A Local Shared Ministry is a team of people inducted to fulfil the tasks of ministry, recognised through a careful process of discernment at congregational and presbytery level and confirmed through presbytery commissioning as a team ministry.
Local Shared Ministry (LSM) is one of the four strands of recognised ministry in the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand including Amorangi, and national (NOM) and local (LOM) ordained ministry.
Local Shared Ministry exists in congregations where there is no appointed minister. LSM is not primarily a pathway to ordination. It is instead a practical, creative way of providing ministry leadership for a local church, which grows out of the local church and recognises and affirms the gifts and skills already present within the congregation.
The Local Shared Ministry Handbook was developed by the Leadership Sub-committee of the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand. It is offered to the wider Church for implementation, and can be found on the Knox Centre for Ministry and Leadership website:
Local Shared Ministry is covered by Book of Order regulations 9.23 – 9.32. These are included at the end of this handbook as Appendix 1.
- The Local Shared Ministry Supplementary Provision (December 2025) can be found here.