Members of a religious organization who are not part of the clergy
"Layman" redirects here. For the community, see Layman, Ohio. For the surname, see Layman (surname). For the butterfly, see Amauris albimaculata.
In religious organizations, the laity (/ˈleɪəti/) consists of all members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-ordained members of religious orders, e.g. a nun or a lay brother.[1][2] In both religious and wider secular usage, a layperson (also layman or laywoman) is a person who is not qualified in a given profession or does not have specific knowledge of a certain subject.[3] The phrase "layman's terms" is used to refer to plain language that is understandable to the everyday person, as opposed to specialised terminology understood only by a professional.[4][5]
Terms such as lay priest, lay clergy and lay nun were once used in certain Buddhist cultures, especially Japanese, to indicate ordained persons who continued to live in the wider community instead of retiring to a monastery. Some Christian churches utilise lay preachers, who preach but are not clergy. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints uses the term lay priesthood to emphasise that its local congregational leaders are unpaid.[6]
^Laity Archived 2020-10-13 at the Wayback Machine at the Catholic Encyclopedia
^"lay person — definition of lay person by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia". Thefreedictionary.com. Archived from the original on 1 January 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
^"Definition of LAYPERSON". www.merriam-webster.com. Archived from the original on 15 October 2020. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
^Baum, Caroline (8 September 2011). "A Layman's Guide to the President's Jobs Speech: Caroline Baum". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 20 May 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
^Murphy, Martin (February 2013). Theological Terms in Layman Language. Martin Murphy. ISBN 978-0-9856181-5-5. ...simple words like faith or not so simple words like aseity are explained in plain language.
^"How do Mormon congregations work?". news-nz.churchofjesuschrist.org. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
In religious organizations, the laity (/ˈleɪəti/) consists of all members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-ordained members of...
Catholic laity are the ordinary members of the Catholic Church who are neither clergy nor recipients of Holy Orders or vowed to life in a religious order...
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The Pontifical Council for the Laity was a pontifical council of the Roman Catholic Curia from 1967 to 2016. It had the responsibility of assisting the...
dignity" of the laity, "willingly listen" to them, acknowledge and diligently foster "exalted charisms of the laity", and "entrust to the laity duties in the...
the Dominican Laity; the first was issued in 1285. Lay Dominicans are also governed by the Fundamental Constitution of the Dominican Laity, and their provinces...
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(Apostolic Activity), also known as the "Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity", is one of the 16 magisterial documents of the Second Vatican Council....
for the day to day celebration of the sacraments and pastoral care of the laity. As of 2016[update], there are 221,700 parishes worldwide. In the Latin...
for the diaconate.[citation needed] The passage from membership of the laity to that of the clergy occurs with ordination to the diaconate. Previously...
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universal priesthood of believers implies the right and duty of the Christian laity not only to read the Bible in the vernacular, but also to take part in the...
ISBN 9781315845647. Fouracre, Paul (2007). 'Writing about Charles Martel', in Law, laity and solidarities : essays in honour of Susan Reynolds / edited by Pauline...
books). If read aloud, these books would still have been intelligible to the laity. Many of these texts are responses to the tribulations of the time, and...
teaching simply with papal approval. The constitution also allowed for laity to contribute input directly to the synod's secretary general. Some analysts...
in 1899. The movement seeks the appointment of an Arab patriarch, Arab laity control over Jerusalem patriarchate's properties for social and educational...
ritual and are a common point of contact between Zen monastics and the laity. Statistics published by the Sōtō school state that 80 percent of Sōtō laymen...
fellows are evenly divided between members of the Holy Cross order and the laity; they have final say over the operation of the university. They vote on...
(royal peculiar) Clergy Dean David Hoyle Canon(s) see Dean and Chapter Laity Director of music Andrew Nethsingha (Organist and Master of the Choristers)...
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