Mountain Sky Appointment Announcements
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Mountain Sky Appointment Announcements
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Mountain Sky Conference values a diverse community and strongly encourages women, people of color, LGBT individuals, people with disabilities, members of ethnic minorities, foreign-born residents, and veterans to apply.
Conference Lay Leaders have opportunities to partner with conference leaders to encourage the churches, to provide a voice in decision-making for laity, to help develop leaders, and to serve as both a channel of information and a listening ear for the conference laity. They need skills in seeing the “big picture”, perceiving via a longer-term orientation, providing a spirit of encouragement, sharing conference visions, and embracing diversity. Serving in this role helps to develop yourself as a leader while allowing you the autonomy to schedule meetings and projects, and, most importantly to love God and your neighbor through servant leadership in supporting laity leaders throughout the Mountain Sky Conference. The Co-Lay leaders work together performing one of the most vital roles in the conference as they help the churches navigate obstacles, overcome challenges, and organize solutions. Letting yourself be nominated is step one.
Mountain Sky Conference has three lay leaders, with two elected from the Conference at large on the year of General Conference and one elected in the even year after General Conference. Lay leaders chair the Conference Board of Laity, serve on the Conference Roundtable, and are members of several conference-level committees and boards. Lay leaders have the responsibility for fostering awareness of the role of the laity within in the church, the community, and the world.
A Conference Lay Leader is a person who has experience in lay leadership positions within the local church and district. This person is aware of the responsibilities of the position and must be aware of the role of laity in mission and ministry within the congregation and the district and annual conference, as well as the opportunities for witness and mission through their ministries in the home, workplace, community, and world. The Conference Lay Leader provides direction both spiritually and procedurally to the Conference Board of Laity and Conference Committee on Lay Servant Ministries in cooperation with the Annual Conference Director of Lay Servant Ministries.
The Conference Lay Leader is a member of the annual conference sessions, and he or she should attend the annual conference sessions. Conference Lay Leaders are responsible for planning and leading the annual conference laity sessions. Membership on other conference related committees – [including the conference roundtable, the rules committee, the episcopacy committee, annual conference arrangements committee, and others – is expected.]
An effective Conference Lay Leader works with the Conference Board of Laity to enable and support lay participation in the planning and decision-making processes of the annual conference, districts, and local congregations in cooperation with the bishop, district superintendents, and pastors of local congregations.
. . . [T]he Conference Lay Leader relates to the organized lay groups within the annual conference and supports their ministries;
. . . works with the District Lay Leaders to develop the advocacy role for laity in the life of the church and encourage and equip laity in the general ministry of the church;
. . . meets with the cabinet on matters of programming within the annual conference and meets regularly with the bishop to discuss the state of the annual conference and needs for ministry both locally and globally.
Spiritual gifts: encouragement (exhortation), leadership, wisdom, discernment, apostleship, administration, shepherding, teaching.
It is recommended that the Conference Lay Leader be a Certified Lay Servant, and he/she should have experience in leadership at the district level and/or conference level. Examples include: some experience in leadership, ability to communicate effectively, good listening skills, organizational skills, ability to share vision, set goals, and monitor progress and lead meetings.
– from Conference and District Lay Leaders Manual, pp. 23-25
(Note: Similar information can be found in Paragraph 607 of the 2016 Book of Discipline.)