Testimonials

As the lay pastor of 3 small churches in rural Nebraska, I perform all the duties of leading my churches in worship and caring for the congregations. I absolutely love what I do with the people here, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the classes and support of The Academy for Small Membership Church Ministries.  

Leaving home to attend classes was not an option for me. Through The Academy, I was able to complete the courses I needed online to learn how to lead small groups, bible study, and worship, including corporate and personal prayer.

Not only did I learn from the teachers and leaders, I also learned many valuable lessons from the people in my cohort. We were able to work together and comment on each other’s experiences. 

I feel very privileged to have had the opportunity to go through The Academy for Small Membership Church Ministries and would certainly recommend it for anyone who feels God calling them to leadership in the church. 

It was exciting for me to find that my gifts matched my calling. I was also surprised to learn the strength of some of those gifts.

Dr. Ellis was very involved in the course and very helpful, beyond what I would normally expect. I liked the small size of the class. It made interaction with everyone deeper and easier.

I have been serving the Methodist Church as a District Superintendent’s Assignee for about 3 years, and last July went to licensing school and am now enrolled in Course of Study for local pastors in the United Methodist Church.

The Lay Academy prepared me well with the beginning skills and the history of the church to take my studies to the next level. I want to thank the Lay Academy for the preparation, guidance, the opportunity for group participation, and the grace I experienced

Pastor Ellis’s encouragement and the encouragement of all the instructors helped me find the courage to pursue God’s calling in my life.

This is an amazing course, made all the richer by the instructors and the fellow students. The affirmations of my fellow students and the course instructors have not only encouraged me, but strengthened my calling. I will be ever grateful for this course.

During this course I was able to define my call and develop a spiritual resume.

I learned that when I was initially called by God to do something He had for me to do, I reacted like Moses. I could give God countless reasons why I couldn’t do whatever He was calling me to do.

As time passed, I moved from the Moses call to the Abraham call. I had finally reached a place in my journey where I stopped fighting God and told Him I would go wherever He wanted me to go and do whatever He wanted me to do.

The call portion is what benefited me the most. It was very helpful to craft a statement because I had to examine how God has been moving me through this process.... It is a great exercise to write about one's calling.

This course has caused me to stretch my spiritual muscles to complete the assignments. It was a challenge sometimes and I spent A LOT of time praying. But it merely "whet my appetite" for the next phase of the training. I can't wait to get started.