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Resources e-letter 11/1 - February 2011

This gives details of Article A26, The office of Lay Minister, and then lists resources available on the website on matters relating to church meetings. There are short items on registration and on the Twitter feed.

Points to ponder re Readers, Local Preachers and Lay Pastors

The latest Article sets out three proposals for change for Lay Ministers.

The office of Lay Minister first studies how this office is similar and yet different from other voluntary church roles, with a case study from Readers in the Church of England. Two proposals for change follow.

It then considers how such Lay Ministers are managed and makes a third proposal. The implications for Lay Ministers who are gifted preachers, pastors or pioneers are considered.

The three proposals are as follows:

  • There should be a shift from ministry itself to enabling others in ministry
  • There should be a shift from 'doing ministry' to 'being mission'
  • There should be a shift to tighter management discipline as a role model.

Find the file for Article A26 at http://www.john-truscott.co.uk/Resources/Articles/The-office-of-Lay-Minister.

When you have read the article, please add a Comment.  If you have registered on the site (or as a UCAN member), simply click ‘Login’ in any right hand column.  If you have not yet registered, follow the instructions below.
  
  

Items about church meetings

We are at the time of year when many churches are approaching their annual meeting.  Whatever type of meeting you are concerned with, here are the items on the website that cover some aspect of this area of church life.

 How to chair meetings – an orchestral approach  (Article A5)

Annual meetings can be different – ideas to experiment with  (Article A20)

Mission-shaped Church Councils – three ways forward  (Article A24)

Major decisions: a new approach  (Training Notes TN8)

A purpose statement for those who chair  (Training Notes TN13)

Are you sure it’s minutes you need?  (Training Notes TN45)
  
  

Please register and join the debate

The new website at last gives an opportunity for interaction on all 88 resource items.  There is now a comment facility on each one and I am particularly keen for people to start commenting!  Readers of these e-letters are the most likely to do so, so here is my plea.

If you are keen on the kind of issues I am dealing with (“creative organisation” is the umbrella theme), and have things to say about some of the topics I am writing about, please start reacting to them.  I am not looking so much for praise or criticism on the items (but I will take both!) but debate or comment on the issues.

To take part you first need to register as a website user (a one-off action).  If you have not done so already, go to Login (right hand column on every page) and click the red ‘Create a user account’ – or go here – and follow instructions.  Once you have activated your registration you have access to all the Comment facilities and the Web forum in the Dialogue section too. All you have to do is to Log in (right hand column on each page) each time.
  
  

Follow my Twitter feeds

If you are already on Twitter, follow me @johnnvtruscott.  I put out about eight tweets a week which act as either micro-articles on my theme of creative organisation, or link you to the website in some way.  If you are not on Twitter and do not want to join, simply click the Twitter icon (left hand column on every page of my website) each time you visit and you will see a complete listing of all my tweets.