Reflections From Sunday Evening

In the mid 1970's and early 1980's I had the opportunity to study at Oral Roberts University and Fuller Theological Seminary in addition to St. Paul School of Theology. The unique thing about ORU and Fuller was the emphasis upon the ministry of the laity. I am thankful that I was exposed to this model of church early on. It certainly seemed logical to me. Of course I was a layperson before I was a clergy. I witnessed and experienced the power of lay ministry. When the ministry of the laity began to gain traction in Mainline churches a few years later I already had a foundation. In the ensuing years I have gone from layperson to clergy. I have continued to understand the importance of involving all the people of God in the mission and ministry of the church. I sense we are fast approaching a new season of expanded ministry at PWUMC. Today our Conference Lay Leader, Brian Hammons joined us for worship. He came with our District and Local Church Lay Leader, John Miller. This reminds me of the deep pool of committed laypersons in our conference and in our church. Tomorrow and Tuesday we will be visited by our Church Coach, Doug Anderson, who will work with us on the Equipping Church model of ministry. Again we will talk and pray about ways we can identify people who can lead ministries. We will recruit these leaders and then equip them to further the model by identifying, recruiting and equipping laypersons to share our ministry. The result of this type of ministry is more people, more connected people and reaching more new people. I look forward to this next season of ministry in our church. I look forward to sharing in your ministry. It's been a great day. I hope you've had a good day too. steve