URC Southern Synod

Lay Preaching Commissioner:

Revd Jenny Snashall Old Farm Cottage 38 Old Farm Road Hampton Middlesex   TW12 3QT Tel: 020 8979 3552 (07913 022221) Email:  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Jenny’s role has 3 main parts to it:

• formulating and implementing Synod policy with regard to lay preaching
• being an advocate for and a support to all lay people who lead worship, however infrequently
• ensuring that there is adequate provision for training  

She is particularly keen to make sure that all lay preachers feel adequately supported and cared for as they have such an important ministry within the United Reformed Church. Before ordination she was a lay preacher herself and knows some of the trials and tribulations!

Ongoing training and learning are also very important and Jenny is keen to encourage as many people as possible to participate in this whether locally or within a wider area.  

Area Lay Preaching Co-ordinators

Most Synod Areas have a Lay Preaching Co-ordinator. Any queries are best initially addressed to them: 

News and Information 

Becoming a Lay Preacher
These leaflets will explain how you can become a Lay Preacher

• Lay Preaching - A guide for churches
• Becoming a Lay Preacher - A guide for individuals

If you need more information or would like to talk to someone please contact your local Lay Preaching Co-ordinator who should be able to help you.

Assembly Accredited Lay Preachers
If you are an Assembly Accredited Lay Preacher, you are entitled to claim an annual grant of up to £200. Following changes in July 2011, this can now be spent on a much wider range of courses than previously, namely

• those provided by the URC’s Resource Centres for Learning (The Windermere Centre, Northern College, Manchester, Scottish College, Glasgow, Westminster College, Cambridge)
• TLS
• Learning events organized by the Synod which the Synod Development Officer (in consultation with the Synod Lay Preaching Commissioner) has designated as appropriate for grant-funding
• “relevant learning events organized by other agencies”. (The key question is whether the event is relevant to your ministry as a Lay Preacher.) Up to 50% of the grant can also be used for books and resources.

For further details, see the application form (Form A4).

All applications for funding must be made, using this form, to the Synod Development Officer, Revd Richard Goldring - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ). You need to seek approval of proposed courses before you book them.

Lay Preachers' Grants

• Form A4
• Claim Form

Sacraments Course
This is a 3 session course available to and recommended for all lay people who are authorised to preside at the Sacraments. Successful completion of the course is a requirement for anyone seeking authorisation for the first time.
The aim of the course is that, by the end, Students should have:

• An understanding of the place of symbols in worship
• An understanding of the N.T. context from which our present sacraments have been developed
• Knowledge of the Reformed – and U.R.C. – understanding of the sacraments.
• Explored the significance of the material and actions in the traditional (ecumenical) order of service.
• Considered practical arrangements and preparation for leading worship and presiding at the sacraments.
• and gained confidence in selecting and structuring and leading an order of service with which they and their congregations will be comfortable.

The format is flexible and can usually be tailored to fit local circumstances. At the moment a course is run on request when there are a group of people in the same area wishing to do it although this may change in the future. For further information, please contact Richard Goldring.