Their roles are many and varied. Lay ministers are no longer concentrated exclusively in education as they once were. They are pastoral associates, musicians and liturgists, pastoral counselors, social justice ministers, spiritual directors, parish nurses, youth and family ministers, and ministers to the elderly in multiple ministerial settings. We are clearly at a watershed time in the leadership of the Church. Experts see several factors as responsible for this, including theology, the smaller number of clergy and religious, and raised expectations of the laity regarding leadership.
Various studies exist that confirm the success of lay ministers in parish roles.
However, the success of the current generation of lay ministers will be measured not only by their involvement, but also by whether they encourage and empower others to join their ranks and eventually replace them. The serious decline in the participation of young people in the Church, especially during their adolescence and into their early 30's, is a definite challenge for clergy, religious and lay ministers alike. We need to teach our youth that the use of gospel values for dealing with the social complexities of the 21st century is within everyone's reach, including theirs. This new generation wants the Church's help with serious moral and economic questions. Values once developed through the family and the Church in previous generations are now increasingly influenced by friends, the media and contemporary society.