Welcome to this section of the AmbidextrousChurch.com blog, in support of the Advanced Lay Servant course on “Living Our United Methodist Beliefs.”
My hope is that as information on our course is posted and you make comments, we will produce an ongoing resource for learning United Methodist history and beliefs. I will be posting information about the course, from the course, and from public domain resources about United Methodist history and beliefs. In invite you to comment on the post, asking questions and sharing your thoughts and stories on the topic. After our course is over, I’ll integrate some of your thoughts with the original post or in a new post – and this information will help the next set of students who take the class.
I particularly hope that you will be able to use this information to teach a class or lead a session of a small group on the topic of what we believe as United Methodists. Please let them know where to find this material, so that they can also teach others.
The following posts include –
– posts that are an overview of this course.
– posts where you can comment on the goals of the course.
– posts for each Chapter of the textbook, where you can comment on what you read and is meaningful to you.
– posts that expand upon topics in a Chapter of the textbook.
– posts that provide links to find useful information for your studies.
– posts that provide information for your studies which you can directly use
– posts that provide information on statements of belief of specific churches.
– posts that provide other opportunities for discussion, such as theological themes from the Wesley hymns.
LAY SERVANT COURSE HANDOUT
Living Our United Methodist Beliefs
November 9, 2013, and December 7, 2013
at
Caseyville United Methodist Church, 199 W Lincoln Ave, Caseyville, IL 62232
INSTRUCTOR: David O. Kueker, pastor, Caseyville UMC and member, Mississippi River District Committee on Lay Servants.
This class is an “advanced” class in lay servant terminology, and is one of six required courses to become certified as a “Lay Speaker” according to the 2012 General Conference.
TEXT:
Living Our Beliefs: The United Methodist Way, by Kenneth Carder
A Brief History of The United Methodist Church
(Download as a PDF from: www.gbod.org/umc_history)
The instruction manual for this course is:
Leader’s Manual: Living Our United Methodist Beliefs by George Hovaness Donigian (This manual, DRPDF605, is published as a PDF file and can be purchased for use in your local church if you wish to have it. It is available from Discipleship Resources, P.O. Box 340003, Nashville, TN 37203-0003. ISBN: 978-0-88177-605-8.)
GENERAL COURSE GOALS – By the end of the course each participant will:
1. Discover the place of doctrine in relation to the missional movement known as Methodism
2. Develop an understanding of Wesleyan theology and its influence on the practical structure
and disciplines for the first Methodists.
3. Acquire knowledge of Methodist history and the formation of other Methodist denominations.
4. Explore the Wesleyan understanding of grace and how it became key to the movement.
5. Describe and discuss the means of grace and how these disciplines lead to holiness of heart and life.
TEACHER’S GOALS:
Let’s have fun, be happy, thank & praise Jesus, make friends, and learn something interesting!
You will be able to use this material to teach or preach these ideas in your local church.