Lay Leadership How Their Roles and Responsibilities Are Vital to Church Growth and Ministry

Transcription

1 Lay Leadership How Their Roles and Responsibilities Are Vital to Church Growth and Ministry By Pure Sight* (Group 6) Facilitator Kim Sutherland April 28-29, 2017 * Pure Sight from Matthew 5:8 (NIV) 8 Blessed are the purein heart, for they will seegod. Good afternoon, everybody, and welcome to the Group 6 presentation. Our group name is Pure Sight and it comes from our beatitude in Matthew 5:8. 1

2 Pure Sight Team LUMC North Georgia Conference The Pure Sight team covers almost 75% of the Conference churches!! Matt Warrick Cedar Grove UMC (Chickamauga) Lewis Lane Dillard UMC (Clayton) Alan Brown Hartwell First UMC (Hartwell) Kim Sutherland St. James UMC Alpharetta (Alpharetta) Andy Pitman Mt. Zion UMC Atlanta (Fayetteville) Julaunica Tigner Burks Chapel UMC (LaGrange) Diane Shannon Salem UMC (Conyers) Billy Raj Northwoods UMC (Tucker) Kiki Orum Lewis Memorial UMC (Grovetown) 2 Allow me to briefly introduce our team to you - starting down in the southwest with Dr. Julaunica Tigner from Burks Chapel UMC in LaGrange. Up in the northwest, we have Matt Warrick; Matt and his family attend Cedar Grove UMC in Chickamauga, GA. Moving over toward North Carolina line, we run into Lewis Lane, who attends Dillard UMC in Dillard; then heading over to Hartwell, we have Alan Brown from Hartwell First UMC. Alan is our group leader and we appreciate what he has done for the group. Down to Grovetown, GA near Augusta we have Kiki Orum, who attends Lewis Memorial UMC. Headed towards town you stop at Conyers, where Diane Shannon attends Salem UMC. Then on over to Tucker Billy Raj is at Northwoods UMC. And finally, I m Andy Pitman; I m at Mt. Zion UMC in SW Atlanta. Of course, I can t forget Kim Sutherland at St. James in Alpharetta, GA Kim s our facilitator and we so much appreciate all the help that she s been. 2

3 What are the Roles and Responsibilities? 3 Our topic is what are the roles and responsibilities of a lay leader that lead to growth and ministry in the church? Well, here they are.(pause). Now I know that font is a little small, Jane, and it may be driving you crazy, but the point is that the roles and responsibilities of a good lay leader shouldn t just come to you in a 180 second speech that I m giving. You need to go home and learn this stuff, call it up in the Discipline, go online and get our paper, do whatever it takes to look up and be familiar with these 6 points from paragraph in the Book of Discipline. Here are the highlights.. 3

4 Lay Leader Roles and Responsibilities - Foster awareness of the role of the laity in the church, home, workplace, community and the world - Meet with the pastor - Participate in church leadership - Continually study and train - Make the laity aware of training opportunities - Make the church aware of ministry opportunities 4 These points are directed toward the elected Lay Leader, but they also serve to help guide all lay leaders in the church no matter what role you play, whether it s sanctuary, missions, youth -all of us need to be familiar with these things. The first one says to foster awareness of the role of laity in church, home and community. Second meet with the pastor regularly. Not only does the elected Lay Leader do that, but every lay leader can be heard. Be the squeaky wheel with whatever your ministry is -get in the pastor s face to let them know what things you are doing and what you want to do. Get things on his or her list. The third thing is to attend meetings, administrative council, know what s going on all over your church, not just the things you re involved in. Volunteer to participate in charge conference, annual conference, whatever you can do to participate. The fourth and fifth items are related First, train and hone your skills; find training programs, study, be better at what you do. Be the best at what you do for the church. Also, make your church s lay people aware of training and help them take advantage of training programs that are available through the UMC, North Georgia Conference, and other sources. The last item -make the congregation aware of ministry opportunities that the laity can help with in your church and your community. There s a wealth of information out there make sure your people are aware of it! My time s up I want to turn the mic over to Diane Shannon. 4

