St. Paul's United Methodist ChurchDa Lay Speak!
April 2009
Hola y bienvenido to our Easter/April Showers
edition….a Roster change….Training opportunities here and there…and
whatever else….
Da Roster
Bill and yours truly held down pulpit supply while Pastor Pat was in
Creole Country pounding nails. Enjoyed your message, Willie, and kudos
all around for the both of us. Welcome back, Pat, and don’t worry about
any damage control while you were away. Looking ahead, Linda is up next
with Mary close behind. Updated Roster is attached above.
Training Opportunities
A Basic class will be held at the Fallon Epworth UMC on Saturday, April
25th, 8am-4pm. This class will be titled “Lay Speaking—Not Preaching”
and will include “Liturgical Reading (reading the Bible with
understanding)”; Symbols of the Church/Sanctuary” Leading Prayer and
Creating Devotions”; and “Leading Small Groups”. $25 includes lunch and
all materials and handouts. Pre-registration is required. Contact Audrey
at our District Office @ 786-2332 or nsdistumc@sbcglobal.net. Those of
you who are already Basic Speakers and want to Advance, this one is for
you, as well as for those Certified (Advanced) Speakers who need a class
for your every three-year continuing education.
Coming May 9th, 930-4, at the Grass Valley UMC is an Advanced Class “Lay
Discipleship”, again for current Basics and for a three-year class. Cost
is $25 and pre-registration is required. Contact Jim Hook, 13253 Ore
Court, Penn Valley, CA 95946. Jim’s phone number and E-mail address was
not available.
Here’s what’s upcoming in Delta District:
· April 25 – UM History @ UM Conference Center in W. Sacramento, CA.
Deadline 4/20/09. Cost $25
· May 23 – Lead Worship @ UM Conference Center. Deadline 5/19/09. Cost
$25
Pre-Registration is required for all classes. Some classes require
homework prep before attending. Contact
Delta District, Attention Cindy Buna, deltadist@calnevumc.org. Cost
includes materials, books, refreshments and lunch.
Have you completed at least one class within the past 3-years to retain
your certification?
From My Notebook
This month we continue on to some more stuff from my Notebook related to
Leading Public Prayer..
Each of the bullet points I listed last month has a place in both
private and in public prayer, but public prayer obviously differs from
private prayer. Public prayer is the corporate prayer of the gathered
people, spoken or sung in unison, prayed in call-and-response fashion,
or led by someone who acts as spokesperson for the others.
Leading a gathering of people in public prayer is harder than private
prayer, and many committed and highly spiritual people who regularly
pray in private have never learned to lead others in prayer. When we
pray privately, we have the assurance that God understands and accepts
every style of speaking and knows our hearts and minds before we speak.
When we speak for others as well as for ourselves in leading public
prayer, we are concerned about what the people we are leading will
think. Will the style and content of our prayer be acceptable to
them—something they can wholeheartedly say amen to?
(Continued)
Segue
Sent to me by Colleen Dolan via E-mail:
The secret of a good sermon is to have a good
beginning and a good ending; and to have the two as
close together as possible.
--George Burns
The Lord’s Laughter (from The Joyful Noiseletter)
Question: What does the resurrection of the body teach us?
Answer: It is hard to keep a good person down. (1 Corinthians 15)
In East Tennessee’s Appalachian region, a man and his wife were visiting
an old-line Pentecostal church, when suddenly the preacher opened a big
wooden box and exposed dozens of rattlers, copperheads, and other
snakes. He held them up and started up and down the aisles, offering
others the chance to handle the snakes. The visitor leaned over and
asked his wife, “You don’t reckon he’s gonna hand me one of those
snakes, do you?” “I don’t know,” the wife responded fearfully. “Well,”
he said, looking around the room, “where’s the back door?” “There ain’t
one,” the wife replied. “Well then,” the husband said, “where do you
think they’d like to have one?”