Report of the Synod Lay Worship Leaders Commission

The Synod Lay Worship Leaders Commission Report to Synod Assembly:

Currently there are four Synodical Lay Worship Leaders (SLWL), who are in three different conferences, at the Reader Level. William Bradley in Fairmont, WV; Shelby Morrison in Moyers, WV; Cindy Murphy in Aurora, WV; and Nancy Week’s in Wheeling, WV. Certificates for the four current Reader Level SLWL have been issued and are as follows:

Nancy Weeks RENEWED: April 30, 2024 EXPIRES: April 30, 2026
Shelby Morrison RENEWED: May 6, 2024 EXPIRES: May 6, 2026
William Bradley RENEWED: May 18, 2024 EXPIRES: May 18, 2026
Cindy Murphy EXPIRES: Oct.2, 2024

We have received a few more inquiries about SLWL, to which I sent them to the application link on our synod’s webpage but have not received any new applications.

The SLWL program now has five supervising pastors: Pr. Ruth Bullwinkle, Pr. Ian Reed, Pr. Sean Smith, Pr. Rick Egtvedt, and we welcome our newest supervising pastor, Pr. Paul Schafer from the Mountain Lutheran Parish. Pr. Matt Holbert has indicated that he would be willing to be a supervising pastor, but we have not confirmed that as of yet. We will continue to search out and bring aboard new supervising pastors throughout our conferences as we certify new SLWLs.

After having put together sufficient resources for the Reader Level, we are now working on developing additional resources for the Apprentice Level. The commission will have the competencies for the Apprentice Level and the interviewing process for the Apprentice Level ready by June 2024. Once completed, Apprentice Level applications will be available on the synod’s webpage. We look forward to starting interviews for the Apprentice Level.

The commission will also look at putting together a reporting process for SLWLs to the commission, and continue to update competency resources as well for all levels.

The SLWL Commission: Rev. Ruth Bullwinkle, Rev. Ian Reid, Paul Wangerin, Rev. Sean Smith (Chair)