Lay Servant Academy – Virtual Training for Trying Times

The 2020 Lay Servant Academy will be held via Zoom on Saturday, November 14. The courses being offered are I Love to Tell the Story, Older Adult Ministries, and On-line Worship. Please see the descriptions below. Each course costs $30. The courses count for renewal for Certified Lay Servants and Certified Lay Speakers.
Registration is now closed. Questions? Please contact Tianna Durbin, Lay Servant Academy Director, [email protected]
Download pdf flyer

The schedule is as follows:
8:45-9:00 Sign into Zoom
9:00-9:20 Opening worship
9:30-12:30 Part One of Course
12:30-1:00 Lunch Break
1:00-4:00 Part Two of Course

Each course will have a reading and written assignment due prior to the Academy. There will also be a post-assignment that will be due by Nov. 28. Zoom links and assignments will be sent in October.

I Love to Tell the Story Course Description: The earliest sharing of the bible was by mouth or storytelling. Christians have been sharing these stories since Christianity’s inception. Listening to and sharing these powerful stories can be made to feel heartfelt and inspiring. All participants should come ready to share. The sharing helps participants learn different approaches to telling Bible stories. They will study techniques for learning and “fleshing out” stories from Scripture and contemporary events. The participants will tell short stories and have lots of feedback to enhance their storytelling experience. The class includes a resource list for further exploration. Instructor: David Bailey. Required Participant’s Book • https://bookstore.upperroom.org/ DR407 • 978-0-88177-407-8 • $14.00

On-line Worship Course Description: This course is designed to assist participants in facilitating online worship in different settings. In addition, the course will cover ways to engage small groups in other areas of ministry. Resources will be provided to each participant one month prior to the class so that participants can be prepared to discuss and share best practices. Instructors: Tianna Durbin, Joanna Dietz.

Older Adult Ministries Course Description – Purposeful Engagement – Reaching Boomers and Beyond: Latest statistics on The United Methodist Church show that our average member is 59-60 years old and nearly 1/3 of our membership is 65+. Add to this the reality that approximately 50 million adult Americans in the Boomer Generation are not connected to faith communities, and we realize that churches must be intentional in developing ministries which provide a place of welcome, spiritual nurture, and empowerment in ministry with adults who are aging. This advance LSM course is a practical guide for building these ministries, especially in the context of COVID-19. Instructor: Martha Stokes

This class has been canceled due to lack of registrations. — Formacion Spiritual/Spiritual Formation with Dr. Iosmar Alvarez. –
Course Description: “Formacion Spiritual/Spiritual Formation creates the foundation for” Making Passionate Spiritual Disciples,” who will become Passionate Spiritual Leaders. This course will also focus on leading small groups in pandemic times effectively to help leaders develop a generative approach to organizing and leading ministries, driving for new levels of missional effectiveness. The course is designed to help a ministry leader get to its next step. These steps represent principles and processes that have been designed, tested and refined for 15 years. Our hope is to move each ministry leader to a place where they are;
• Continually developing their own spiritual capacity, as well as of its leaders
• Growing the ability to understand and respond to context effectively.
• Constantly improving its ability to contribute to the growth of disciples

Questions? Please contact Tianna Durbin, Lay Servant Academy Director, [email protected]