The Elizabethan Readers eventually died out through a lack of use and in some circles became a discredited institution.

Whilst the limited experience of the Elizabethan era and the questions raised by some commentators on the legality of Parker's consecration raise questions about the legitimacy of Readers and whether Archbishop Parker's decisions were well founded, the existence of these Readers led to the development of Reader ministry in the colonies which proved to be a valuable precedent for later studies.

Some useful background to Readers ministry outside of England is contained in Restarick's book Lay Readers their history and development, which primarily deals with the development of reader ministry in North America. One interesting feature noted within a chapter on Colonial developments is that there were more readers in 1893 in the Diocese of Melbourne, Australia than the Diocese of London (294 versus 233).