DEPARTMENT OF LAY MINISTRY
Mr. Chairman, College of Bishops, Members of the Judiciary Council, College Presidents, Delegates, and my Fellow Laity – I greet you in the precious name of Jesus Christ who provides my every need.
It is my privilege to make this, my seventh report of my stewardship serving the people of God, the Laos!
Things continue to move forward in the Department of Lay Ministry thanks in many ways to the inspiration and contributions that come from our local churches.
W.L. Graham Scholarship funds have grown to more than $75,000. We are hoping to soon reach the $100,000 level. Truly, a spectacular result from the fervent energies of the good lay people of our Zion.
Our Communications of Information & Technology (CIT) Ministry is reflective of our new theme for the quadrennium, for there was vision and the people flourished. Our directors, Lauran James, Theresa Duhart, and Darran Caudle are providing dynamic and hands on leadership.
Our thanks to our Steward, Stewardess, and Usher leaders—Charles Taylor, Maxine McClury, and Leroy Powell respectively.
We extend much gratitude to our Chairman, Bishop Thomas L. Hoyt, Jr. and the wife of the General Secretary, Mrs. Wanda F. Taylor.
We are looking to name a Methodist Men’s Director presently.
Of course, the 13th Connectional Lay Institute scheduled October 6-8, 2005 in Louisville, Kentucky, will be a historic event. We need your fervent prayers and support to make this event proceeding the 19th Annual CME Convocation an overwhelming success.
Participants will save due to one less packing occasion, two to three days less travel, better scheduling as to time of year, and one less travel expense.
Additionally, there is a discount for registering for both the 19th Annual CME Convocation and the Lay Institute together.
Crucial information regarding delegate elections for the Lay Institute and submitting resolutions is attached. Additionally, you will find a preliminary agenda in the appendix.
We plan to conduct perhaps the most extensive real-time plebiscite in the history of the CME Church during and throughout the Lay Institute. Responses will be electronically tallied through secret ballot and the results immediately displayed to the Institute. We anticipate rather thorough analysis of these flash polls will follow the Institute.
We remain in creative mode with ‘CyberChurch’ a secure, online, comprehensive church management solution where we have invested some $40,000.
CME TV, a core creation convention services platform developed from the CIT Ministry, is functioning with all deliberate speed and has now been retained and/or will complete at least thirteen different venues in 2004 and 2005. This includes the Women’s Missionary Council Executive Board, the Pastor’s Conference, as well as the Annual CME Convocation and the Lay Institute.
Consequently, we have been able to save money for every CME convention we have worked based on comparable market costs.
For example, a comparable service for the 18th Annual CME Convocation may have cost the church a minimum $20,000 extra. Additionally, CME TV gives thousands of dollars of audiovisual sales revenue back to the Convocation where no such revenues previously existed. Importantly, the Convocation is now operating in the black turning a profit in lieu of a deficit.
Increasingly, connecting the grass root local churches and local church members to, not only the Department of Lay Ministry but, to all other departments, Episcopal Districts, and local churches is the incredibly successful www.c-m-e.org which is the official CME website.
We have been busy about the work of the Department in a detailed, documented, repeatable, scalable, and transparent manner.
For example, we are involving learned and erudite CME members like Dr. Evelyn Parker. She is working in place of the general secretary and on behalf of the department as an executive board member of the National Council of Churches USA.
Annually, we have sojourned to Africa and helped spread the vision of spiritual enlightenment and economic empowerment now under the committed guidance of Bishop Ronald M. Cunningham.
By the Way
Even though the Department of Lay Ministry serves as repository and custodian for the many assets we have purchased and developed the past several years – all of these assets and the benefits thereto belong to the CME Church. These assets are principally deployed for ministry enhancement in the CME Church.
Consequently, when CME TV bids CME convention events the price includes only labor costs and a small addition to assist insurance and repair charges. The Department has not and will not attempt to recover equipment costs from CME events.
