Lay Speaker Group

Laity in Action – Ever Thought About Lay Speaking?

If you are looking for a way to grow your faith and enjoy public speaking, consider joining the Bethel Hill Lay Speaker Program.  This program will help those who want to experience the challenges and rewards of giving a message during a church service.  Together we will grow and learn the process of preparing and presenting the message to our own congregations.  We will learn the process through classroom training, mentoring from those experienced in the process, and from each other as we support each other along the way.

Mentor: Pastor Harold Burkett

A Hundred Helpers – “Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but God, and I care not a straw whether they be clergymen or laymen, such alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of heaven on earth.”  – John Wesley

General Information

This program is part of an ongoing program to develop Lay Speakers.  Once participants complete the introductory portion, they can continue in the program to meet with their group and continue to assist each other in the development of sermons.

Commitment

Participation in this program is a long term commitment.  Although an occasional absence is allowable, participants are expected to make a commitment to the group and attend a significant majority of group meetings. The program is presented as a long term, on-going activity.  The total duration of this introductory portion is approximately 15 hours.  The group meets monthly for 90 minutes each session.

 

This program is more than a lecture series on preaching.  Although the participants will learn a great deal about the construction and presentation of a sermon, the greatest attribute of this program is that the group behaves very much like a Wesleyan small group.  Over a period of time the group will become very close through honest and open discussion of faith.  Those who actively participate most, will gain the most.

Contact the Bethel Hill United Methodist Church office at 610-584-5936 for more information.

(For those participants that wish to receive credit as an Advanced Christ Servant Ministry class, attendance at a minimum of 12 hours will be required.  For those participants that have already achieved CSM or CLM, attendance of at least 10 hours in 24 months can be used for continuing training credit.)

 

Click on the links below to see Youtube video of our Lay Speakers.

Mary’s sermon August 2013 

Tom’s sermon December 29, 2013

Jon’s sermon March 16, 2014

Tom’s sermon March 23, 2014

Good Friday Service April 18, 2014

Easter Sunday Service 2014

Kelli sermon May 25, 2014

Jon Kirkbride Sermon Oct 19 2014 

  Ed Gale  Sermon  Oct 19 2014 

 Liz Kilcullen  Sermon Aug 31 2014     

Heather Smink  Sermon Aug 17 2014     

 Chris Wright and Kaitlin Tomlinson  Vocals  

Les Brown Sermon November 23 2014

Kelli Durling and Mary White December 28 2014

Ed Gale  January 18 2015 

Tom Tomlinson February 8 2015 Scouting Sunday

Kelli Durling July 19 2015

Heather Smink September 27 2015

Mary White November 15, 2015

Good Friday 2016 Pastor Sue Ketterer

Good Friday 2016 Kelli Durling

Good Friday 2016  Jon Kirkbride

Good Friday 2016  Elizabeth Kilcullen

Good Friday 2016  Ed Gale

Good Friday 2016  Rev. Bruce Thorsen

Kelli Durling September 4 2016

Jon Kirkbride October 2 2016

Kelli Durling July 30 2017

Jon Kirkbride January 7, 2018

Mary White Sept. 23, 2018