CAPTION: Licensed Lay Ministers heard from Church Army Evangelist, Heidi Lewis, about the history of Church worship music
Licensed Lay Ministers Explore Enabling Others to Worship in Varied Ways
Enabling Worship was the theme of this year’s Licensed Lay Ministers (LLMs) conference from 7 to 9 February in Torquay.
Carol Price, an LLM from Yeoford, near Crediton and Assistant Lead for LLMs, said “At the heart of our ministry is worship. I wanted the conference to highlight different ways of worshipping that we can access and bring to our churches, so we reach more people.
“Our aim is to reach as many people as we can – not just existing congregations, bring people in but also go out to them.”
During the weekend there was a talk from Annie Jefferies, who leads Anna Chaplaincy in the Diocese, about leading worship with older people in care homes and their own homes.
Church Army Evangelist and musician, Heidi Lewis, who is a Families and Youth Mission Enabler in the Dartmouth Mission Community, also spoke about the history of Church music and how different musical traditions can sometimes cause division in churches.
There were also presentations about a range of ‘mixed ecology’ examples of church which take place monthly around Devon. These included:
Toast Church, a 30-min service for families, with puppets, Bible stories, action songs and toast, at St Peter’s Church, North Tawton.
Forest Church, which takes place on a Sunday afternoon in woods near Dalwood and is run by the Five Alive Mission Community.
Hope Church (HOniton, PEople) in Honiton, which is an informal service on the first Sunday of every month, aimed at people who are exploring faith.
Celebrate, a monthly service run by the Honiton and Five Alive Mission Communities, which is for people with additional needs and their carers.
Musical worship at the weekend was led by Jenni Coates, an LLM from Ilfracombe. She said “I’ve been a worship leader of many styles over the decades, and it all goes back to that verse in the Psalms which says about being a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord.
“I believe a worship leader is the person who helps the doors to open to enable others to enter the presence of God, that’s always my underlying theme.”
The Bishop of Crediton, the Rt. Rev’d Moira Astin, is the Bishop’s lead for LLMs in the Diocese and spent the whole weekend at the conference, leading a Bible study and Communion Service on the Sunday morning. She also spoke about her own vocational journey to being ordained and briefed LLMs on the new Pray Grow Serve 2035 vision plan – a key part of which is missional leadership and empowering lay people to step into varied leadership roles.
Speaking after the conference, she commented: “There was a real sense of people who have been serving faithfully coming together to support each other and learn.
“I was struck by the range of different forms of worship presented, many of which can easily be led by a lay person and can often be more effective for it.
“It feels like ‘for such a time as this’ God is calling us into a greater variety of lay led worship and it is great we already have such a fantastic group of trained and licensed lay ministers already serving across Devon.”
You can find out more about training to be a Licensed Lay Minister here.
