Schools Relations with: Lay ecclesial ministry is the term adopted by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to identify the relatively new category of pastoral ministers in the Catholic Church who serve the Church but are not ordained.
In addition to this general lay ministry, there are a number of non-ordained people who have undertaken roles, that immediately prior to Vatican II belonged entirely to the ordained, including parish pastoral and catechetical staff, hospital and prison chaplains, campus ministers, and many other diocesan leadership roles.
It has been adopted by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to "establish a framework to indicate what is common to many roles and responsibilities undertaken by lay persons, for example, Pastoral Coordinator or Moderator of a Parish, Pastoral Associate, Director of Religious Education, Youth Minister, Campus Minister, Hospital Chaplain.
Programs for the theological education and pastoral formation of laypersons, for the purpose in engaging in full-time and often lifelong ministry in the Church, have grown exponentially in the last four decades.
In the United States, the term catechist more generally refers to volunteer lay Sunday school teachers, but in a broader meaning also includes Catholic school teachers, as well as clergy and lay ecclesial ministers responsible for overseeing faith formation.