinction between clergy and laity, where clergy are regarded as the primary active participants in the life and ministry of the church, while the laity are considered to be the passive recipients of what they pay the clergy to do. The author makes it very clear at the beginning of the book that he is by no means attempting to demote the role of paid leadership but rather trying to ensure that “all the people of God – both so-called clergy and so-called laity – will be elevated to their true dignity as ministers of Jesus Christ” (p. 27).
The book has two basic strands to it: the author’s personal pilgrimage in developing a healthy concept of lay ministry and instruction (both practical and theological) aimed at “liberating the laity for ministry.”
The seed for this book was sown in seminary, where the author discovered from personal study that the main purpose of church leadership was to “equip the saints for the work of ministry” (Eph. 4:12, NIV). The author then related how he rediscovered and explored this concept of shared ministry while pastoring his first church in eastern Canada and how the convictions he developed during these early years were instrumental in God leading him out of a successful “paid ministry” in Western Canada into the “lay-world” where he worked as a carpenter. This experience broadened his understanding of the equipping ministry that he subsequently describes in the remainder of the book.
While Stevens maintains that the best structure for equipping lay people to minister is the local church, he encourages a restructuring of the church to facilitate the various facets involved in an equipping ministry. He also warns against the problem of professionalism in the models and thinking of much of the church today which hinders the church from participating in the reality of ministry in the secular world. He emphasizes the need for a proper theology for equipping the laity – a theology that equips laity for career choices, for relating their work to ministry and for resisting the various sources of temptation plaguing many lay people who perceive themselves as locked into meaningless work. The author also emphasizes the need to equip laity with a proper perspective of mission. This perspective must recognize the unity in the mission of the church, where “the goal of mission is to make us fully human, not religious” (p. 94) and where this mission must be carried out in the context of the individual’s vocation. In addition, this perspective must recognized the diversity of the mission of the church, where individuals with unique gifts are called to minister in a variety of settings.
The book concludes with practical instruction for those called to be equippers, both the paid and those who Stevens refers to as the “voluntary” clergy (p. 125). The author deals with both the ministry and the spirituality of the equipper.
Liberating the laity has a very good blend of personal example and teaching, of theology and practical instruction. Stevens’ sharing often comes straight from his heart with a tone of sincere humility. His theology is sound and thought provoking, yet stated simply enough so that the lay person should be able to assimilate it with relative ease. These factors create an atmosphere of koinonia between the author and reader. This is aptly demonstrated in the final chapter where Stevens describes “one truly liberated layperson” (p. 166), a Cinderella-like yet realistic story of the effective ministry of an ordinary lay person in an urban church.
Stevens’ definition of the different ways in which people can relate work and vocation to meaningful ministry, “the professional Christian, the Christian professional and the tentmaker” (p. 82), are quite useful in helping to understand how the church can achieve a balance in ministering in ecclesia (within the church setting) and in diaspora (in society) (p. 85). These concepts of ministry are foundational for Christians who wish to effectively relate their faith to the world in which they live.
In this book, Stevens also deals with several potentially volatile areas in a very wise and sensitive way. These areas – professional thinking in the churches approach to adult education, the consideration of unpaid clergy and the role of women in ministry – can be stumbling blocks to lay ministry if they are not confronted and dealt with by the church.
Liberating the Laity is both a refreshing and a challenging book for the contemporary church. “It is not a day for one more program in lay training. It is a day for radical transformation of the whole people of God into a ministering people. Nothing short of that will restore the church to its pioneering role in the kingdom of God.” (p. 10).