(from an article by Andrew Phillips edited and amended by Apr. David Moser)

We are offering this article so that the members of the parish can take thought on their participation in the upcoming annual parish meeting

In our interactive age, some are critical that Orthodox laity appear to have no role to play in church life and seem to be mere passive spectators of services. This impression is sometimes founded in reality, but only in dying parishes where laity may indeed have reduced their role to that of passive spectatorship. It is not the natural role of laity. Laypeople can only be passive if they wish to be passive. If there are individuals who complain that laity have no role in Orthodox parish life, then they are complaining without reason.  The laity should be participating by fulfilling the many needs of the community. What are they?

Firstly, the very least that any laypeople who call themselves Orthodox can do, is to come to services, to support their local church in presence and prayer. And once at church, people should not stand passively. They should pray. And then, where are the acolytes? Where are the candidates to be reader, subdeacon, deacon and priest? Where are the people to see to the sale of candles and prosphora? Where are the people to blow out candles at the Six Psalms, light them again at 'God is the Lord' and see to guttering candles? Where are the people to bake the prosphora? Where are the people to bring wine to church? (Eucharistic wine should be unadulterated, sweet red wine - speak to the priest for more direction on this). Where are the people to welcome newcomers and visitors? Where are the people to man the bookstall? Where are the people to write parish bulletins and service timetables? Where are the readers to read the Psalms, the Prophecies and the Hours? Where are the bell-ringers? Where are the people to light the lamps before the service begins?

Secondly, there are all the activities outside the services. Where are the people to do the sewing? (covers in the different liturgical colors for the lecterns, robes for the altar-boys, vestments for the priest and deacon – these need to be sewn locally, they cannot easily be purchased from elsewhere). Where are the people to clean the church and the church-hall once a week? (Especially, where are the readers to clean the altar, if the priest has no time?) Where are the people to paint? Where are the people to do the church garden? Where are the people to prepare coffee and tea after the service? Where are the people to prepare food for Sundays, feast days and Easter? Where are the people to see to the children and teach Sunday school? Where are the people to visit the sick? Who is the prison-visitor in the parish? The parish clergy can do some of these things, but certainly not all of them and not without help.

Thirdly, there are the organizational tasks and financial sacrifices. Where the people to organize meetings and pilgrimages? Where are the candidates for church warden, treasurer, secretary, auditor? Where are the members of the parish council? Who will see to administrative tasks and go to the Bank and the Post Office? And where are the people who are willing to donate money in collections and parish contributions so that the parish can live?

Some may object that these are all menial tasks. We do not think so. These are essential tasks for if they are not done, a parish cannot live. A church cannot function if these tasks are not carried out. A church cannot live without bread and wine. If people want a community, then they have to work for it to create it. Too often people expect church services and activities to be laid out for them, as if it were their right. This is totally unrealistic. We have to combat the mentality which says that 80% of church activities are carried out by 20% of the parishioners and the remaining 20% of activities are carried out by the other 80% of the parishioners. To paraphrase our late President John F Kennedy: 'Ask not what your parish can do for you; ask what you can do for your parish'. There is nothing so dispiriting as entering a church which feels neglected and unloved by its own supposed members.

Finally, there is the one activity which we have not yet mentioned, in which most laypeople can participate: the choir. In principle, everybody should sing in church. In reality, of course there will always be some who do not wish to sing and really cannot sing. Nobody should ever be forced to sing. On the other hand, the reality is that in many parishes, the choirs which sing on behalf of all the people in response to the priest are often very small. People should be encouraged to sing. Even those who are not especially musical can learn to 'sing along' in certain parts of the services, in a quiet voice, remembering that it is the choir that leads the people, not the other way around. Someone is needed to lead choirs. It must be remembered that when we sing it is a prayer not a performance and the choir leader and the choir must resist the temptation that church singing is a 'concert'.  When we sing whether in the choir, in the congregation or silently in our hearts, it should be a prayer that comes from the very core of our being, lifting up our whole self to God.

The advantage of a regular parish choir is that it is then possible to have a varied musical repertoire.  On the other hand, most of the melodies sung should be fairly simple, so that they can be picked up by most people. Though the melodies do change, they should not change too often. There must be some continuity. Again every choir leader should ideally have one or two deputies. No parish should be dependent on one person. Others should learn how to sing and lead the choir. In the same way as any parish should eventually be able to provide a parish with a deacon and possibly a second priest, so others should come forward to provide a parish with choir leaders.

Here above are some considerations about the role of laypeople in contemporary Orthodox parish life. We pray that they may bear fruit in the hearts of those who read them.