Dear Church,
On Sunday we once again celebrate Laity Sunday. Laity, which comes from the Greek word for “people,” is one of the ways we talk about most of the members and friends of First Congregational Church of Bellingham. Practically, it’s a way to linguistically distinguish folks who are ordained clergy from folks who are not. We’ve celebrated Laity Sunday for, I believe, a long time- if you know when this custom started at First Congregational, I’d love to find out! Usually once or twice a year, we gather particular wisdom, gifts, and insight from the laity among us, and ask our ordained pastors to stay in their seats.
I’m very grateful for this tradition at our church, though I’ll admit it often happens when I’m out of town. And I want to remind us that Laity Sunday is not “covering” for worship, or a way of having worship fill-ins while the professional worship types are unavailable. Instead, it’s a witness to one of the core commitments of our faith and tradition.
Different folks have different language for these commitments. Certainly, our congregational history and polity (how we’re organized) is part of that: we make decisions as a whole congregation, and no matter how many theology degrees you have, you get the same vote as anybody else. We don’t privilege the authority of somebody because they have a particular job or particular training; we all have wisdom to contribute as we discern how God is calling us.
Secondly, laity Sunday can remind us about another value, one that is certainly central to my faith: the priesthood of all believers. In some traditions, it’s important to have people that are set apart and consecrated for particular ritual roles. Ours is, largely, not one of those. We are all called to the work of the Gospel: to healing, to proclaiming the Good News, to casting out the forces of Oppression. As a pastor, I don’t have more Gospel authority than any other believer: we are called into this work together.
Finally, Laity Sunday is yet another way we can embody a conviction that God delights in diversity. I love to hear Pastor Sharon preach, and anybody who’s been in a meeting with me knows that I also love to talk. But what a gift it is when we get to hear from someone that we don’t usually hear from! I hope that happens every week at First Congregational: lay people share music, invite the offering, testify about their faith, and lead shared liturgy. But on Laity Sunday that gets to become the whole scope of the service, and we are richer for it.
I hope you will join us on Sunday for Laity Sunday, and I hope you will pray about how God is calling you to be in ministry in your community: whether you’re clergy or not, whether you’re trained or not, whether you feel ready or not As a wise friend told me, “God doesn’t call the qualified; God qualifies the called!”
Pastor Davi
