Commissioning

It's late late late. Well, late, anyway. Some of the sessions at Annual Conference today were hot, and that just takes the wind out of my energy sails, so I'm tired. It feels like 2am, when it's really only 11:30.

Today was the consecration service. Many ministries and ministers (lay and clergy) were commissioned. I had no idea that part of that commissioning service was prayers for several categories of lay ministry, including local lay speakers and certified lay speakers.

I completed my certified lay speaker training in the spring of 2007. Today, over a year later, might have been the first time that have felt the power of commissioning as a lay speaker. I had no idea that I was missing that, or that I would be affected by that.

Part of the book that you read during the basic training discusses that the position of certified lay speaker is one of answering a call (just like so many other ministries). It asks, "Has God called you to this ministry?" As I went through the training, it seemed serious, but once I had finished the training, there was no response from my church. It never occurred to me until today that I was missing that -- that I needed to be "prayed over."

I think we need the prayers of others to feel commissioned.