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What is a local preacher? |
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Local Preachers are people who lead worship and preach. Many of them are lay people whose employment (paid or unpaid) is not directly with the church. Some are employed by the church (for example, as lay workers) and others are ordained as Deacons (though not all Deacons have a preaching ministry). Local Preachers are called by God to lead worship and preach the Good News.
They:
- hear a call to preach, respond to that call and test it;
- are growing in their Christian life and faith;
- are members of the Methodist Church;
- worship regularly (as preaching appointments permit) in their Local Church and receive Holy Communion;
- have integrity in their lifestyle;
- exercise accountability to the Circuit Local Preachers Meeting for their discipleship;
- are members of the Circuit LP Meeting;
- with the help of the Circuit LP Meeting have discerned their call to a lay ministry of leading worship and preaching;
- have completed training that equips them for that role;
- have been admitted as Local Preachers;
- enable congregations to worship and encounter God;
- to this end, work in collaboration with worship leaders, musicians and others contributing to worship;
- bring to congregations the hope and challenge of the Good News;
- take responsibility for their own continuing spirituality, learning and development;
- reflect on their practice as Local Preachers;
- continue to develop their understanding of the Bible, theology, Christian tradition and Methodist heritage;
- continue to develop their understanding of contemporary issues in society and of current religious experience;
- continue to develop new and existing skills in leading worship and preaching.
The tasks of a Local Preacher include:
- prayerful preparation of worship and preaching that:
- is open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit;
- gives glory to God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit;
- expresses convincingly the Good News of Jesus Christ;
- seeks to enable congregations to worship and encounter God;
- seeks to interest, inspire, move and engage worshippers with God’s love in action for all, with all, in all;
- invites appropriate responses by all worshippers;
- uses the gifts and talents of the worshippers, including the preacher’s own;
- seeks to include others appropriately in contributing to worship, including worship leaders and musicians;
- makes arrangements that enable worshippers to focus on God rather than the mechanics or choreography of leading worship and presenting Good News;
- reflects Methodist emphases in theology and doctrine;
- is informed by and uses the best understandings and practice of Christian worship.
leading of worship that:
- prompts adoration of God;
- gives voice to individual and corporate frailty in serving God, in following Christ, in being led by the Holy Spirit;
- proclaims assurance of God’s love and forgiveness in the crucified and risen Christ;
- gives thanks for God’s goodness, generosity, grace;
- embraces concern for a suffering world with the love of a suffering Saviour;
- expresses self-giving love for a God of self-giving love.
- works collaboratively with Worship Leaders and with the whole congregation, enabling all to contribute to worship;
- uses the arts and technology (as appropriate and as available) to communicate the Good News and to present God’s Word with creativity and imagination;
- enables shared expression of faith and love by the worshipping community – e.g. in songs, hymns, psalms, responsive prayers, silence, activities, poems, meditations, music (and much more);
- makes worship accessible to all e.g. through sensitivity about language, style etc;
- invites both a personal and corporate response to God in Christ.
preaching that draws on careful Bible study, exegesis, research and reflection to:
- proclaim the Good News;
- relate contemporary experience and God’s Word;
- express what at times might be a difficult, unpopular message;
- draw people to God rather than draw attention to the preacher;
- generate interest in and enthusiasm for the Good News and appropriate responses to the Good News;
- use the arts and technology (as appropriate and as available)
- to aid research and reflection with the widest possible range of resources,
- to communicate the Good News,
- to present God’s Word with creativity and imagination;
- be creative, using a variety of styles of preaching and a variety of approaches that convey effectively the Good News;
- make God’s message widely accessible;
- invite both a personal and corporate response to God in Christ.
The above descriptors indicate what Local Preachers aspire to, recognising that nobody achieves all of them equally well. As such they become a useful tool in shaping the initial training and the continuing development of each Local Preacher. They help to explain:
- why there is a requirement of rigorous study to prepare people for the role and
- why there is a need for all preachers to engage in continuing development.
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