Fully Engage Entire Congregations

When Jesus was with us, He didn’t issue proclamations from temples.

Instead, He came out onto the streets, and walked among us, bringing us the Good News.

If Jesus was with us today, He could be anywhere on this street.

Today - by the numbers - there are few clergy on the streets. But, we, the laity, are all over the place.

And, we have the Good News! We should be at our best as we bring the Good News about Jesus to others.

North Texas Conference Board of Laity program to increase the effectiveness of the work done by the laity.

The focus is to encourage spiritual growth & develop leadership skills to develop missional fruitfulness for “Making Disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”

 No prerequisites  No designated course order  Start with courses in a rational pattern of development.  Aligned with Developing Laity Fruitfulness.  Open to anyone  Additional requirements defined in The Book of Discipline to become a local or certified Lay Speaker/Servant

 Basic Course  Discover your spiritual gifts and how to employ them within your local church.  Daily Disciplines  Study John Wesley’s devotional life as an example in personal growth  Living our United Methodist Beliefs  Explore our the basic beliefs & practices in The Book of Discipline  Theology: the Basics  Based on the book by Alister E. McGrath

self ↔ church ↔ community Bridging The Gap

 Spiritual Gifts  More comprehensive identification of spiritual gifts with thorough discussion how to activate these gifts within the structure of the church  Accountable Discipleship  The household of God, the importance of scripture & Wesley’s concept of grace with reference to class meetings & introduces covenant discipleship

Worship Education Delivering the message

 Prayer  Learn to lead public prayer  Storytelling  Teach, Amuse, Share, Inspire  This Holy Mystery  Communion in the UM Church  By Water & the Spirit  Baptism in the UM Church

 Teach Adults  Deals with students in different life situations  Communicates with various means of learning  Prepare to Teach  Emphasizes teaching in the church environment  Organization and Polity of the UMC

 Go Preach  Introductory or refresher course  From Your Heart to Theirs: Delivering an Effective Sermon  Sermon preparation topics

 Evangelism  Caring Take The Word into your community And beyond

 Evangelism  Lead Small Groups  Stewardship  A holistic approach to stewardship  Aging and Ministry in the 21 st Century  Building a ministry for older adults

 Lay Pastoral Caregiving  Caring for others in the faith & the extended communities  Ad hoc offerings developed locally: +Caring for the End of Life +Caring for Those Who Grieve +Gathered Together: Personal Liturgies for Healing & Transformation

 Concepts in Leadership:  Leading in Prayer & Leading in Meetings  Mission & Vision and Spiritual Leadership  Opening Ourselves to Grace  Pentecost Journey  United Methodist 101 thru UMCOM.org

 Lay Witness Mission  Understanding Men’s Ministry LSM can assist in making these courses available for your group

2012 General Conference: Lay Speaking Ministries The goal is to equip the laity to recognize and respond to their call to ministry. Lay Servant Ministries Levels  Local Church Lay Servants  Normally serve in their local churches  Certified Lay Servants  May serve in their local churches and beyond Lay Servant Ministries

LSM training Spiritual Develop- ment Spiritual Fellow-ship The Skills to

Equipping the laity to recognize and respond to their call to ministry to make Disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.