What is a Reader?

Readers are lay people in the Church of England, from all walks of life, who are called by God, theologically trained and licensed by the Church to preach, teach, lead worship and assist in pastoral, evangelistic and liturgical work.

The office of Reader is the only lay ministry in the Church of England which is voluntary, nationally accredited, Episcopally licensed and governed by canon. There are now over 10,000 Readers, with men and women represented almost equally.

All Readers are licensed to the Diocese as well as their own parish, which means that they are a valuable resource to other parishes during vacancies and holidays.

Although nationally authorised, the scope of ministry and roles undertaken by Readers differs across the dioceses. In addition, each diocese currently provides its own programme of initial and continued training, which are moderated nationally to ensure consistency in preparing Readers for their office, supporting them and helping to keep them up to date. In this Diocese, the three-year training course is run in conjunction with York St John University.

Candidates for Reader ministry should approach their Incumbent who will then contact the Warden or Branch Chaplain. Don't be surprised if the original thought comes from someone else who sees the potential in you. Very often God will call through a friend's observation and knowledge of you.

Applications for Selection Conference (usually held on the first weekend after Easter) should be made to Chaplains before Mothering Sunday.

You can download from the Readers' national web site a pdf "How to become a Reader". You may need to install Acrobat Reader (free) by clicking ...