People came from across Lancashire to St Stephen’s Church in Preston at the weekend for the licensing of four new ‘Licensed Lay Ministers’ (LLMs).

The gathering was at 3pm on Saturday and was led by Rt Rev Philip North, Bishop of Blackburn.

Licensed Lay Ministry is one of our ‘pathways’ for lay ministry. LLMs are trained at Emmanuel Theological College and were licensed by Bishop Philip. They are licensed to teach, preach, lead worship, and conduct funerals.

Their ministry is separate from that of Authorised Lay Ministers (ALMs) who are authorised by the Bishop and commissioned by their incumbents to represent the church in specific areas of work, for example, pastoral assistants, worship leaders and youth and children’s ministry.

There were four LLMs licensed during the weekend service; joined by family and friends.

Also in attendance was Ruth Haldane, Warden of Lay Ministry.

After the service, Ruth commented: “Once again the Bishop of Blackburn has licensed a new group of LLMs to teach, preach, enable, and lead in diverse ways across the diocese. We had a wonderful celebration and it was an opportunity to recognise and give thanks to God for each of these LLMs as they go out to their parishes to begin their ministries.  Their willingness to serve their parishes and their dedication to Jesus Christ stands out.”

Bishop Philip added: “Like many others who are already LLMs, the men and women who have been licensed today are from all walks of life.

“Our Diocesan Vision 2026 commits us to ensure we have ‘healthy churches transforming communities’ and our LLMs provide valuable support to the work of our clergy across the Diocese; ensuring we can play as full a part as possible in community life.

“Our LLMs (and also our ALMs) are all volunteers and I am grateful for their dedication in giving so freely of their time to help us in sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ.”

• For more information about Licensed Lay Ministry in our Diocese and how to become an LLM click here to go to the relevant page on our Diocesan website.
• Some pictures from the event will be available soon on our flickr feed here.

Picture captions, top to bottom

• Pic A: Newly Licensed Lay Ministers being welcomed by friends and family
• Pic B: Newly licensed lay ministers with Bishop Philip, Bishop of Blackburn, and Canon Ruth Haldane, Warden of Lay Ministry