5 Spiritual Life of the Lay Leader (Diane Shannon) - God s Plan - Spiritual life and personal relationship with Christ - Lay leaders call to participate and lead - Clergy, laity and lay leadership one body in Christ 5 The spiritual life of a lay servant or leader -First Corinthians Chapter 12: verses says that the body had many different parts, but all of the parts form one body. So it is with Christ. God has a plan for His church to include lay leadership and clergy in one body. The spiritual lives of the lay leadership and the clergy are the same every one has a place and a purpose. Clergy are the head and laity work hand in hand with the clergy. God uniquely made His church a body with many parts, all with a unique purpose. The lay spiritual life should include persons who know and have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. They should be prayer warriors, and as Paul wrote to Timothy, they should be studying the Bible to show themselves the truth. Lay leaders are also called to study the word and teach truth. Leaders participate in Bible study and care for others and share the sacrifice of our Lord and favor Jesus Christ. Laity and clergy work together toward the goal of making disciples of all mankind without excluding any members of the body. I am reminded of my experience as a teacher, when we would sit around and complain about the bad children in our classes. But if those bad children didn t show up, we wouldn t have jobs! It s the same way with clergy, laity, and lay leadership we can t have one without the others! Now I d like to turn our talk over to Kiki Orum. 5

6 Intentional Spiritual Growth (Kiki Orum) - Live in Christ - Live in The Word - Pray in Faith - Fellowship With Other Believers - Minister to Others - Witness to the World 6 The short definition of Spiritual Growth is a choice about how we will conduct our lives, a lifestyle we adopt. Without growth, there is stagnation and eventually death. -We live in Christ. John Owen said, A person my take the measure of his growth and decay in grace according to their thoughts and meditations upon the person of Christ and the glory of Christ s kingdom and His love. -We live in the Word. Regular Bible reading and study are essential. The Bible reveals God s character to us and the way we are to live and to interact with others. We believe the Bible is God s holy inspired word. -We pray in faith. Our prayers are focused on discovering God s will more than expressing our needs. Going first to God in prayer and petition in all things. James says, The effective prayer of the righteous man accomplishes much. -Fellowship with other believers. Spiritual Growth is not achieved alone. We have accountability and encouragement in our small groups, Bible studies, and worship. We learn to confess our sinfulness and to forgive others of theirs. -We minister to others. We see to other s needs inside the Church but more importantly to those outside, those who don t know Christ or Christians. In the words of the old hymn They will know we are Christians by our love. -We witness to others. Jesus said, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations teaching them to observe all I have commanded you. Do we, as layleadersdo a good job of our witness to others? Not always. We are afraid to look foolish or to offend. But this is our mission as a church. I think we need to take a hard look at what we are doing and what we are missing. Spiritual growth is vitally important if we are to make disciples and interact with others on a meaningful basis. It takes work, discipline, and commitment. As layleadersare we ready for it? Now I d like to turn it over to Billy Raj. 6

7 Witness (Billy Raj) - Pillars of Methodism - Definition of witness - Preach to all nations - Witness light for transformation 7 Jesus issued this mandate -that we go and make disciples of all nations. Thus we are called to bridge sociological, racial, and cultural boundaries. A definition of witness is one who testifies to the judge about facts or events, which may or may not incriminate their fellow human being. The term witness in Greek is martusor marturiaor maturein. These synonyms appear more than 200 times in the Bible. In the life of Methodists, we strongly believe that there are two aspects that we learn from Jesus life and ministry and who we should be like a great command and a great commission. That is, love your neighbor as you love yourself, and go and preach to all nations. Within these two great pillars, our obedience to Christ lives as Methodists. Christ calls us to be His true witness, and he gives us caution to not bear false witness (Matthew 19:18). As Methodist lay leaders, we do not have any option except to be His witness. Witnessing Jesus is sharing his love, and helping the needy ones through our paths and actions in the community in which we live. In other words, we are missionaries to his call. For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten son as a missionary to this world as His witness to save you and me. So a true witness is willing to lay down his life to be as Jesus Christ s witness So as we are His followers, He calls on us to be witness during our lifetime in this world. So, as Christ s witness, we the Methodists, the lay leaders are the witness to bring light for the transformation to the world. Thank you -now Lewis Lane will present. 7

