Lay Worship Ministry

Purpose

To equip lay people to prepare and lead:

• a non-eucharistic Sunday service in church from the Book of Common Prayer (BCP)/Common Worship (CW)
• a Service of the Word from CW/New patterns of Worship (NPoW)
• an informal act of worship including Celtic, Taize etc

It is hoped that participants will feel confident enough to be invited by their priest and PCC to lead worship regularly.  The course will not lead to any specific diocesan recognition and can be used to train new lay worship leaders or as a refresher for those with some experience.

The course will cover:

• Shape of Church of England liturgy (historical background)
• Permitted forms of liturgy/service
• Familiarisation with Book of Common Prayer, Common Worship, New Patterns for Worship and other resources
• Practical aspects of leading worship such as:
  • Delivery
  • Creating an order of service
  • Intercessory prayer
• Music, creativity and silence within worship
• Preparing and giving a talk

Lay Worship Leading Course - Autumn 2025 (postponed from Sping 2025)

The 2025 Lay Worship Leader course will commence on Saturday 4 October 2025 and will consist of three Saturday face-to-face sessions and 6 Thursday evening online sessions.  The course is facilitated by Nigel Collins, Sarah Emanuel and Stephen Hardy.  Download an application here.

Please see below the session dates, times and themes

To register an interest in future Lay Worship Leading Courses contact Sarah Lucas