The idea of every Christian ministering is significantly different to the middle ground occupied by a 'Lay Minister' who has an authorised role which can include leadership, liturgical, pastoral and teaching roles within the body of the church. The idea of a special breed of the laity as ministers is foreign to Roman Catholic tradition but has found its way into Anglicanism through the abandonment of the minor-orders and the adoption of deaconesses, Church Army evangelists, readers and other authorised lay ministers.

2.2 Traditional Ministry.

Whilst there is great diversity in what particular ministries should or should not do, there is a traditional foundation of what specific functions are specifically reserved for a particular ministry. Some of these functions can be traced back to the Church Fathers. It is generally accepted that the functions specifically reserved for bishops include the consecration of bishops, the ordination of deacons and priests and pastoral oversight for the Dioceses. The priests preside at the celebration of the Eucharist (or Holy Communion) and give the absolution and blessing, and the deacons traditionally read the Gospel and the administer the chalice. In more recent times the non-ordained office of Lay Ministers of Communion or Eucharistic Ministers have emerged with the principle task of administering the chalice. This positionis not universally accepted. Some such as Atchley (1903) accuse the early clergy of taking the minor-order ministtry of reading all scripture for themselves.