Can a Lay Person Really Speak?

Here I am leading a session at the Advanced Class

About three years ago, I responded to an announcement at my church about Lay Speaking classes. In the United Methodist Church, lay people can become Certified Lay Speakers. Because I have been speaking and singing in front of groups since I was a child, this sounded interesting to me.


I signed up and paid the little fee, and was excited to attend the first class, which I was sure would be the spiritual equivalent of Speech 101 in college. I loved that class, because we had a wonderful instructor.

Sheri, Ryan and Tami,
Course Instructors

To become certified through the United Methodist Church, two separate courses are required: Basic and Advanced. Sometimes someone will only take one or the other and think that they are certified, but it doesn’t quite work like that. Both classes have to be completed within a three-year time frame to be eligible for certification. Each class lasts approximately two days of eight hour sessions each. The Basic Class doesn’t have to be taken before the Advanced class.

Ellie attended the book table.

This was good for me because I was able to sign up for the Advanced Class first. Our particular topic was Our United Methodist Heritage. We received a book on the topic, which was great to have. Knowing the history of the religion that you profess is always beneficial. It is great to understand what the core beliefs are and why. One of the things that I received from this class is the knowledge of the connectedness of the United Methodist Church. We are somewhat unique in this over some, but not all, other religions. 

One of the benefits of this connectional system is that we have ministries in operation all over the world at all times. When a disaster occurs in a country, we don’t have to send people; usually, we already have people there who live there. And through our UMCOR program, (United Methodist Committee on Relief), because of our apportionments, (money paid to a central fund by every Methodist Church), every penny donated to UMCOR goes directly to the relief effort. None of that money is used for administrative costs. This is a church that is truly being the hands and feet of Jesus worldwide. Lay speaking classes helped me to realize the extent of these programs.


The thing that surprised me about the class is that it had more of a focus on ministry than on speaking. The idea behind the class was to give us the background and information that we needed to be able to lead a class about Methodism within our own churches. I also noticed that we had a lot of small group discussions, which gave us the opportunities to explore topics with others.


That is when I realized that Lay Speaking is more about leading, teaching and ministering. Speaking is one element of this leadership, but ironically, speaking isn’t always the focus.




When I took the basic class, in addition to providing information about the different gifts and ministries of laity, they also did a session about preaching and had us to write and present our own sermons, based utilizing the Wesleyan quadrilateral. That was fun and a little scary, because we didn’t just present our own sermons. We were critiqued on our sermons. But it turned out to not be as scary as I thought because the one critiquing now would be the one preaching later. That always softens the criticism before it starts.


After I finished the second class, which, for me, was the Basic class, I received a certificate, a pin and a wallet card that can be used for a discount card on selected books at Cokesbury. My children immediately lost the pin, but it was nice to have while it lasted. 


Then, I turned in a form to my Pastor for her signature and presentation to the charge conference. (Annual meeting of the administrative board with the District Superintendent to kick the tires, so to speak.) A vote is taken at the charge conference meeting to approve lay speakers. I am guessing that a recent ax murderer wouldn’t be approved. Then the District Superintendent forwards that information to the leader of the District Lay Speaking Committee. And voila, the process is complete.


Since becoming a Lay Speaker, I have had the opportunity to join the District Lay Speaking board and help to teach the newer classes. The Advanced Class topic changes every year based on the selection among approximately eight topics that are available. I have also had the opportunity to speak at different functions at church and preach at other churches. This has been a very rewarding journey.

For those in the Austin, Texas district, the next class will be held at Manchaca United Methodist Church on April 21 and 28, 2012 at 8am both days. Childcare and lunch will be provided. To sign up please contact Tami Anderson at tamianderson2000@yahoo.com.




copyright 2012 by Kathy Robbins

The Full Armor of God

Prayer

Father God, we praise your name for all that you have done for us in the past, present and future. I ask that you give us the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that we may know you better. I pray also that the eyes of our hearts may be enlightened in order that we may know the hope to which you have called us, the riches of your glorious inheritance in the saints, and your incomparably great power for us who believe. (Ephesians 1:15-19 (revised by me)).
In the name of your precious son, Jesus Christ, Amen.

