By Derek Lang
Laity Sunday is a day when we celebrate the contributions and gifts of the laity in the church. “Lay person,” “lay member,” “laity,” while cutting across denominations has a special place in United Methodism. Methodism started in the Americas with Lay Preacher Francis Asbury being sent by John Wesley. He would later become an ordained pastor and our first Bishop with Thomas Coke. But the role of the laity was not always lifted up in this way. Methodism became more and more exclusive to the clergy until the Methodist Protestant Church broke from the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1829 over the lay involvement in the leadership of the church. It was not until 1939 that the church would reunite and laity were given membership to Annual Conference. Can you imagine breaking up an entire denomination because the laity were not asked to do more??? That is our United Methodist heritage – the belief that laity are in integral part of the church and not just a passive audience. We offer our Spiritual Gifts and Graces to God in response to a personal call from God and to be engaged in God’s community as a fundamental tenant of this faith called Christianity.
Spiritual Gifts are those abilities and callings that God gives each of us. As op-posed to talents or vocations, spiritual gifts may come and go in accordance with God’s plans for us. In other words, God makes sure that we have what we need to do God’s Will. It may not be natural for us and we may not even be the best at whatever the task is, but it will be sufficient and our success is usually in ways we never thought of. The key is to committing to do God’s Will and God will do the rest. What is your Calling? What are your Spiritual Gifts at this very moment? Some of these are listed below:
Administration Exhortation Miracles Shepherding
Apostleship Faith Knowledge Compassion Giving Leadership Teaching Discernment Healing Servanthood Evangelism Helping
Prophecy Wisdom Tongues Interpretation of Tongues
I invite you to read about these Spiritual Gifts and take the online assessment to discern your gifts at the United Methodist Church website:
http://www.umc.org/site/c.lwL4KnN1LtH/b.1355371/k.9501/Spiritual_Gifts.htm