It has been a little while since I have made a post, mostly because I have been running full steam in other directions. This week, I get to take a little bit of a breath. Even though I have been very busy, I have been having fun. Here are some of the things I was doing behind the scenes last week:
- Tuesday evening, I went through the Christian Life and Witness Class with the Will Graham celebration. I know that Dennis Teel and Barbara Golden have also gone to these classes as well. These classes teach some primary concepts of talking through Christianity with others. The people who have gone through these classes may serve as counselors during the Will Graham Celebration.
- On Thursday, I had a full day meeting with Ron Ball, our District Superintendent, and several other pastors from our district. We will be meeting for a full day, once per month for about six months to focus on ways we may increase leadership throughout our district (beginning with ourselves!). This will be a fun group to work with.
- Friday and Saturday, I taught a class called “Lay Speakers Lead in Worship” at our Lay Speaking School. Lay Speakers are a very important part of our denomination. These are church members that volunteer to lead churches when a pastor is not available. So they substitute if a pastor gets sick, or they speak at churches that cannot afford a full time pastor. Lay Speakers have always been an important part of our history, and I predict that they will be crucial in the next few years as our conference tries to organize itself for new growth and development. We have three certified lay speakers in our congregation: Derek Cagle, Steve Clemmons (he was in my class this weekend), and Dennis Teel.
These are some of the things that I have been working on behind the scenes and will serve to enhance my ministry in general, and my service to Wesley Memorial. I will look forward to posting some of the things I learn along the way!
