Sound District Lay Leader:
Kim Rice Smith – [email protected]
https://sounddistrictnc.org/category/from-district-lay-leader/
Lay Leaders
According to the Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church each local church shall elect a Lay Leader who is responsible for the following:
A) Fostering awareness of the role of laity both within the congregation and through their ministries in the home, workplace, community, and world, and finding ways within the community of faith to recognize all these ministries;
B) Meeting regularly with the pastor to discuss the state of the church and the needs for ministry;
C) Membership in the charge conference and the church council, the committee on finance, the committee on lay leadership, and the committee on pastor-parish relations or staff-parish relations, where, along with the pastor, the lay leader shall serve as an interpreter of the actions and programs of the annual conference and the general Church (to be better equipped to comply with this responsibility it is recommended that a lay leader also serve as a lay member of annual conference);
D) Continuing involvement in study and training opportunities to develop a growing understanding of the Church’s reason for existence and the types of ministry that will most effectively fulfill the Church’s mission;
E) Assisting in advising the church council of opportunities available and the needs expressed for a more effective ministry of the church through its laity in the community;
F) Informing the laity of training opportunities provided by the annual conference. Where possible, the lay leader shall attend training opportunities in order to strengthen his or her work. The lay leader is urged to become a certified lay speaker.