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BY JOHN COLEMAN

UMCONNECTION STAFF

Nearly 150 people turned out for the Baltimore-Harford District Laity Convo-cation on a rainy Sat., Oct. 8, to learn about the various roles, responsibilities and resources emerging to take lay ministry to the next level.

Participants, including some clergy, heard presentations on the Baltimore-Washington Conference?s Discipleship Adventure initiative, attended 11 workshops and engaged in praise and worship during the daylong event.

?We need to keep preparing ourselves and our congregations for this journey,? said the Rev. Rod Miller, conference director of connectional ministries, ?to stop looking backward and to look forward and move forward to where God is calling us.?

Using PowerPoint visuals, Miller recommended ?congregational makeovers,? based on the popular television show genre, in which churches would make changes in their attitudes, approaches and appearances to become more Christ-centered and more effective in attracting and making disciples. Helen Fleming, assistant to the bishop for leadership development, also addressed the group.

Workshops covered worship, Christian education, prayer,

spirituality, care giving, leadership development, partnering in ministry and lay speaking. A majority of those present were local church and district certified lay speakers.

?This has been a valuable experience for us,? said Al Harris, lay leader and lay member to the annual conference from St. Matthews UMC in Turner Station. He came with 14 lay speakers from his church. ?We?re being prepared to help convey the vision of the Discipleship Adventure to our churches so we can all move forward together.?

This was the first laity convocation in the district in many years, said Monterey Williams, district lay leader for the past 12 years and a member of Sharp Street UMC in Chase. ?We?re offering ideas, training and tools our laity need,? she said, ?because they?re being asked to do things many have never done before.?

District Superintendent C. Anthony Hunt introduced a new district manual for lay speakers and taught a workshop on Laity and the Discipleship Adventure. ?This event is one of many efforts to equip laity for more effective ministry,? said Hunt.