The Rev. Steve Pudinski
Pastor, CM Registrar/ Training Coordinator
Michael Pope
Conference Lay Leader
AkesaFakava
Conference Director of Lay Servant Ministries
The Rev. Schuyler Rhodes
District Superintendent
The Rev. Dave Samelson
District Superintendent
The Rev. Gere Reist
Conference Superintendent
Leadership Development
The Rev. Elmar DeOcera
Pastor and CLayM
Graduate
The Rev. Martha Milk
Pastor and CLayM Graduate
The Rev. John Oda
Pastor
Cindy Buna
Becky Sheldon
District Admin Center / Certified Lay Ministry Training Program
The Rev. Steve Pudinski, CM Registrar/Training Coordinator
1004 Topaz Court, Roseville, CA 95661
Phone: (916) 757-1596 or (707) 8457556 (cell)
E-mail:
June 15, 2017
Dear Inquirer,
Thank you for your interest in the Certified Lay Ministry (CM) Program. Undoubtedly, you had heard about the previous program in our Annual Conference, CLayM, the Conference Lay Ministry Program. The Certified Lay Ministry Program has replaced CLayM.
The CM program consists of 80 hours of training, as did CLayM. However, CMtraining consists of four modules, which focus on specific areas of ministry. Those four modules are:
- Call and Covenant to Ministry
- The Practice of Ministry
- Organization for Ministry
- Connection for Ministry
Unique to this training is a Mutual Ministry Team (MMT), which will play an integral part in the training. A mutual ministry team is made up of:
- the certified lay minister/student
- a CM mentor (designated by the DS)
- the lay leader/lay member of the Annual Conference/lay servant, DS or designate (dCOM member, retired clergy or someone trusted to support the CM and process objectively)
- 3-5 persons from the local church (a member of the SPRC would be helpful). A mutual ministry team should not have more than eight members.
Unlike our previous training program, there are books that the student will be responsible to obtain either by purchasing or borrowing them. Some specific handouts will be provided by the CM program and is included in the fee for the course. When your application is accepted you will be sent a booklist and provided with suggested vendors. However, you may purchase the books where you wish or borrow them from your friends or church. Currently, if you purchase all the books it will cost approximately $380.00.
There are two specific classes that a prospective student must take before they can take the CM course. The classes are the Basic Lay Servant Training Class (BLS) and the Advanced Lay Servant Spiritual Gifts Class (ALS Spiritual Gifts). If you have not taken these classes, contact your District Lay Servant Ministries Coordinator to see when and where the classes will be offered. (NOTE: Once a year these classes will be offered in conjunction with the CM training, which will extend CM training to 90 hours).
There will be four options for taking the CM training. First, you may take the training by traveling to a training location and attending two one-week sessions. Currently the training location is First UMC in Roseville, CA. Typically, the first one-week session is in November and the second one-week session is in January. You must attend both sessions to finish the course.
The second way you can take the training is to complete it on Second Saturday training days. Classes will begin either in September or October and finish in May. You must attend each month to complete the course in the required time frame. If you miss a month you will have to wait and complete it in the next yearly cycle.
The third way is a blended program taking modules 1-4 online through BeADisciple.com and then finishing with four classes required by our Annual Conference. Students are responsible for registering and paying for the modules through BeADisciple separately. When completed with modules 1-4 the students should take the other four classes when offered on Second Saturday training days.
The fourth way to take CM training is to have it conducted in the local church with the pastor, prospective CM, and the Mutual Ministry Team setting the timeframe for the training. The pastor would need to coordinate with the CM registrar.
The cost for the training is $30/day or $300 for the 80-hour course and $330 for the 90-hour course. Lunch and snacks are included. Students are responsible for the purchase of books, travel to and from the training sites, lodging (if required), and all meals except lunch.
To apply for the course, request an application and the CM Certification Process Check Sheet from the CM Registrar. The completed application, the Process Check Sheet with the first two items signed off and a check or money order for the appropriate class fee (made payable to The California-Nevada Annual Conference) should be mailed to:
District Administrative Center
P.O. Box 980250
West Sacramento, CA 95798-0250,
You may deliver the paperwork to the Conference Office at 1350 Halyard Drive, West Sacramento, CA 95691, or it may be emailed to .
Please ensure your pastor and church Administrative Council/Board recommendation is signed on your CM trainingapplication. We also would like a statement of faith of not more than 500 words.
Upon receiving the completed application and fees the student will be notified of acceptance and the required booklist will be sent to the student. Students are required to obtain all study related materials on the list.
Please keep in mind there is a considerable amount of reading as a part of this course along with study and lesson planning. It takes commitment to the program to successfully complete the course.
Again, thank you for your interest. I hope to see you in one of the upcoming CM training courses.
Blessings,
Stephen W Pudinski
Rev. Stephen W Pudinski
CM Registrar/ Training Coordinator