8 Grace (Lewis Lane) - Definition of Grace - Do Not be Idle - Lead 8 First we need a definition of Grace. This is from the UMC website. Grace pervades our understanding of Christian faith and life. By grace we mean the undeserved, unmerited, and loving action of God in human existence through the ever-present Holy Spirit. While the grace of God is undivided, it precedes salvation as prevenient grace, continues in justifying grace, and is brought to fruition in sanctifying grace. Now that we have the definition of Grace, let us look at Wesley s Means of Grace. This is also taken from the UMC website. John Wesley taught that God s grace is unearned and that we were not to be idle waiting to experience grace but we are to engage in the means of grace. The means of grace are ways God works invisibly in disciples, hastening, strengthening; and confirming faith so that God's grace pervades in and through disciples. As we look at the means of grace today, they can be divided into works of piety and the works of mercy. Making disciples, growing vital congregations and transforming the world is part of a spiritual adventure that is empowered and guided by the Holy Spirit as churches engage in the means of grace. Spiritual goals are accomplished by connecting the means of grace with proven vital church practices such as planning, strategic direction, prioritization, clear focus and alignment. One more definition: Lead: to go with and show the way. Think about it, as a leaderyou must go with and show the way. So if we as Lay Leaders follow Wesley s Means of Grace, then others will see what we are doing in our Piety and Mercy and follow our lead. So please remember -To Lead: To go withand Showthe way. Now over to Dr. Julaunica Tigner. 8

9 Worship (Dr. Julaunica Tigner) - What is Worship? - Diverse Styles of Worship - Congregational Survey - What worship means - How to bring growth - Making disciples 9 Worship is defined as an acknowledgment of the worthiness, respect, and reverence; an act or attitude intended to recognize the worth of God, to honor God. Worship is an action that requires planning (the why) and execution of the plan (the how). With so many styles of worship, congregations and lay leaders have different expectations of what they consider good worship. A clear idea of why we worship and how worship is carried outis key. To get a better understanding of the why and how of worship, I conducted a survey using Kiki s base questions in my home church -Burks Chapel UMC. Our congregation is less than 100 members, 99% of which are African American descent, with large older and younger adult populations. Worship was defined as giving honor to God, giving thanks to God, and hearing a word of wisdom and encouragement from God. Examples of personal worship included serving and loving others, prayer, song, dance, asking God for daily guidance, witnessing, reading scriptures, feeling the emotion of God s presence through others and fellowship. Some responses showed concern we should be speaking the truth of God s word without twisting the meaning for selfish reasons, being sincere without putting on a show but people don t always do that. Selfishness, lack of caring, arrogance and personal gain are issues. To bring about growth and maturity, responses included sharing spiritual gifts, inviting people to pray and worship, meeting people where they are and telling them about the Bible, loving God and thanking Him for His goodness, and having events that reach out to different cultures. At the Westchester UM church in The Bronx, they have a steel pan ministry. One youth says he attends church to pray to God, celebrate God, and play the drums. Pastor Gordon Edwards makes this point, "If churches are going to grow they have to look within themselves, hone the skills and the gifts they have, and put those at the disposal of the community. Lay leaders have unique spiritual gifts that need to be tapped and shared through worship -God will use us to grow the church. Next up for Pure Sight is Matt Warrick.. 9