Of course, the church is fully authorized through its well-established entities to do as it wishes with these assets at any time.
The Department of Lay Ministry is very sensitive to the necessity to operate CME TV for the corporate benefit of the church.
Consequently, we instituted reform in the handling of our connectional funds. In fact, the Department of Lay Ministry sends all monies through the Business Department of the CME Church, that is, the Department of Finance.
The Department of Lay Ministry does not custody any funds or even write its own checks. The Department does not possess a checkbook and has not written a check from the Department since the election of this General Officer in 1998. All checks are written by the Department of Finance.
Why CME TV?
Senior Bishop Marshall Gilmore has framed the issue, ‘What would Jesus have me to do?’ rather than ‘what would Jesus do (wwjd)?’
For the Department of Lay Ministry, at all levels, we believe that communications of information and technology is what Jesus would have the lay people do and not only that but, it is exactly what Jesus did.
Have you ever considered how Jesus, without any electronic aid, was able to communicate with probably 10,000 people all at one time?
Jesus and the disciples clearly had to utilize acoustically friendly environments. That is to say, they possessed technical literacy.
They did advance planning, secured the necessary licenses, and it is not unreasonable to assume they advertised – distributed leaflets, flyers, and hand bills ‘Jesus of Nazareth Speaking Today’.
So then, they were technocrats, information technologists, and maybe even geeks.
Jesus and the disciples wanted as many folk as humanly possible to hear about Him, to see Him, to know Him, to follow Him.
Jesus and the disciples in preaching and teaching were contemporary urban technocrats.
As much as our own church members “don’t know”, is it not reasonable to assume the world doesn’t know either? Certainly, they do not know enough about us, that is, the CME Church.
The 21st century local church must be big and great – not in numerical strength – but, in the power of its ideas.
Consider this
We believe the era of the horse and buggy has both literally and figuratively passed.
Yet there are those who posit in this 21st century information age that effective persuasion may only take place by the departmental General Officer traveling to different regions to conduct training sessions. Such a mentality equates to an argument the best cross country travel in the United States remains the horse and buggy.
As we have previously written, the CME Church has finally embraced technologically enhanced 21st century ministry at the Connectional level by approving the Communications of Information & Technology (CIT) Ministry in 1998, proceeded by a modicum of funding provided in 2002.
However, who is responsible to take on the dynamic and challenging issues of working with the College of Bishops and all the General Officers to see to it that a CIT net is effectively cast in each Episcopal District and in each of the several connectional officers ministry.
Of course the CIT Ministry is taking up this mantle presently but, it requires a great deal of cooperative work with the College of Bishops and General Officers. Presently nothing is codified in law or even effectively enough understood as to how any such legislation might look.
Further, might such an ambitious and urgent ministry itself be a free standing department, as in the United Methodist Church, or minimally take on a much more robust nature within the Department of Lay Ministry.
There are those who seem to suggest that if many members of our Zion are not yet ready for the 21st century the church must do its level best to delay its arrival.
Notwithstanding, this potentially pervasive attitude, this General Secretary believes there is a latent and more potently pervasive urgency to develop these ministries rapidly and close our technological gap versus the majority populace.
VISION
We do not believe when new vision is cast it is immediately embraced, however, we feel a great portion of the landscape we are sowing is simply a journey “back to future.” We earlier discussed the reflection of technical literacy exhibited by Jesus’ disciples.
By reaching back and embracing the best of our past we establish the most effervescent course to our future.
By continuing to more and more widely cast this vision we bring more and more adherents.
We believe this sojourn – honor for the past, vision for the future – will light our Zion and all who serve it.
For where there is vision the people flourish.
Recommendations for the Standing Committee on Lay Ministry action:
-Approve bylaw changes to be presented to the 13th Quadrennial Connectional Lay Institute
-Approve language to submit to the Lay Institute regarding operational rules for the W.L. Graham/Roscoe C. Webb Scholarship Fund
-Name persons to serve on 13th Quadrennial Connectional Lay Institute committees