The School for Lay Ministry of the Iowa Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church is a three-year program to facilitate the growth of Iowa United Methodist Churches and their Christian ministry by providing an alternative, supplemental source of educated leadership to local congregations and communities.
The School for Lay Ministry identifies, trains, and nurtures laypersons who meet entrance criteria and desires to serve in, through, and beyond the church in various ministries. These classes are also available for interested clergy.
Each year the School for Lay Ministry begins with a Basic Lay Servant class in January. All new students are required to take the January class. The first-year curriculum has the required classes to become a Certified Lay Servant. The second and third years add the classes and are necessary to become Lay Speaker and Certified Lay Minister.
All the classes will be open to all laity no matter the path they choose, including being the best lay member of their local church with no specific designation.
We have provided two options for the 2021 School for Lay Ministry.
Application for one class | Application for three-year program
An assignment will be emailed to you when your application is received. All the School for Lay Ministry classes are being presented via Zoom.
We are excited about this opportunity to involve more laity in becoming encouraged and inspired to be effective and informed lay members of their church.
The 2021 scheduled classes (this site will be updated if/when more classes are added):
January 16, 2021—Basic class
February 13, 2021—Church History
March 13, 2021—Nurturing through Christian Education
April 17, 2021—Methods of Biblical Interpretation
June 12, 2021—Missions and Social Concerns
August 21, 2021—Developing Theological Perspectives
Please check the syllabus for the class description.
If you have any questions, please email Lynn Calvert, Dean of the School for Lay Ministry.