Central District Fall Lay Servant School 

Lay Servant School is for anyone interested in learning or polishing skills related to speaking, teaching, leading, and caring ministries by church laity.

Cost:  $23.00 per person

Payment Method:  Online credit card processing by PayPal - you do not need to have a PayPal account.  Payment by check mailed within 7 days of registration to:  INUMC; Attn: Lisa Timmerman; 301 Pennsylvania Parkway, #300; Indianapolis, IN 46280.  All check payments must be received by November 1, 2016.  Please print a copy of your registration for your receipt.

Cancellation policy:  cancellations must be received by November 1, 2106 at 11:59 by email to: lisa.timmerman@inumc.org to receive a refund less processing fee; no refunds for cancellations received after this date

Registration deadline:  November 1, 2016 at 11:59 pm

Child Care: must be reserved during the registration process.  Please give names and ages of children.  Please bring a bag lunch for each child.  We cannot provide lunch for children because of allergy concerns.

Class Descriptions

Basic Course:  This is a prerequisite for any of the Advanced Courses.  You will learn about the "Ministry of the Baptized" and the Ministries of Leading, Caring, Communicating, and Going into the World (The Great Commission).  Leader: Anthony Swinger, CLS, Plainfield UMC.  Required text:  Lay Servant Ministries Basic Course Participant's Book by Brian Jackson and Sandy Jackson; Order online at Cokesbury.com or Amazon.com.  If you have difficulty or questions about ordering, contact Anthony Swinger at 317-203-5713 or anthonyswinger@yahoo.com 

NOTE:  The Basic Course was previously offered in 2 separate installments.  If you have completed Basic A but not Basic B, please enroll specifically for Basic B, and join us for the afternoon session of the Basic Course.

Advanced Courses

United Methodist Polity:  Who are we as United Methodists?  How is the church structured locally, nationally, and beyond?  What does it mean to be a "connectional church?"  And And how do these questions, and their answers, apply to all of us as Lay Servants and Lay Speakers? This class will give you the chance to explore these questions and gain a deeper knowledge of our Book of Discipline and how it relates to lay ministries. This is one of the 6 advanced classes required for the Certified Lay Speaker designation. Text: Polity, Practice, and the Mission of the United Methodist Church by Thomas Edward Frank; Order online at Cokesbury.com. If you have difficulty or questions about ordering, contact Anthony Swinger at 317-203-5713 or anthonyswinger@yahoo.com. Leader: Rev. Matt Lipan, Gateway Community Church. Prerequisite: Basic

Discernment and Action for Lay Servants:  What is God's dream for you? What are you called to do? And how are you being called to act on it? In this class, you'll learn about the discernment process and more, gaining new skills to enhance your church life and spiritual life. Pastor Sharon Washington, INUMC Church Planter, will lead the discussion, and will also take you out of the building to practice and apply these skills in real time. Sharing wisdom from the "Seven Seasons of Planting a New Church,” you'll consider how seasons of discernment, visioning, gathering, discipling, worshiping, maturing, and multiplying apply to your calling to help “plant” ministry in the local church, and how to help this ministry bloom where it is “planted.” Leader: Rev. Sharon Washington. Prerequisite: Basic

Preaching 1: This is a 2-session class, and is one of the 6 advanced classes required to be a Certified Lay Speaker. The first session (which takes place during the Lay Servants School) will focus on the basics: What is a sermon, and how is it different from other forms of speech? We will consider different styles of preaching and learn from each participant's experience of great preaching. We will discuss the basic structural form of the sermon. As preparation, write less than one page about this topic: If I had to preach today, which scripture passage would I choose and why? Also read Go Preach chapters 1-3. At the second session (on a future date to be scheduled by the class), each participant will preach a short sermon and receive class feedback. All participants are expected to attend both sessions. Leader: Rev. Colin Cress, Shelbyville First UMC. Text: Go Preach! A Primer for Beginning Preachers by John P. Gilbert; Order online at Cokesbury.com or Amazon.com. If you have difficulty or questions about ordering, contact Anthony Swinger at 317-203-5713 or anthonyswinger@yahoo.com. Leader: Rev. Colin Cress, Shelbyville First UMC. Prerequisite: Basic
 

Preaching 3: This one-session class focuses on the sermon in context and looking at how the specific “who,” “where,” and “when” affect sermon preparation. After registration, participants will be given instructions to prepare a sermon on a specific text for a specific context. In class, each participant will preach their sermon, and as part of the feedback offered by the class, the group will consider how the sermon might be modified for different contexts. In addition, participants should read Go Preach chapters 6 and 9- 11 before the class session. Text: Go Preach! A Primer for Beginning Preachers by John P. Gilbert. Leader: Rev. Brent Wright, Broad Ripple UMC. Prerequisite: Preaching 1

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