wfn.org | Annual Conference Lay Leaders

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS" by SUSAN PEEK on Aug. 11, 1991 at 13:58 Eastern,
about FULL TEXT RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (3442 notes).

Note 3438 by UMNS on Feb. 18, 1997 at 09:04 Eastern (5526 characters).

SEARCH: lay leaders, association, annual conference, laity
Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
York, and Washington.

CONTACT: Linda Green                              84(10-71B){3438}
         Nashville, Tenn. (615) 742-5470             Feb. 17, 1997

Lay leaders learn about discernment, 
elect officers, provide grants

by Cheryl Capshaw*
    
       Nashville, Tenn. (UMNS)-- More than 50 annual conference
lay leaders received training in spiritual discernment and
consensus decision making during the annual meeting of the
National Association of Annual Conference Lay Leaders (NAACLL)
here, Feb. 14-16.
     The NAACLL, an affiliate of the denomination's Board of
Discipleship, initiates strategies and policies to strengthen the
presence and voice of laity in The United Methodist Church. 
     The association was organized to enable a mutual ministry
among lay people and clergy,  to exchange information concerning
the lay program of the United Methodist Church and to promote and
support lay activities. The association also provides conference
lay leaders with opportunities to share experiences and ideas
related to their offices.
     During the annual meeting lay leaders were introduced to
discipleship staff and learned about their varied
responsibilities.
     The NAACLL elected Gerald Richardson, Buffalo, N.Y., as vice
president; Jim Nibbelink, Milford, Ohio, as secretary; and Gaunnie
Dixon, Los Angeles as executive committee member-at-large.
    James W. (Jim) Lane, Sherwood, Ark., continues as president
and Susan Smalley, Kenai, Alaska, as treasurer until February
1998.
     NAACLL members awarded five seed grants of $500 each to
support lay leader development in the annual conferences. 
Normally four grants are awarded each year, however, one
grant from last year was returned, allowing the lay leaders to
make five grants this year.  Conferences to receive seed grants 
are Florida, Central Pennsylvania, Northwest Texas, Wisconsin, and
New Mexico.
     Grants awarded in previous years have funded programs to help
laypeople link faith to daily life, a small church convocation,
partnership efforts among clergy and laity, and more.
     A procedure for selecting  a conference lay leader to deliver
the 2000 General Conference Laity Address was approved.  The theme
for the address will be selected at the 1998 meeting.  Invitations
and instructions for submitting manuscripts will be sent to all
annual conference lay leaders no later than March 1, 1998.    
     A panel of judges selected by the NAACLL  executive committee
will rank manuscripts and return them to the General Board of
Discipleship no later than Jan. 15, 1999.  Copies of the winning
manuscript will be reproduced and furnished to the NAACLL members
attending the February 1999 meeting.    
     The lay leader whose entry is selected will deliver that 
address to the NAACLL during the February 2000 meeting.
     In other business, the NAACLL approved a resolution asking
the General Board of Discipleship to request the denomination's
Judicial Council to render a declaratory decision on the meaning
of the words "There shall be in every annual conference a
conference board of laity or other equivalent structure to provide
for these functions and maintain connectional relationship" as
they appear in paragraph 630.1 of the 1996 Book of Discipline.
     The words "or equivalent structure" were added to the
Discipline as a result of legislation proposed by the NAACLL.  
The intent of the legislation was to preserve the integrity of the
board of laity and to allow it to be called other names and to
have different lines of accountability.  The lay leaders stress
that it was never the intent of the legislation that there would
not be an identifiable entity within each annual conference to
carry out the provisions of Paragraph 630.  The lay leaders point
out that since the 1996 General Conference, at least three annual
conferences have created organizational structures that do not
provide for a conference board of laity or its equivalent.
     Stressing that these conferences are in violation of the
Discipline and are denying equal status for the laity, the NAACLL
wants a ruling on the meaning of "or other equivalent structure."
     THE NAACLL made some changes to its governing constitution
and approved proposed goals for 1997-2000.  Those goals are:
     * to develop and promote programs to cultivate a full
understanding of the primary mission of The United Methodist
Church, which is to make disciples of Jesus Christ;
     * to create a network where models for lay ministry and other
information can be shared;
     * to promote the theme and program "Partners in Ministry";
     * to monitor the restructuring of annual conferences to
assure that the provision of the 1996 Discipline that says that
there "shall be in every annual conference a conference board of
laity ... " is fully complied with in such a way that fully
protects and enhances the status of laity within the church; and
     * to provide support and direction for such lay programs as
layspeaking, the observance of Laity Day, and the work of lay
leaders at all levels.
     The NAACLL will meet again Feb. 13-15, 1998, in San Antonio.  
                   
                              #  #  #

     * Capshaw is communications consultant for the churchwide
Board of Discipleship.

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