St. Paul's United Methodist ChurchDa Lay Speak!
October 2009
Hola y bienvenido to our “First of Fall” edition….some training
opportunities….and let’s see what else?...
Da Roster
SPRC has designated Sunday, October 4, as Laity/Pastor Appreciation
Sunday. Linda will handle preaching that morning; the rest of us will be
asked to handle
Training Opportunities
Over yonder in Delta District down Sacramento way:
Saturday, October 24: Tell Stories. UM Conference Center 9:00-4pm. Cost
$25 includes books, lunch/refreshments. Registration deadline 10/20/09.
Your editor is signed up for this to learn how to “storytell” instead of
“read” a message.
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.
Nevada-Sierra District (that’s ours):
Saturday, 10/10 & 10/17, at First UMC, Reno: “Preaching Extravagant
Generosity” More information and registration form attached above. This
would be a good one to fulfill your every three-year continuing
education requirement. More info and registration form are attached
above.
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 Ministries of Word and Sacrament….)
Lay Speakers also sometimes preach. They interpret some or all of the
Scripture that has been read. This is a solemn responsibility that
requires careful preparation. Witnessing to the people from one’s own
Christian walk is both a dimension of effective preaching and something
lay people may be asked to do during worship in addition to the pastor’s
sermon. In the later case, it is especially important that lay
witnessing be brief and to the point.
(Continued)
Coming Attractions
Our All-Church Conference is on tap for Tuesday, 11-10-09. Pastor Pat
sent us all our annual Lay Speaker Report form to be completed prior to
this Conference. Please ensure that you submit it to Gio by no later
than the end of October or sooner. And if you need an every three-year
Recertification Class, please consider signing up for the one coming to
Reno First 10/10 & 17. Failure to turn in your Report and/or enroll in a
Recent class may jeopardize approval of your Speaker renewal at the
Conference.
Segue
We discussed in an earlier “Speak” how things were a-changin’ with
respect to Lay Speaker training within the Basic and Advanced Speaker
classes. You might recall that the concept now is to divide training
into “Preaching” and “Non-Preaching” areas. Here is an excerpt from a
letter I received from Rev. Tom Butler at Sparks UMC: “Preaching is now
considered an Advanced class. The Basic class, as designed by the
General Board, is about lay leadership. The way it works now is that
people who want to become lay speakers who are trained to preach, must
first take the Basic class, then take an advanced course on preaching.
I’m not sure at this point whether we, in the Nevada-Sierra District,
will require that those who have taken the Basic course must wait a year
before taking the advanced class. I suspect we won’t, but the issue has
not been resolved as far as I know.”
Rev. Tom also informed me that Blanche Farnam, former District Lay
Leader, is now chair of our District Lay Speaker Committee.
Questions You Might Not Think To Ask – Part 5
· If a man is standing in the middle of the forest speaking, and there
is no woman around to hear him, is he still wrong?
· Why do people order double cheeseburgers, large fries, and a diet
Coke?
· Why do we wait until a pig is dead to cure it?