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Each region below is linked to the responsible Lay Speaking Director and Lay Leader contact information for their region . More information on The Baltimore-Washington Conference Lay Speakers training dates and locations will be available on these links as they become available.
Annapolis Southern Region Baltimore Region Washington Region Western Region
Certified Lay Speaker
Exhorters in the early Methodist societies challenged and encouraged the members in their spiritual growth. After a sermon by the pastor an exhorter would give practical applications of the sermon to the society members. The term exhorter has been replaced by lay speaker in today's UMC.
A lay speaker is a professing member of a local church or charge who is ready and desirous to serve the Church and who is well informed on and committed to the Scriptures and the doctrine, heritage, organization, and life of the United Methodist Church and who has received specific training to develop skills in witnessing to the Christian faith through spoken communication, church and community leadership, and care-giving ministries. (¶267, 2004 Book of Discipline)
Lay speakers serve in their local church, or with additional training, serve beyond their local church in other churches, the district or the annual conference. Lay speaker training is not just about preaching. In fact, there are many more courses on other areas of ministry.
Training to become a lay speaker:
- Talk with your pastor regarding your interest in becoming a lay speaker. Lay speakers are recommended by their pastor and the church council or charge conference.
- Register for the Basic Course in Lay Speaking at either the district or conference level. Your pastor can help you get in touch with your district office to find information on classes. A list of Conference Directors of Lay Speaking Ministries may be found at www.gbod.org/laity under Lay Speaking.
- Read ¶268, 2004 Book of Discipline. The steps for becoming a certified lay speaker:
- Become a local church lay speaker.
- Take an advanced lay speaking course.
- Read ¶¶269-270, 2004 Book of Discipline.
Lay Speaker Website
http://www.layspeakingministries.org/
Ministry of Laity Website
http://www.gbod.org/laity/lay_speaking.asp
Lay Speaking Ministries Leadership Team (PDF)
