Lay Servant Ministries Basic Course Leader's Guide

Lay Servant Ministries

Basic Course

Leader’s Book

Sandy Jackson with Brian Jackson

Cover design by Paul Gant

Interior design by PerfecType

ISBN 13: 978-0-88177-627-0

Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989. Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Quotations designated UMH are taken from The United Methodist Hymnal (Nashville, TN: The United Methodist Publishing House, 1989).

Quotations designated TFWS are taken from The Faith We Sing (Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 2000).

Quotations designated UMBW are taken from The United Methodist Book of Worship (Nashville, TN: The United Methodist Publishing House, 1992).

LAY SERVANT MINISTRIES: Basic Course Leader’s Guide. Copyright © 2013 Discipleship Resources. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form whatsoever, print or electronic, without written permission, except for the resources specified for reproduction in the appendix. For information regarding rights and permissions, contact Discipleship Resources,

PO Box 340003, Nashville, TN 37203-0003; fax 615-340-1789.

Discipleship Resources ® and design logos are trademarks owned by GBOD ®, Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America.

DR 627

Contents

Preface: Thoughts on Teaching and Learning

Introduction

Session One: Ministry of the Baptized

Session Two: Leading

Session Three: Caring

Session Four: Communicating

Session Five: Into the World

Appendix

Participant’s Letter (Five Sessions)

Participant’s Letter (Weekend Session)

Sample Christian Conferencing Format

Evaluation Questions

Session Resources

Introduction to Joining God’s Mission

Preface

Thoughts on Teaching and Learning

Each of us has a personal and unique learning style. It may be similar to that of others, but if we are able to use a learning style tailored to the way our brain recognizes, stores, and processes information, learning becomes easy and fun, and information is more effectively retained. Think of how you prefer to learn. Perhaps you are a reader. Maybe you learn more easily and efficiently by listening to music, to other sounds, or to voice. Perhaps you learn best in a hands-on manner. If the teaching method suits your learning style, you can process and adapt any information quickly. Addressing the educational needs of all students during a session may require you to modify your presentation style.

While lecture alone is the least effective means of presenting material, group activity is one of the most effective. Relational activities in small groups, or sometimes in the larger class context, associate students with different learning styles and thereby offer a way for the teacher to expose students to multiple avenues of learning. Although some sessions will lend themselves to one or more specific learning styles, the instructor can