Testimonials

I have been serving the Methodist Church as a District Superintendent’s Assignee for about 3 years, and last July went to licensing school and am now enrolled in Course of Study for local pastors in the United Methodist Church.

The Lay Academy prepared me well with the beginning skills and the history of the church to take my studies to the next level. I want to thank the Lay Academy for the preparation, guidance, the opportunity for group participation, and the grace I experienced

Pastor Ellis’s encouragement and the encouragement of all the instructors helped me find the courage to pursue God’s calling in my life.

One of my favorite components of the classes is interacting with others who are searching out their area of call, as well. God used classmates to strengthen my quest and also open my mind to additional ways that ministry can be accomplished as a lay person.

Learning with others makes this unknown path more reassuring. God has used the knowledge from these classes to strengthen my faith journey. It also opened up ministry opportunities as well.

One of the best aspects of this class was the sharing of our reflection papers and the response from and responding to our classmate's work. It would be next to impossible to get the same level of response in a classroom setting.

I am a preacher’s kid, and have been in the United Methodist church for over 60 years. Despite this experience, this course has been invaluable to me, not just for preparing me to fill a small membership church need, but rounding out my Christian education in general, and my Methodist upbringing as well.

For me this class has established a bible study routine, encouraged me to use new bible references and other relevant texts and disciplined my thinking. I would wholeheartedly recommend this class to any United Methodist lay person.

I absolutely believe The Academy gave me the tools and the confidence to be a pastor. The topics and teaching were geared toward preparing me and others to be of greater service to the church.

I was blessed with two great instructors: Dr. Carl Ellis and pastor Jada Hodgson. They are exceptional and knowledgeable leaders who provided us the knowledge and skills needed to pastor a church.

And I was blessed with a small group of fellow students who were committed to Christian service.

The call portion is what benefited me the most. It was very helpful to craft a statement because I had to examine how God has been moving me through this process.... It is a great exercise to write about one's calling.

One of my highlights was the sharing done among the course "attendees." ... It is very cool to hear about the different ways the other attendees are working in God's Kingdom.

I was really fascinated by the comparison of who in the Bible I identified with. It was fun comparing how I have been called and my response to those in the Bible and their responses.

Another highlight was discussing the final paper with my pastor and District Superintendent. I was so touched by their affirmations of my calling and gifts and how supportive they were.