Lay Person

Lay Person

In religious organizations, the laity comprises all lay persons collectively. This can mean either any person who is not a member of the ordained clergy or of any monastic order or, within such an order, a monastic who is not a priest (c.f., lay brother). Conversely, terms such as lay priest, lay clergy and lay nun were once used in both Christian and Buddhist cultures to indicate ordained persons who continued to live out in the wider community instead of retiring to a monastery. In recent centuries, the term is often used more generally, in the context of any specialized profession, to refer to those who are not members of that profession.

In Anglicanism, the term "laity" refers either to anyone who is not a priest or deacon, or to the third order of ministers in the Church. In the Anglican tradition, all baptized persons are considered to be called to minister in Christ's name. The three orders of ministry are Priests, Deacons, and Lay Persons.