Lay Pastors Ministry (LPM)
This is the system of congregational care by lay people. This concept is in the Melvin’s PACE Training Manual. At introduction part, it says like that.
It means this is not the program but kind of a system. What is that mean? Once we say system, we may recall a few things, but easily we might think computer system. When we talk about computer, we know how it works. Once we push the start button, our computer is on. That is the SYSTEM. This ministry is just like that. What and who does, and when and how it works. Church ministry should be like that.
Pastor alone, laypeople alone could not do that. If we look at Bible it says that we are one body, one church, also one God which means the leader has to think how his act, his talk will be effective to the lay people. If they have caring heart, it goes to them directly; if they don’t have the mindset, then laypeople know that. Lay people also need to know their church is the system, which their act will be effective to their peers directly. So the Bible says each one is the part of whole body; hands, eyes, so on. As we see computer, every single part of our body, that is, every single of our members are connected directly and indirectly. That’s why Professor Paul Stevens stressed that to see the Pastor as a system leader. In his book, The Equipping Pastor, he explained more in detail. Lay Pastors Ministry is also the brand of this ministry.
First they, LPMI USA, put the name in the beginning, ‘Lay Pastoral Care Ministry’ which means this ministry is done by lay people and it is on the pastoral care, but later on they changed the name to Lay Pastors Ministry (called LPM), which means Lay Pastors are doing this Ministry, its core ministry is PACE; Prayer, Available, Contact, and Example. They focused on the person Lay Pastors.
PACE
PACE is the Ministry Description of a Lay Pastor. When a lay person joins the Lay Pastors Ministry in a local church, he/she makes a commitment to PACE. P=Prayer A=Availability C=Contact E=Example.
Dr. Melvin J. Steinbron introduced the Lay Pastors Ministry to College Hill Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati in 1978. It has since expanded to churches of many denominations across the United States and around the world. The four elements in the acrostic PACE became the basis for what a Lay Pastor would have to do to adequately care for the families in his/her flock.
If you read Dr. Steinbron’s book, Can The Pastor Do It Alone?, you will find a fully outlined Equipping Seminar for Lay Pastors. PACE is an essential part of that Seminar.