I want begin by telling you a little about me. I grew up in South Alabama, where I attended, was confirmed and baptized at the First United Methodist Church. I worked there at the age of 16 as the Chancel Choir Director. The next year, I worked at Blue Lake Methodist Church camp in Andalusia, Alabama. I went to work at various jobs, during which time, I completed my Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Troy University. I got married, had 3 children and then divorced. I moved to Texas 3 years ago, whereupon I immediately joined Buda United Methodist Church. Since then I have served as an usher, a liturgist, a choir member, a member of the Evangelism Committee and the Recording Secretary for the Administrative Council at BUMC. I became a Certified Lay Speaker in May of 2010 and began serving on the Austin District Board of Lay Speaking at the same time. I also serve on the Hays Praise Emmaus board, the Greater Austin Emmaus Board, the Lay Director of the Austin/Crossroads District Chrysalis board and the Secretary and Executive Committee member of the Southwest Texas Conference Chrysalis board.

As a friend of mine once said, it has taken me a long time to learn not to make eye contact with the person approaching me with pen and clipboard in hand.

Old Testament Reading: Proverbs 20:18 Make plans by seeking advice, if you wage war, obtain guidance.

New Testament Reading: Ephesians, Chapter 6, v. 10-18

I mentioned that I had served as a camp counselor at a Methodist Church camp at the age of 17. After that, I entered into college, and gradually fell away from the church, as many college students do. I refer to this period as my period of wandering in the wilderness. I would stay in the wilderness for a long period of time. Not until after the birth of my first son did I return to the church. The reason that I returned was a desire to raise my children properly: with a foundation upon God.

When I returned, I did so with a hunger for the word of God. I wanted to deepen my spiritual understanding.

During this period, I ran into a challenge. This challenge came in the form of a conflict with a family member, who shall remain anonymous.
I am thankful to tell you today that I don’t remember the reason for the disagreement. But I do remember the frustration and anger.

And it was only a small conflict because, in spite of my great anger, I kept my mouth shut to her about the matter. Instead, I had decided to try to take the Christian approach to this difficulty. I wanted to behave as Christ would have me to behave. And I have to confess that it was difficult. But I was determined. I had heard that all of the answers to life’s problems are found in the Bible, so I decided to go to my Bible to find the solution: that unique thing or things that I needed to withstand this trial in such a way that would be pleasing to God. And hopefully, I would not have to compromise anything that I cared deeply about. Being out of fellowship for many years, meant that I could not pick up my Bible and go straight to the scripture that I needed. It meant that I would have to search. So search I did, because I was determined. And I searched, and searched. When finally, I found the important scripture that would become a turning point in my faith.

I found this in Ephesians, Chapter 6, verse 10-18.

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”

I was amazed! This is just what I was looking for!

First, I was told to be strong in the Lord. I was trying.
Second, I was being told that the devil has schemes that he will use against me, and for which I can be prepared with the following weapons:

1. Belt of truth. This is the word of Jesus Christ. John 14:6 tells us that “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’”

John 14:16 -17 says, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”

2. Breastplate of righteousness: Righteousness means right standing with God. How do we do this? We have to be sinless. This is impossible for us. So, we can be released from the spiritual death of sin through acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. The blood that he shed on the cross provides the atonement for our sins and only through the acceptance of him do we receive this atonement. Only in atonement do we receive right standing with God. So our righteousness is not of our own doing, but through grace; through Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us that “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

3. Feet fitted with readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. Gospel means good news and/or God-story.

4. Shield of faith-Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Faith is when we know, that we know, that we know, that we know that we know.

5. Helmet of salvation- Salvation is being saved from sin or receiving a way to keep sin from ruling us: There is only one way to salvation and that is Jesus Christ.

6. The sword of the spirit-This is the word of God. John 1:1-2

“In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. He was with God in the beginning. “

This refers to Jesus Christ. He is the word.

This also refers to the Bible. We need to read our Bibles to provide a sword of the spirit, or ammunition and weapons.


7. Prayer-Pray always for all of the saints. This is our conversation with God. Hopefully, it occurs daily, hourly, and/ or minute by minute.

First Thessalonians 5:17-18 tells us to “pray without ceasing, giving thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (combination of different versions of the Bible)

I have found that a lot of pastors do not like the subject of spiritual warfare. I hear many different reasons given for this. One reason that they give is that they don’t want to glorify the devil. They don’t want to dwell on the negative. They would rather focus on the love of God. And some will even go as far as to say that they don’t believe in a devil or evil spirits or spiritual warfare. It is because of the goodness and love of God that I am able to address this issue.

Interestingly, I have heard some Methodist pastors say that they don’t believe in a devil that wages war against us. I have gently reminded them that when we joined the church, we had to answer a series of questions. One was a question of whether we renounce evil. If you answer yes to that question and a few others and ask to be admitted to membership, you are admitted. If you renounce something, you are also declaring your belief in it, for we can not renounce that in which we do not believe.

