Authorised Lay Ministers (ALMs) are lay people active in church life, who have been identified by their parish as having a particular gifting, vocation or calling to lay leadership, i.e. those called to work collaboratively alongside their incumbent and wider ministry teams with a distinct focus on growing, nurturing and serving the wider parish community.
ALMs are nominated by their incumbent and PCC for training in line with their parish Mission Action Plan (MAP) and diocesan selection criteria. Once trained they are authorised by the Bishop of Manchester to carry out a mutually agreed ministry role back within their local parish context. An ALMs authorisation lasts for three years after which time it can be reviewed, updated and renewed.
WHAT DOES THE TRAINING INVOLVE?
ALM training begins each January with an 8-week Core Leadership Module followed by a 12-week Ministry Training Elective. There are currently ten electives available.
Children & Families
Community Outreach & Social Action
New - Digital Church & Online Media
Ecology & Creation
Mission & Evangelism
Parish Admin, Finance & Governance
Pastoral Outreach & Listening
Prayer & Spirituality
Worship & Liturgy
Youth Work (plus specialism)
IS BEING AN ALM THE ONLY WAY TO ACCESS LAY MINISTRY TRAINING?
All ten of the Ministry Training electives offered on the ALM programme are also open as stand-alone courses to any lay people wanting to develop their call and gifting to Christian ministry and service. For more information on this please see our section on General Lay Courses.
HOW CAN I APPLY?
Applications for new ALMs are now closed for the 2022 ALM courses. The next set of courses will begin again in January 2023 with more information available in the Autumn.
WHERE CAN I GET MORE INFORMATION?
For more details on the ALM course please see the information below, or feel free to contact the Local Ministry Officer in the Vocations Team.
ALM Handbook for Clergy and PCCs
ALM FAQs
See also our short video: ALM handbook for clergy and PCCs
For other resources, please see the Document Library.
YOUR ALM CHAPLAINS
Chaplains are available to provide spiritual care and pastoral support for our ALMs. For more information and contact details, click here.