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The Mission of the Saginaw Bay District Committee on Lay Speaking
is to raise up lay speakers as church leaders
to help people become disciples and disciple makers.
What is Lay Speaking Ministry?
This resource is intended to help pastors and pastor/staff parish relations committees in local churches better understand and use lay speaking ministry resources available within the Saginaw Bay District and keep up with course offerings. Over the past decade or more lay speaking ministry has changed significantly. Once it was primarily designed to provide occasional pulpit supply when clergy was not available. In fact, in a recent survey in our district, lay speakers who were trained in the 1960s and 1970s still saw pulpit supply as their major role. Although pulpit supply remains an important part of lay speaking ministry, the program has evolved such that lay speakers perform a variety of caring, communicating, and leadership roles within their own congregations and for other congregations within and beyond our district.
As you consider your congregational needs, consider whether a lay speaker could offer unique training, advice or leadership in specific ministry areas in your congregation, complementing the work of the pastor and other church staff.
To use this resource, first review the role of lay speakers, especially if you haven’t reviewed this material recently. You will learn that there are two categories of lay speakers—local church and certified. Local church lay speakers have successfully completed a basic course in lay speaking ministry, and certified lay speakers have followed the basic course with one or more advanced courses. Certified lay speakers have also remained active in the program by taking at least one advanced course every three years.
Once you have reviewed the general roles of lay speakers, look at the qualifications and ministry interests of the lay speakers in our district. Consider how the skills they have developed and are willing to share might dovetail with the needs of your congregation. If your congregation doesn’t have an immediate need, refer to this web site when a need arises. You might also want to consider whether any lay people in your congregation could benefit from this leadership training and experience and encourage them to enroll in the basic course. Check the class schedule.
Corrections to these lists can be e-mailed to Ralph Czerepinski, Dean of Registration.
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http://www.gbgm-umc.org/SaginawMIDist/layspeaking.html jim 04/06/06