Methodist Local Preacher - Lay Preaching in Other Denominations

Lay Preaching in Other Denominations

Although Methodism has probably organised the institution of local preaching more thoroughly than any other denomination, lay preachers are of course used by many other churches. The other non-conformist churches in Britain have long had similar arrangements, and the Church of England now makes considerable use of "lay readers", a title also used in the Roman Catholic church. However Anglican and Catholic lay readers, and indeed the lay preachers of other denominations, have never quite enjoyed the status within their own churches, or the recognition beyond them, that are associated with the Methodist local preacher.