2 sessions of Laity Assembly set for February

By Claudia M. Williams
Staff Writer
Local church lay leaders can attend one of two sessions of the Laity Assembly this year.
The Board of Laity has scheduled two identical sessions of the eighth annual gathering:
> Feb. 17-18 at Mount Wesley Conference Center, Kerrville.
> Feb. 24-25 at First UMC, Kings-ville.
The meetings are to begin at 7 p.m. Friday and conclude in the early afternoon Saturday each week.
Conference Lay Leader Jay Brim of Austin dubbed the first assembly the “sooner” one and the second the “later.” “Everybody’s gotta go to lay assembly sooner or later,” he said.
Leadership development and disaster preparedness are to be key topics at both sessions.
“We’re going to talk about the need to develop lay leaders in the local church constantly,” Brim said.
A panel of leadership development experts is to lead the discussion, he said.
George White, Victoria District program director, is to facilitate the discussion in Kerrville, Brim said.
Cheryl Worley, Corpus Christi District program director, is to lead the Kingsville discussion, he said.
White and Worley are associate conference lay leaders.
Brim is to lead the sessions on disaster preparedness.
“We’re going to teach how to make an emergency plan for your congregation,” he said, “and encourage pairing of coastal and inland congregations so that when—not if, when—a Category 4 or 5 hurricane hits the coast, they’ll have somewhere to go.”
Brim said offering two laity assemblies increases the opportunity for participation by local church leaders because they have a choice of times and locations.
The meeting in Kingsville will try out a location in the southern part of the conference area, he said.
“It’s to make it easier for people who have trouble getting to Kerrville,” he said, “to give them another shot.”