In the 1662 BCP, provision is made for the Communion Service to end just after the Prayer for the Whole Church in the event no Communion is to be made. Would a lay-person theoretically be able to officiate at this service? No sacrament or "priest-specific" actions are partaken before that point if my memory serves me correctly.
I have thought on it, and cannot come up with anything prohibitive. In fact, in olden days when the country parson had a circuit of several churches to visit and communion was infrequent it was quite likely that this was done. It was for such a provision that the Books of Homilies were written: so that a sermon would still be heard if no deacon or reader with a license to preach was available. We must remember that the Daily Offices were once taken more seriously as a daily office and were not considered a primary Sunday service. That Morning Prayer had been said was assumed in the provisions for Antecommunion. But, that on a Sunday the Antecommunion would follow had also been assumed in the lectionary and cycle of proper collects.
Some Anglican dioceses and jurisdictions have retained the Reader as a minor order (the most low church and charismatic sorts are apt to throw most anyone in the congregation who wants to behind the lectern to read). He may be licensed to preach at the discretion of the diocesan bishop. This would typically, but not necessarily, be a concession made in the case of a man who had previous experience outside of an episcopal church in giving sermons or who had studied at a religious institution and had some course work in sermon preparation and was resident in a parish that lacked a full-time or dedicated clergy person or had one who, for whatever reason, was inadequate for the task (stuttering, poor reading skills, eroding mental faculties, etc.) It is also not uncommon to license a man who has been identified as a postulant but has not reached the date of ordination to preach. I myself was tonsured and issued a license to preach (and serve the chalice) based on previous experience and demonstrated aptitude in sermon preparation some seven months before my ordination to the diaconate. In that case, the license serves as something of an endorsement of the preparation done to that point and a mandate to further train at and exercise the function. A few jurisdictions even still recognize the order of subdeacon, though it might be termed something else.
Sort of. This is from the middle ages. Most priests were called "massing priests", meaning that they apprenticed under other priests until ordination and served mostly for the sacraments. They often did not give sermons. The Dominican Order, or Order of Preachers, was created to preach to laypeople. Sometimes, members of this order were lay, and they were still commissioned to preach. After the split during the Reformation, this practice continued.
Many parishes also have what's called a 'lay reader' typically wearing an alb, surplice and cassock, and a blue stole. They also must be qualified by diocesan officials.
Properly, a blue tippet. The stole is a eucharistic vestment, reserved for the clergy. The tippet is appropriate to the prayer offices. Also, an alb and surplice should not be worn together. The alb is an eucharistic vestment, the surplice is appropriate to the prayer offices.
Yes, I ought to have been clearer in my grammar. I meant them separately. Both together would also be hideous.