In "The Outline of Faith" in The Book of Common Prayer, The Ministry section lays out 4 orders of ministry: Laity, Bishops, Priests, and Deacons.
If we were to look at this list as referring to the hierarchy of the church, you will notice that Bishops, the chief priests and pastors of our dioceses, are not at the top. That honor is given to the Laity.
As our Prayer Book understands it, the Laity are the most important order in ministry for the church. This makes sense as the Laity are out there as part of the world, and thus they have the greatest opportunity to represent Christ Jesus to all they meet. The Laity are also make up the vast majority of the church.
All other orders of ministry are intended as servant leaders. They are set aside to build up the Laity in their service to God. In this way, the church not only gets lifted up, but the work of God in the world is further enhanced by the support to our Lay Leaders in Ministry.