10 Partnership (Matt Warrick) - The Clergy-Lay leader partnership is to hold each other accountable Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson - Partnership - Respect - Responsibilities - Risk - Ecclesiastes 4:9 Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed (NLT)1a 10 Good Evening/Afternoon My area of focus is lay leadership s ability to build Partnerships. I specifically want to take your attention to the Clergy-Laity partnership in our Churches. In order for us to have Vital Congregations we need to be able to bridge the gap with our Pastors, to build stronger Ministries. During our last meeting, Bishop Sue Haupert- Johnson said The Clergy-Lay Leader Partnership is to hold each other accountable. This brings me to the three R`s of Partnership. In order to build this relationship with our Pastors, there first has to be mutual Respect. Part of that is understanding the Pastor`s and your role within the Church. It is our Responsibility to hold everyone involved in the ministry accountable, which includes ourselves. Having a partnership allows the work load to be distributed and gives us support at times when things can get overwhelming. This is where we face Risk, because no one is solely in control in a true partnership. This is where open communication is important, it allows us to set boundaries and expectations, it may sound a little methodical but after all we are United Methodists. If we look to the book of Ecclesiastes Chapter 4 Verse 9 it reads Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. We were not put on this earth to go it alone so lets get out there and start building partnerships within our Churches. Planting the seed of a Partnership can start with a hand shake and a common goal. One common goal we all share here is, to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Thank You Now for our final presenter Alan Brown. 10

11 Rotational Leadership (Alan Brown) - Lessons from Nature - Rotational leadership on the fly! - Insights from Academia & Industry - The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas. (scientist Linus Pauling) - A good idea doesn t care who has it. (Unknown) 11 So far, You ve heard a lot about attributes of effective lay leaders. Rotational leadership is an added dimension to leverage those attributes. Two of the key ministry strategies for vital congregations are rotating lay leadership, and having more people involved as lay leaders over time. Consider God s example in the migration of Canadian geese. They fly in a V to conserve energy; as the leader pulls the flock forward, other members honk in support. When the leader tires, he drops back into the V and a fresh leader takes over. In academia, multiple examples support the model of rotating leadership. One study of the high tech industry concluded that rotational leadership led to more innovation than typical models. Benefits from the world of education included mentoring of new leaders, and a force multiplier where is greater than 2. That multiplier effect and these shared leadership ideas are echoed by this from American scientist Linus Pauling, The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas. An unknown author adds, A good idea doesn t care who has it. Here are some more gifts of wisdom from God s Word and people 11

12 Gifts from God s Word & People - The whole people of God being called to serve God and one another (A. Michel) - We are all broken, all Christians redeemed by Christ, and all called to serve (H. Andone) - Diversity of Spiritual Gifts (1 Cor 12:7-11) - Congregational Points of View 12 Christian author Ann Michel writes that synergistic leadership means the whole people of God being called to serve God and one another. From Rev. Herzen Andoneright here at LUMC we are all broken, all Christians redeemed by Christ, and all called to serve. What about the value of diverse Spiritual Gifts originally called out in first Corinthians? Our Pure Sight group of 9, a random group of lay leaders, had strengths in 9 different Gifts! Rotating and sharing those gifts helps grow new leaders and directly supports the church growth and ministry. And finally, consider these highlights from my survey of 50 past and current lay leaders in my own church: Rotational leadership facilitates new ideas, prevents burn out, broadens the perspective of the church and expands focus on the community as a whole. Now for some closing thoughts 12

13 Closing Thoughts - Honk for all the leaders! - Keep the main thing the main thing - We are all called! - Bethe lay leader that is vital to church growth & ministry 13 Pure Sight was fortunate to have a project topic that spanned all the other groups topics pastor partnerships, effective worship, mixed age groups, work outside the church walls, spiritual growth and Missions. You ve heard from each member of our group, you can see their ideas for lay leadership again on this chart. We ask you to join us as we prayerfully consider these closing thoughts: Remember to honk and encourage all the leaders! Keep the main thing the main thing -We are all called! Isaiah 6:8 When the Lord says Whom shall I send?, answer Here am I, Lord! Send me! BE the lay leader that is vital to church growth and ministry! 13

14 Thank You! (Q&A) Our thanks and grace to all of you for your time and attentiveness! We hope that something we shared will enhance your Pure Sight! Our goals as Methodists and as graduates of LUMC include supporting the mission of the United Methodist Church to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world; and the objectives of the North Georgia Conference to develop Christian leaders, inspire young people, provide opportunities to serve those in need, and fulfill the mission of the denomination. 14 We hope that something we shared today will enhance your Pure Sight toward the mission of the United Methodist Church to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. We also encourage you to find time to review our more detailed written report that accompanies this presentation. Our thanks to everyone for your time and attentiveness! 14