Basic Course (10-hour course) *5 week Course on Thursday Evenings 7:00-9:00PM
Begins Thursday, February 27th

Course Instructor: Martha Stokes, Virginia Conference Lay Leader

Course Description: This course is designed to help laity and clergy deepen their
understanding of persons living with dementia and help all maintain their identity and worth as beloved children of God. Carter calls the church to a deeper discipleship defined by the quality of our caring and receiving relationships. Participants will discover what it means to carry each other’s memories, joys, and diminishments together in community. Through loving practices that nurture and incorporate persons with Alzheimer’s and dementia into the church’s life and ministry, we experience a spiritual wholeness rooted in God’s grace beyond our own strengths and capacities.

Required Reading: Ministry with the Forgotten: Dementia through a Spiritual Lens by Bishop Kenneth Carter
https://www.cokesbury.com/Ministry-with-the-Forgotten?refq=ministry%20with%20the%20forgotten
*This course is open to all! In addition, This course provides Certification credit and
renewal credit for Certified Lay Servants and Certified Lay Speakers *only to those
who attend all 5 sessions!

Course dates are as follows:

● February 27 – Dementia as a Medical and Theological Challenge (and Opportunity)
● March 6 – We are More than Our Capacities
● March 13 – Incarnation and Ministry of Presence
● March 20 – Dementia, Discipleship, and Grief
● March 27 – Toward a Dementia-Friendly Church

*Participants are welcome to take all 5 or choose which weeks to attend. Those
taking this course for Certification credit must attend all 5 sessions as stated
above.

Meets once per week March 3rd-April 16th

Instructors: Joanna Dietz, Richard Speirs, and Bert Cloud.

Course Description: This course will be led by various Clergy and Laity
throughout the season of Lent. Come grow in understanding of what it means
to gather around the communion table and be reminded of God’s great love
for us.
Those interested in this course will choose the instructor and time of choice.
**Participants may not change times once a time has been chosen! For those
pursuing certification credit, you must attend all class sessions.

Required Reading
1. This Holy Mystery: A United Methodist Understanding of Holy
Communion by Gayle Carlton Felton
https://store.upperroom.org/product/this-holy-mystery
2. By Water and the Spirit by Gayle Carlton Felton
https://store.upperroom.org/product/by-water-and-the-spirit
*This course provides Certification credit and renewal credit for Certified Lay Servants
and Certified Lay Speakers.

Note: 2 hours of class time prior to class should be spent on reading the
required materials for the class! *This applies only to those who are working
towards Lay Servant Certifications or CEU’s

Dates and Times: Choose only one option!
1. Tuesday Nights at 7pm; Instructor: Bert Cloud (Begins March 4th)
2. Wednesdays at 7:00PM; Instructor: Richard Speirs (Begins March 5th)
3. Fridays at 9:30AM; Instructor: Joanna Dietz (Begins March 7th)