“Being an Extraordinary Minister is a wonderful chance of being extremely close to the body of Christ and His people.”
Who is Corinna Laughlin?
Corinna Laughlin has been a member of the Cathedral of St. James’ staff since 1998. As Pastoral Assistant for Liturgy, she works with Father Ryan and the Cathedral staff and volunteers to plan hundreds of liturgies each year. Corinna also serves as a Consultant to the Liturgy Office of the Archdiocese of Seattle.
Corinna’s writing on liturgy has been featured in many publications, including Pastoral Liturgy, Ministry and Liturgy, Today’s Liturgy, and AIM Magazine. Corinna has also written the Guide for Sacristans, Guide for Servers, and Guide for Celebrating Holy Week and Triduum for Liturgy Training Publications. With her sister, Maria Laughlin, she co-authored Journey of Faith: An Illustrated History of the Archdiocese of Seattle as well as histories of the Dioceses of Brownsville, Orange, Green Bay, La Crosse, Wilmington, Austin, San Antonio, and New York City, through Editions du Signe.
She holds a Masters of Arts in Liturgical Ministry from Catholic Theological Union, Chicago. She also holds a doctorate in English language and literature from the University of Washington, and a bachelor’s degree in English from Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts.
In this episode, Pamela talks to Corinna Laughlin about Becoming An Extraordinary Minister. She explains: i. What is an extraordinary minister? Why is it an important ministry? ii. What are the characteristics of a good minister? iii. How do a person become one? iv. What are the challenges?
This was an amazing episode. I looked for a ton of resources on the subject and found Corinna’s book. Then I hunted for her email and was so happy to have found her on the Cathedral’s website.
I have a lot of friends who have been part of this ministry and was always aware that it was not easy. There’s a weight to it. I wrote to Corinna to come on the podcast. And she replied so quickly. It was just a blessing to have her respond. We set a time to record and in the interim I read more about becoming an extraordinary ministry. I was surprised to see the opposition in book reviews and online trad forums. I knew we had to do this episode.
A heart for Christ
I love how Corinna explains this is a ministry for you to come close to Jesus and His people. There’s joy in seeing people spread across the Church coming to Christ with all of their human-ness. There’s a special training and commissioning in this ministry. It is one that will allow people to experience community indirectly. What a blessing to serve here.
I highly encourage people who are interested to reach out to their parishes. Corinna says, “don’t worry about your worthiness, just focus on being with Jesus,” she says. And I love that. Fixing our eyes on Jesus can fix a lot of our problems. Do you feel the need to serve? Do you still feel you don’t know where to serve in your church? How about being an Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist?
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