I said earlier that we had moved to Texas over 3 years ago and immediately afterwards, I joined BUMC. A couple of weeks later, I sent my oldest son on a mission trip with the youth group, which was kind of mean of me, because he didn’t know anybody at the time. He learned a lot on that mission trip. One of the main things that he learned was how to text. He came home texting like crazy. I remember thinking, “that wasn’t exactly what I wanted you to learn when I sent you on a mission trip”.

I heard a devotional one time encouraging us to pray with the frequency with which teenagers text. They are continuously talking to each other all day through texting. If we were to pray like our teenagers text, we would have a relationship with God that is beyond our imagination.

I mentioned that I had learned three things from this scripture. I already addressed the first two things. The third thing that I learned from this scripture is that it is OK to get frustrated. We just need to focus our frustration in the right direction. We shouldn’t get angry with the individual. But with the powers and principalities and rulers of flesh that the individual allows to run his life or to influence him.

That was a solution that we can readily accept. See, I needed to put my anger aside and forgive my family member. That is hard to do when we are angry at someone. But when we can look at the situation from the perspective that our struggles are not against flesh and blood, but against the Prince of Darkness or Satan, then we are able to separate the cause from the person and accept that we can still walk in love with one another even when we are struggling with the actions of others. That is a path of forgiveness that we can accept. We can pray for anyone that we are angry at with sincerity by praying that the powers and principalities that are influencing their life be overcome. We can sincerely ask for a blessing for someone who would otherwise be an enemy.

And to do this, we must rely on Jesus. Here is a review of the seven spiritual weapons:

Our belt of truth is Jesus Christ.
Our breastplate of righteousness is Jesus Christ.
Our covering for our feet is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Our shield of faith is our belief in Jesus Christ.
Our helmet of salvation is Jesus Christ.
Our sword of the spirit is Jesus Christ.

He is our truth, our righteousness, our salvation and our good news. Through faith and obedience in him, and prayerfully establishing a daily relationship with him and prayerfully studying his word, we will be ready to fight against evil.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Legacy

I am a member of the Buda United Methodist Church and, in June, our Pastor will transfer out of town for a new position with the United Methodist Church. So we say that we are losing our pastor.

For me, this is a bittersweet experience. For while we lose a pastor, we will get a new one. So, as I contemplate all that this means and will be , I try to reflect the lessons that I have learned in my time with our pastor.

Not long after I moved from Alabama to Texas and joined BUMC, Pastor Teresa preached a sermon about keeping our roots grounded in the foundation of God. She explained to us that we can keep roots and fly simultaneously. As long as our roots are grounded in God, we are able to fly: to move, and achieve great things. We can move anywhere, as long as we remain grounded in God. Our roots remain in the same place. This sermon had a profound impact on me as I was adjusting to my new life in Texas and looking for validation that my new location was indeed the will of God for my life.

As time went on, I remember that she encouraged our congregation to accept a new pastor when our associate pastor transferred to a different church. She reminded us that although we could never find anyone who would replace Pastor Kim in our hearts, God allowed our hearts to stretch to allow new people in . And it is through this stretching process that we grow.

This reminded me of what my oldest son said one time: He said, "Mom, I don't like my brother." I asked him why he felt that way.

He said, "Because before he was born, I had all of the love from you and Daddy. And after he was born, I had to share your love. Then I had only half as much." I told him that I understood what he meant, but that he didn't have it quite right. The truth was that when God gives a couple a new baby, he at the same time, gives them a full measure of increase in their capacity for love. So, his amount of love from us was the same: it's just that God gave us an extra dose of love so that we would have enough for his brother too."

I think that is what God does when he brings new people into our lives. He allows our hearts to stretch to love the people that were already there, as well as to love the new ones. It is through his gift of an additional measure of love that our heart stretches.

Another thing that I heard from Pastor Teresa is the concept of God "loving us with a love that will not let go." That is the universal parentage of God. This is the love of the father for the prodigal son. It never let go. His son, no matter where he traveled, had never traveled far enough to outrun the love of his father, or of God. I have integrated this into the message that I tell my sons: that, like God, I love them with a love that will not let them go. That is not to say that I won't let them go when the time comes. But that my love will not let them go. It is bigger than their problems, and trials; it is bigger than me or them, or as a former pastor says, it is bigger than death.

It is the kind of love that allows us to continue to grind our roots deeper into the soil of God, the word of life; yet the love that allows us to fly, even with roots. It is the kind of love that allows a pastor to leave and fly, knowing that she has her roots in the right place and that no matter where she goes, she will not travel past our love or the love of God.

These are the core lessons that I will remember from Teresa Welborn's ministry at our church. We each will keep the lessons that we have learned from her and this will become her legacy; her lasting gift to us.