The Full-time Lay Missionaries provide parishes with pastoral coordinators totally dedicated to the formation of lay Catholics.
The Full-time Lay Missionaries program collaborates with the Church by offering the diocese well-trained and available lay people who are ready to evangelize and catechize full-time under the pastoral direction of their parish priests. Mission The mission of the full-time lay missionaries program is to find, form, and launch committed lay people in the work of evangelization in the Church. They work in obedience to the bishop and under the guidance of their parish priest, attending to the specific needs of their own parish, especially in the area of catechesis.
Profile of a Full-time Evangelizer
The Full-time Lay Missionaries are single or married people at least 25 years old, with at least 3 years of catechetical experience, a letter of recommendation from their bishop, good reading and writing skills, an acceptable intellectual level, and a spirit of service.
Their main tasks are to: teach the faith in direct catechesis, form other teachers of the faith, visit homes, direct liturgies of the word, form groups of youth and adults for catechesis, open new catechetical centers, give sacramental preparation classes, organize missions and pilgrimages, find and nurture vocations to the priesthood or consecrated life, and find more potential full-time lay missionaries. The Team
There are more than one thousand families serving as Full-time Lay Missionaries in Mexico, Venezuela, Guatemala and El Salvador. To help coordinate this effort we have put together a team of professionals to act as the business managers and directors of formation. The supporting staff prepares teaching materials that will help the lay missionaries in their mission of drawing others closer to their faith. There are now more than 120 professionals at the head of this initiative, serving thousands of full-time and part-time lay misionaries in Latin America.
The Full-time Lay Missionaries program is a specific response to the Second Vatican Council and its call for greater lay participation in the work of sharing and spreading the faith. It has also proven to be a great support for bishops in many dioceses by extending their mission of teaching the faith to the laity.
For more information about the Full-time Lay Missionaries program, visit the web site at www.evangelizadores.org.
