Our hearts desire is that the whole people of God may be engaged in the whole mission of God across the whole of life. That means that everyone has a part to play; being part of church, chaplaincy or other ministry has never really been a kind of spectator activity where people in the pews watch what is done by the people at the front; but now more than ever, it is about everyone using our God given gifts both in the life of the church and in the places God has set us – home, work, and communities – which is what we mean by #MoreThanSunday
WHAT IS THE GENERAL LAY TRAINING PATHWAY?
The general lay training pathway opens up and offers wider access to all of our current lay training courses and comes out of our vision to see all lay people empowered, enable and equipped; not just those seeking authorisation or licensing through our existing programmes such as Authorised Lay Ministry (ALM) and Reader Ministry.
ALM and Reader Ministry will still remain as distinct training pathways but they will no longer be the only way to access lay training courses. All ten of the courses offered on the ALM pathway are also now open as stand-alone courses to any lay people wanting to develop their calling and gifting to Christian ministry and service.
The new general lay training pathway involves a much simplified application process but will still require a recommendation from an appropriate parish representative. After training, we encourage some form of locally recognised celebration or commissioning, with the ongoing support and care of the participant remaining under the oversight of the local parish.
WHAT DOES THE TRAINING INVOLVE?
All courses are around 12 sessions long and will run each year between April to July. Delivery will be a mixture of online and in person teaching at a variety of venues around the diocese.
There are currently ten courses available:
- Children & Families
- Community Outreach & Social Action
- Digital Church & Online Media
- Ecology & Creation
- Mission & Evangelism
- Parish Admin, Finance & Governance
- Pastoral Outreach & Listening
- Prayer & Spirituality
- Worship & Liturgy
- Youth Work
HOW CAN I APPLY?
Applications are now closed for our 2023 courses. The next set of courses will begin again in April 2024 with more information available in the new year.’
WHERE CAN I GET MORE INFORMATION?
For more details on the courses please feel free to contact the Local Ministry Officer, Jamie Mackenzie.
