Lay Ministry Training
Lay Ministry Training
The Mission and Ministry Team has been helping God’s people to grow in their capacity to live the Kingdom message and to share the good news of Jesus in all of life by serving the world and the church.
Post Covid and in an era of economic and international difficulty and uncertainty more and more people need to find purpose, meaning and hope in their lives by encountering the love of God. People in spiritual need are very likely to find faith through contact with Christians who are family members or friends or colleagues in everyday life.
To bring life in all its fullness to as many spiritually hungry people as possible there needs to an upwelling at church grass roots level of confident and skilled disciples and lay leaders reaching out to meet the needs of the spiritually hungry.
We aim to support God’s people to grow and develop their individual ministries in their local context through an ongoing programme of training events.
We offer a wide range of opportunities to receive training, equipping and encouragement. There are one off workshops and training days, short term locally authorised training programmes under the BCM banner, and our annual commissioned programme Bishop’s Permission to Preach (BPP). Alongside Lay Licensed Ministry (LLM), these are designed to support and nurture lay ministries in all the parishes of the diocese.
In addition, we offer days for children, family and youth workers, workshops to develop preaching skills, workshops on topics such as discipleship and workplace ministry. We also host networking breakfasts and an annual celebration for all those exercising lay ministry to come together for teaching, encouragement and fellowship.
All our events can be found here https://winchester.anglican.org/courses-and-events/ and this page is regularly updated as we open for bookings.
If you have any suggestions for training, have any questions about any of our training events or wish to book a place on any of our events, please contact our Team Administrator Wendy Atkinson: Wendy.atkinson@winchester.anglican.org.
Training Programmes
BCM
This programme has been developed to support the work of parishes and deaneries by equipping lay people for service. We aim to do this by giving participants the skills and knowledge they need to pursue their vocation more effectively, whilst at the same time giving them a bigger vision for how God might use them to bring in his kingdom.
BCM is not an academic training course but a programme of formation. It is strongly relational based. We believe everyone who attends will already have some wisdom and experience to share which the training will draw out and enhance.
Bishop’s Permission to Preach (BPP)
As a diocese we want to equip members of our church communities to live the mission of Jesus and to take the opportunity to share the love of Christ through the ministry of preaching. The BPP programme is a way of recognising and affirming the preaching gifts of lay church members.
The year-long programme provides the opportunity for training in biblical studies from tutors on the Winchester Licensed Ministry Training team as well as through participation in supervised regional preaching teams. It seeks to equip laity so that they “with care and sincerity can minister the word of truth for the glory of God and to the edification of the people” Canon B18.3.
Lay Licensed Ministry (LLM)
Licensed Lay Ministry (LLM), previously known as Readers, is the oldest recognised lay public ministry in the Church of England and offers a wonderful opportunity as part of a wider leadership team to contribute to mission and ministry across the whole life of the Church.
LLMs were previously known as Readers, but the name changed to show that LLMs carry out a broader scope of ministry within the Church, bringing a range of gifts and services to bring the Good News of Jesus. A Licensed Lay Minister can be involved in many aspects of a church, such as mission and evangelism, chaplaincy, pastoral ministry, youth and children’s ministry, workplace ministry, adult education, as well as teaching, preaching and leading worship.