The Ideal Lay Pastor “… and they worked together at their common trade of tentmaking. But every Sabbath he was at the meeting place, doing his best to convince both Jews and Greeks about Jesus.” Acts 18:3-4 MSG

Catch the Anointing Centre, Headquarters (CTAC-HQ) was privileged to host the HERE I AM, SEND ME CONFERENCE from the 6^th-7^th of July 2021. This Conference was well attended by all levels of Lay Workers made up of Lay Pastors, Minister Shepherds and all forms of Shepherds from the Sakumono, La and Teshie Councils of the CTAC Denomination under the oversight of the Denomination’s Chairman, Bishop Kakra Baiden.

The Conference was blessed to have the Chairman of the United Denominations’ Lay World Movement (UD-LWM), Rev. Dr. Kodwo Orleans-Lindsay from the United States of America speak for the two days. He was accompanied by a number of the Lay Presidents.

On the first day, Rev. Orleans-Lindsay shared from Bishop Dag Heward-Mills’ book – Laikos – and highlighted the important role Lay People play in building the church. He explained how it was a great privilege to be called by God to help in the Building of His Church alongside the Full-time Workers. In a dramatic and inspiring example, he illustrated that Moses was the main person called by God but explained that God also called both Aaron (representing the Full-time Ministers) and Hur (representing the Lay Workers) to help keep Moses’ hand up to successfully carry out the Work of the Ministry (Exodus 17). He also touched on the fact that the ideal Lay Person – must be good at the work he does in the church; good at his/her business and profession; and also contribute financially to the advancement of the church.

With an impactful first day, the second day was filled with much expectation as Rev. Orleans-Lindsay spoke on “Serving as Sons and Daughters” using Bishop Dag’s book, It is a great thing to serve the Lord. He touched on how serving as a son or daughter differs from serving as a mere servant of the house. He further encouraged the Lay Workers present to upgrade from servanthood to sons and daughters emphasizing that sons and daughters were forever: “A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever.” John 8:35 NLT.

In ending, Rev. Orleans-Lindsay encouraged the Lay Workers to remain faithful to our Heavenly Father and to the Father he has given us in Ministry – Bishop Dag Heward-Mills. The Conference ended with an interactive session, with questions asked about the Lay Ministry and answers given by Rev. Orleans-Lindsay and Lay Presidents present.