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English LSM: UM Polity | September 2025 (LSM Advanced)

september, 2025

This is a repeating event

08sep4:00 PM6:00 PMEnglish LSM: UM Polity | September 2025 (LSM Advanced)4:00 PM - 6:00 PM PDT

Event Details

LAY SERVANT MINISTRIES ADVANCED COURSE – UM POLITY
Mondays, September 8, 15, 22, 29 and October 6, 2025, 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM California (Pacific Time)
Mondays, September 8, 15, 22, 29 and October 6, 2025 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM Hawaii (Hawaii Time)

REGISTER NOW AT THIS LINK

Zoom Online Platform

Cost & Deadlines: $30.00 and you must provide your own book (see below). Please note the deadline to register is Thursday, September 4, 2025. The class size will max at 30 participants and registration will close if that number is reached before the registration deadline.

About the Course:

Instructor:  Dione Taylor, Ed.D.
Dione Taylor is a member of San Diego First UMC and a generations-long United Methodist. Dione relishes every opportunity to be active in the United Methodist denomination and is blessed to have served as District Lay Leader, a delegate to Jurisdictional Conference, Church Council Chair, Sunday School Coordinator and teacher, and currently as a liturgist and lay person on the Board of Ordained Ministry. Dione is in her 26th year of employment as professor and director of the graduate program for School Counseling at Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU) in San Diego, a Christian university of Wesleyan heritage.

The course uses a Wesleyan theological frame—connection—to help readers understand United Methodism’s polity and organization as the interrelationship of our beliefs, mission, and practice. The course is organized into four parts—United Methodist beliefs, mission, practice, and organization. Polity and organization are primary embodiments of The United Methodist Church. Functional in nature, these aspects of the denomination facilitate our mission to make disciples for the transformation of the world. This book connects denominational governance and organization to our beliefs as well as our mission. A clear understanding of our identity—as Methodists with Wesleyan roots in connection—and our purpose—to make disciples for the transformation of the world—can help students of United Methodism navigate this treacherous landscape as present and future leaders.

  • Provide your own book: All participants will need a copy of The Method of Our Mission by Laceye Warner (Amazon, Cokesbury, Upper Room).
  • Classes are open to participants from all districts, and the class will be in an online format.
  • Attendance is required at all sessions for credit and you must have your camera on to get credit for the course.  
  • About Certified Lay Servant (CLS) and Certified Lay Speaker status: All those seeking certification as a Certified Lay Servant are invited to attend. The BASIC class and one Advanced Class is required to successfully apply for Certified Lay Servant status. If you have taken the Basic Lay Servant Class within the last three years, taking this advanced class will qualify you as a Certified Lay Servant.  If you want to continue on to being a Certified Lay SPEAKER, you will need to take the following advanced classes: Preaching, Leading or Planning Worship, Discovering Your Spiritual Gifts, Leading Prayer, United Methodist Heritage or History, and United Methodist Polity. For more information about Lay Servant Ministries, click here.
  • Technical requirements for Zoom participants: To participate in Zoom  meetings, participants must have a reliable Internet connection, and a  laptop, tablet, or smartphone device that can download and install the  Zoom app. A web or phone camera and a microphone are highly recommended,  although some users may call in via phone if a mic is not available. Zoom information will be sent to you later by the instructor. 

For more information about this course, contact Cathy Wilson at cwilson@calpacumc.org.

REGISTER NOW AT THIS LINK

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