Lay Leadership
For the Care of Souls
AARON PERRY
General Editor
Harold L. Senkbeil
Lay Leadership: For the Care of Souls
Lexham Ministry Guides
Copyright 2025 Aaron Perry
Lexham Press, 1313 Commercial St., Bellingham, WA 98225 LexhamPress.com
You may use brief quotations from this resource in presentations, articles, and books. For all other uses, please write Lexham Press for permission. Email us at permissions@lexhampress.com.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture quotations marked (NRSV) are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Print ISBN 9781683597780
Digital ISBN 9781683597797
Library of Congress Control Number 2024934996
Series Editor: Harold L. Senkbeil
Lexham Editorial: Todd Hains, Elliot Ritzema, Abigail Stocker
Cover Design: Lydia Dahl
To the many, many lay leaders I’ve been privileged
to lead, learn from, and serve alongside
at Calvary Community Church
and Centennial Road Church
And to my wife, Heather, whose ministry
and leadership as a lay person inspired,
tested, and refined so much of this book.
Lead: Ministry that Runs Wild, Wide, and Deep
Cast: Helping Others to See What You See
Ask: Inviting Others into the Work of God
Task: Designing Fitting Roles and Responsibilities
Train: Equipping People for Ministry
Track: Managing the People in Ministry
Thank: Expressing Praise to God and Gratitude to His People
Pay careful attention to yourselves and
to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit
has made you overseers, to care
for the church of God,
which he obtained
with his own
blood.
What’s old is new again.
The church in ages past has focused her mission through every changing era on one unchanging, Spirit-given task: the care of souls in Jesus’s name. Christian clergy in every generation have devoted themselves to bringing Christ’s gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation to people by first bringing them to faith and then keeping them in the faith all life long.
These people—these blood-bought souls—are cared for just as a doctor cares for bodies. The first step is carefully observing the symptoms of distress, then diagnosing the ailment behind these symptoms. Only after careful observation and informed diagnosis can a physician of souls proceed—treating not the symptoms, but the underlying disease.
Attention and intention are essential for quality pastoral care. Pastors first attentively listen with Christ’s ears and then intentionally speak with Christ’s mouth. Soul care is a ministry of the Word; ...
|
About Lay Leadership: For the Care of SoulsInviting others into God’s good work The church is ordered so that good can run wild. God appoints leaders to commission the laity in the church’s ministry and mission. Pastors and ministry leaders serve and organize the church in such a way that people in their care can pursue their unique gifts. In Lay Leadership: For the Care of Souls, Aaron Perry empowers pastors to empower laity in leadership. Perry helps leaders recognize the challenges and pursue the opportunities in sharing vision, inviting participation, delegating roles and responsibilities, and equipping people for sustained ministry. With theological structure and practical wisdom, Perry provides a foundational theology of the laity and specific actions for leaders to apply in their own context. |
| Support Info | perryalmgleadership |