A lay speaker is a position in the

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was ...

for the

laity In religious organizations, the laity () — individually a layperson, layman or laywoman — consists of all Church membership, members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-Ordination, ordained members of religious orders, e ...

. Technically, a lay speaker is a “member of a local church … who is ready … to serve the Church... and is well informed on and committed to the Scriptures ... and the UMC” Generally, lay speakers are UMC leaders on local, district, and conference levels. Lay speakers often lead worship services when a minister is not available. There are two types of lay speakers: local lay speakers and certified lay speakers. Local lay speakers need only take one basic course and serve in their local

congregation Congregation may refer to: Religion *Church (congregation), a religious organization that meets in a particular location *Congregation (Roman Curia), an administrative body of the Catholic Church *Religious congregation, a type of religious instit ...

only. Certified lay speakers must initially take six classes and continue their education once every three years.Baltimore-Washington UMC website, ''Certified Lay Speakers''
/ref> They may serve churches of which they are not members.

References

United Methodist Church {{Methodist-stub

See also

References