The Laity and Their Work in the Church
Who Are the Laity?
They are all those who are not members of the clergy or monastics. They are called the laity because they are occupied with the affairs of the world and are not dedicated to ecclesiastical, pastoral, or spiritual work. In English, they are called “Laymen,” a word derived from the Greek word λαός, meaning “the people.” If we say that the priests and monks, at most, number approximately 5,000 (five thousand), then the remaining millions of the Copts of Egypt are among the laity. Naturally, all women (except nuns) fall within the category of the laity.
The Work of the Laity in the Church
One aspect of the democracy of our Coptic Church is that it has permitted the laity to have a role in ecclesiastical work, outside the priestly ministry.
- Among the laity are all the members of the General Communal Council, all the members of the sub-communal councils, and half of the members of the Coptic Endowments Authority.
- Also, all the male and female teachers in Christian Education (Sunday Schools) are laymen. Their number throughout Egypt is in the thousands.
- Likewise, all the male and female servants in the Bishopric of Youth and in the Bishopric of General Services.
- The great majority of the members of the charitable committees are laymen. Likewise, the members of the social service are laymen.
- The great majority of the professors of the Clerical College and all its branches, and the professors of the Institute of Coptic Studies and the Institute of Pastoral Affairs, are laymen.
- There is a council for each of our churches throughout the entire field of evangelism, whose members are laymen. They undertake the financial and administrative affairs of the church.
All the groups of laity whom we have mentioned work within the Church and under its care and supervision. It has never happened that any one of them became independent from the Church or became opposed to it…
The Church believes that everyone should have one opinion and one thought. Thus was the Church in the age of the Apostles, in the first century of Christianity. As it was said of them: “Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul… And great grace was upon them all” (Acts 4:32–33).
Concerning the Canonical Ecclesiastical Status
Here, we say two words frankly:
The first word: It is that all the categories of the laity whom we have mentioned represent leaders in ecclesiastical services. Each one of them has his recognized status in the Church.
The second word: It is that it has never happened that a group of these leaders, who number in the hundreds or thousands, claimed that they represented all the laity in the Coptic Church.
- If some individuals say that they are “the laity,” then what is their status and proportion among the millions of the laity? And what is their status among the leaders? And why did they not serve from within the Church like the others?
- And if a small group says, “We are the laity,” then what is their canonical status within the ecclesiastical system? Or with regard to the laws of the Church?
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