The reality of laity in the Diocese of West Malaysia.
Each province of the Anglican Communion is an independent entity, under the influence of different situations and cultural backgrounds, and each province has different opinions on various issues. The Anglican Communion does not have a unified or official theology, and each province has a different theological position on various issues. Even the decisions of the authoritative Lambeth Conference are not legally binding in each province. As a result, Anglican Communion has mostly taken a middle-path approach, and any position claiming to be ecumenical in Anglicanism is questioned.
From the point of view of the Diocese of West Malaysia, we do not have a definition of a lay person, which can be reflected in the Canon Law of the Church of England. The Canon Law of the Diocese of West Malaysia is subordinate to the Canon Law of the Anglican Province of South East Asia, which is basically an extension of the Canon Law of the Church of England. In the Canons of the Church of England, the office of the layman in the Church is discussed in section E, but there is no definition of a layman. Layman is clearly a title that does not require a legal definition. It seems that everyone takes for granted that the definition of laity is clear. From the point of view of Church of England statute, lay people are seen as those who are not ordained under the episcopal system of ordained ministry.
Thus, for the Diocese of West Malaysia, anyone who is not ordained to the priesthood is a lay person. The Diocese of West Malaysia does not have any clear definition of the nature, status, or role of a lay person. This affects how the Church in the Diocese of West Malaysia views lay people. Lay people themselves are not clear about their identity and mission, believing that they are only affiliated to the priesthood, that they are helpers of the priesthood, and that since they are not ordained or professionally trained, they have a status below the priest.
What can be done to change this mindset which has become deeply rooted in the Diocese of West Malaysia?
Such thinking needs to be corrected, because whether we are clergy or laymen, as long as we are Christians, we are a group of people sent into the world to fulfil God’s mission. This is what makes Sarang Church Discipleship Training model unique. Discipleship Training is not just about helping you grow in spirituality, but also about changing many of your wrong thinkings. Developing a lay theology is therefore a goal of Sarang Church Discipleship Training model, something that no other Discipleship Training model has.