Lay Leader Study Course (current plan)

To all concerned:

The Episcopal Church’s Bishop Suffragan for Chaplaincies’ Lay Leader Study Course is a “work in progress” and here is the current plan:

The Canons of the Episcopal Church (available at www.episcopalchurch.org) contain a summary of lay ministries for which a person may be licensed. Once you are at that web site, click on the “A to Z” directory in the top right section of the web page. When the directory pops up, scroll down to “Constitution and Canons” and click there. The Lay Ministries canon is Title III, Canon 4, on pages 60-61 in the 2003 Canons. (The 2006 Canons will soon be published and the pages may be a bit different in that edition.) This section provides an excellent outline of ministries for which the Rt. Rev. George E. Packard, the Bishop Suffragan for Chaplaincies, can license someone once the chaplain or rector or other clergy of The Episcopal Church (TEC) or Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) has provided him/her with the basic training and experience. A suggested outline of such training appears below.

Prospective Episcopal Church Lay Leaders (LL) are asked to prepare a brief life sketch of their faith journey (three to six pages, double-spaced, typed) which should include a statement of their motivation for wanting to be part of the Lay Leader Study Course. This should be presented to the clergy person responsible for the training. In addition, the prospective LL Training Course attendee who wants to licensed to function as a Lay Leader is asked to provide the names and addresses of three references including at least one clergy and one lay, all of whom are not members of his/her family.

The Lay Leader aspirant meets with a screening committee preferably composed of a minimum of three people including at least one chaplain or civilian priest of TEC. The committee will have reviewed the written life sketch (and the results of the reference checks for those who wish to be licensed by Bishop Packard). The screening committee’s purpose is to determine if the LL aspirant is qualified spiritually, morally, intellectually, and emotionally to serve as a Lay Leader.

If the committee approves the LL aspirant participation in the Lay Leader Study Course, three books are required to be read under the guidance of an assigned tutor (preferably a chaplain or priest of TEC or of the ELCA). The tutor is expected to meet regularly with the aspirant, preferably a minimum of six one-hour sessions over a two to four month period. It is highly recommended that a brief written and/or oral report/discussion be given on the chapters of each book. (Often times there are only one or maybe two aspirants going through the training at any one time thus allowing one-on-one dialogue).

At the conclusion of the course, a final paper and/or exam (open book) may be required of the aspirant by the committee. A lay led service of worship must be designed and conducted by the aspirant and constructively critiqued by the tutor.

The committee will make a final decision as to the readiness of the aspirant to be recommended for credentialing by Bishop George Packard for a one-year Lay Leader license. (Annually, Lay Leaders must submit a report to Bishop Packard of their past 12 months of LL ministry and request a renewed one-year license to continue service. Lay Leaders must have a sponsoring clergy person each year who is a priest/chaplain of either TEC or the ELCA, who can assess his/her effectiveness).

The titles of the three Lay Leader Training Course text books are as follows:

A History of the Episcopal Church (Revised edition), (Book A)
by Robert W. Prichard, Morehouse Publishing

Going Home: An Invitation to Jubilee, (Book B)
by Frank T. Griswold, Cowley Publications

.A Lay Minister’s Guide to the Book of Common Prayer, (Book C)
by Clifford W. Atkinson, Morehouse Publishing

(Books may be ordered via the Episcopal Books and Resources, 800-903-5544, or you may consult Amazon.com or some other book seller.)

The reason Bishop Packard chose the above three books is that he wants a Lay Leader to have a good grasp of what it means to be a Christian in the Episcopal Church tradition
(book A.); be a person who is growing in his/her devotional life (book B.); be proficient in the craft of leading appropriate services in the absence of a priest, (book C.).