Training

Faith Skills Training

Our most important source of knowledge is God’s Word.  We want to be “trained” to know Him better and to grow into His likeness.  That’s why why have Bible Studies, prayer groups, small groups, and it’s also part of the reason why we worship on Sunday mornings.

But we also need training on how to use this tool God has given us, which we call “The Church.” We need “Faith Skills” that can help us become better servants and disciples within the church.

Clergy have received intense and specialized training in the Word, Order and Sacraments.  We look to our pastors for leadership both in guiding us and in leading the church.

But Laity also benefit from training which can mold us into leaders within our local congregations and even beyond into the District and Conference of the United Methodist Church.  This page outlines some of those opportunities…

 

District / Regional Day of Learning

Every year (usually the first Saturday in March), our district (the Delaware Bay District) holds a “District Day of Learning.”  Recently, this “District Day of Learning” has been expanded to include two additional Districts of the Greater NJ Annual Conference.  Conveniently enough for us, the Day of Learning is held in our church!  Keep an eye on our website to see when the next Day of Learning will be held.

Click here to learn more

What Happens at a Day of Learning?

  • FOOD!!! The event starts out in the Fellowship Hall with some breakfast goodies and a chance to meet some of the other folks from around our District.
  • WORSHIP! We then move into the sanctuary for a short time of praise and worship.
  • LEARNING. There are morning workshops (followed by lunch), and then afternoon workshops. You can register for the morning and/or afternoon workshops. You don’t have to spend the entire day.

What Do You Learn at a Day of Learning?

A wide variety of topics are presented by clergy and laity from around the district.  Here are a few of the workshops presented during previous District Days of Learning:

  • Lay Speaking (Lay Servants)
  • Telling The Story- How to bring others into our church fellowship
  • “Partnering for Soup Kitchens”
  • “You Tube and Youth”
  • “Are You Facebook Official?”
  • “Getting Old is a Pain!”

 

Lay Servant Ministries

Lay Servant ministry training gives lay people with skills in Care giving, Leadership, and Communication.  Training is provided by the Conference (organized by each District) on a once a year basis.

Lay Servant

 

Stephen Ministries

Stephen ministers are lay people trained for one on one caregiving for someone going through a difficult period.  Our church has a corp of trained Stephen Ministers along with some who have been trained to train new ministers.
To learn more about the Stephen Ministry at PUMC, Click Here.

Stephen Ministry

 Online Courses

United Methodist Communications also offers a series of Online Courses. Some of these are for free, others involve a modest cost.  “Be a Disciple”  also offers a series of courses, and some of these courses can be applied to the ongoing training requirements for Advanced Lay Servants.

UMC Training        Be A Disciple   Be a Disciple Lay Servant Courses

 

To take advantage of the many courses offered by United Methodist Communications, visit their site, select a course and register. If you haven’t done this before, you’ll have to set up an account… but don’t let that scare you off!  It’s pretty painless.   Just give them your name, email address, make up a password, and skip most of the other optional information (up to you). You can come back at any time to log in with your email address and the password you made up for United Methodist  Communications Training.

Click this button to log in to your existing account or to set a new one up for yourself: UM Communications Login

 


 Chuck Knows Church

One of the more interesting training resources available is a video series entitled “Chuck Knows Church”.  These videos explain some of the symbolism and traditions we follow as tools for worship, and links to specific videos are often included in the posts on our church website.

Chuck Knows Church

 Walk to Emmaus

The “Walk to Emmaus” and the partner program for youth (“Chrysalis”) is a faith based weekend retreat.   The purpose of the Walk (or “flight”) is to build up the laity for more effective leadership in the local church.

Click here to learn more

Traveling as a “pilgrim” or “caterpillar”is literally a once in a lifetime experience.    The local organization,  Garden Stare Walk to Emmaus, holds its weekends at the South Seaville Camp. Separate weekends are held for men and women (Emmaus) or boys and girls (Chrysillas).  Currently, the Chrysallis flight weekends are held in the Spring and the Walk weekends are held in the Fall.

The weekends are open to both clergy and laity, and they typically involve around 15 attendees.  A series of 15 Talks is  given on topics such as Prevenient Grace, Justifying Grace, Sanctifying Grace, and The Priesthood  of all Believers.  By the end of the weekend, you’ll begin to see your relationship with God and your leadership in your local church in a more powerful way.  Just as the disciples on that first Easter morning saw Jesus on the road to Emmaus, weekend Pilgrims or Caterpillars will have a chance to see Jesus anew in their own walk.

The Walk to Emmaus is non-denominational, however most of the people involved are Methodists, and The Talks closely follow Wesleyan theology.  Approximately 20 people in our church have attended an Emmaus or Chrysalis weekend; if you’re interested, see one of  them!  Or visit the Garden State Walk to Emmaus website.

For updates on Emmaus Walks and Flights, click this button: News

 

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Of course, no “Faith Skills” training is separate from God’s Word and “Bible Study.”  For news about Bible Studies and small Groups, Click Here.

To learn more about upcoming “Faith Skills” training, click the following “News” button:

News

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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