Licensed Lay Ministries Training

As outlined in the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church, certain ministries are lifted up by an official licensing and training process - allowing those who are licensed an even greater scope and authority in their work. According to the Canons, each diocese defines its own requirements and guidelines for selecting, training, licensing, and deployment of lay persons in these ministries.  

The ministries eligible to be licensed are: Eucharistic Minister, Eucharistic Visitor, Preacher, Evangelist, Catechist, Pastoral Leader, or Worship Leader.  In addition, our diocese will train and license two types of chaplains:  Parish Chaplain and Diocesan Chaplain.  Bloy House has designed courses to meet the competencies and requirements defined by the diocese.  Please note: for the 23-24 program year, we will focus on offering courses for Preacher, Worship Leader, and Pastoral Leader, as well as Anti-Racism and Episcopal Identity. Based on requests for the other courses we will add them to our schedule.

 The Instituto de Liderazgo provides instruction in Spanish to meet the diocesan licensing requirements.  For more information on the Instituto, click here.

For more information about lay licensing in the Diocese of Los Angeles, click here.

Lay Licensing courses are usually held on Zoom, with an occasional in person workshop, and cost $25-$50 per class. Details for individual courses can be found when a class is scheduled and open for registration.

Click here for a list of all lay licensing classes with class descriptions.

Frequently Asked Questions: click here.

Current Class Offerings

The following classes listed below are part of a special program for Deanery 6 members in April and May.  We have a limited number of spots in each class available for lay people not in Deanery 6 who would like to register. We will offer all of these classes again next fall or spring.

 

Beginning Preaching for Lay Licensing

Tuesday Evenings, May 7, 14, 21, & 28

7:00-8:30 pm, Via Zoom, $25

Click here to register.

This class, part of our lay licensing curriculum, is required for the Lay Preacher and Lay Pastoral Leader licenses and recommended for the Lay Worship Leader license. However, the course may be of general interest to those not pursuing a lay license at this time.  The class will discuss theories about preaching; sermon preparation and construction; working with the lectionary; methods of sermon delivery; and the unique role of preaching in Episcopal worship and gatherings.  Please Note: in order to complete the class, participants are required to prepare and deliver a sermon to the sponsoring clergy and a small group of parishioners outside of a worship service.  The audience will be given a feedback form to fill out.  This should be scheduled preferably between the 3rd and 4th session, so that the feedback can be shared with the instructor.  More instructions will be given in the first class, but please share this requirement with sponsoring clergy in advance.  Rev. Kay Sylvester, Rector at St. Paul’s Tustin, and Mark Milliron, lay minister at St. Stephen’s, Beaumont will be facilitating the class.

 

Lay Licensing Training Requirements

Required for all Ministries:

  • Anti-Racism

  • Episcopal Identity (Note: for Eucharistic Minister and Eucharistic Visitor, Episcopal Identity is recommended only)

  • Completion of Safe Church training – not currently offered by Bloy House

For all zoom classes, except Anti-Racism, the Zoom sessions will be recorded. A person who misses one class can view the recording and send a brief summary to the instructor. We expect that you will attend at least three of a four-session class in person, and ALL the sessions of the Anti-Racism classes. If you must miss more than one session of a course, or cannot attend all sessions of Anti-Racism, you are encouraged to take it at another more convenient time.

 

Specific Ministry Training:

 Parish Chaplain and Diocesan Chaplain

Worship Leader

  • The Book of Common Prayer for Lay Licensing with Practicum

Recommended/Continuing Ed.:

  • Introduction to Bible for Lay Licensing

Pastoral Leader

  • Introduction to the Bible for Lay Licensing

  • Beginning Preaching for Lay Licening with Practicum

  • The Book of Common Prayer for Lay Worship Leaders with Practicum

  • Pastoral Care for Lay Licensing Leaders

Recommended/Continuing Ed.:

  • Multicultural Awareness for Lay Licensing

  • Leading Adult Formation

  • Storytelling for Lay Licensing

Eucharistic Minister and Eucharistic Visitor

  • Local parish training

Preacher

  • Introduction to the Bible for Lay Licensing

  • Beginning Preaching for Lay Licensing with Practicum

Recommended/Continuing Ed.:

  • Story Telling for Lay Evangelists

  • Advanced Preaching for Lay Licensing with Practicum

Evangelist

  • Introduction to the Bible for Lay Licensing

  • Multicultural Awareness for Lay Licensing

  • Storytelling for Lay Licensing

Catechist

  • Leading Adult Formation

  • Detailed Episcopal Catechism

Recommended/Continuing Ed.:

  • Introduction to the Bible for Lay Licensing

  • Multicultural Awareness for Lay Licensing

  • Storytelling for Lay Licensing