The Church of England in Lancashire celebrated the commissioning of a large new group of ‘Authorised Lay Ministers’ (ALMs) at Blackburn Cathedral at the weekend.

Authorised Lay Ministry is a relatively new ‘pathway’ for lay ministry which was introduced in 2021 across the Diocese.

Our ALMs have trained for very specific ministries in their local church and are commissioned by their parish Priest. The work of ALMs is additional to that of Licensed Lay Ministers (LLMs) who have a broader remit in our parishes.

There were 45 ALMs authorised by their incumbents during the weekend service, which was led by the Acting Bishop of Blackburn, Rt Revd Philip North.

Also in attendance were the Archdeacons of Blackburn and Lancaster, Ven. Mark Ireland and Ven. David Picken; the Diocesan Director of Vocations, Revd Nick McKee; Ruth Haldane, Warden of Lay Ministry; Revd Munawar Din, Global Majority Heritage Vocations Champion; Revd Sarah Gill, Bishops’ Adviser on UKME Issues and Amy White, Lay Training Officer.  

After the service, Ruth commented: “There was an air of great celebration as our Authorised Lay Ministers were commissioned to their parishes at the Cathedral. We also recognised the diverse range of ministries, from urban mission to pastoral care, occasional preaching to later life ministry and many more. We are thankful to God for all those who have come forward to be trained and sent out to minister in their communities right across the diocese.” 

Bishop Philip added: “It was wonderful to see 45 new ALMs trained and now sent for service in parishes across the County. It was joyous occasion and, alongside those commissioned in the first year of our ALM training programme, this year’s cohort will continue to make a huge difference to our work in the diocese and particularly to our Vision 2026 aims to make disciples, to be witnesses, to grow leaders and to inspire children and young people for Jesus Christ.” 

• For more information about Authorised Lay Ministry in our Diocese and how to become an ALM (including a helpful video) click here to go to the relevant page on our website.  
• An album of pictures from the event will be available soon on our flickr feed here.  

Picture captions. Pictures by Sara Cuff.  

Top picture: The ALMs from parishes across Lancashire gather at the West Door of the Cathedral with, centre left to right, Ruth Haldane, Warden of Lay Ministry; Bishop Philip North and Amy White, Lay Training Officer. 

Second picture: The special moment in the service when each new Authorised Lay Minister was commissioned where they stood by their parish incumbent.