People
The people involved in Methodist organisation are as follows.
The individual Christian who is a Member of a Methodist Society is both a member of a Class, a group of nominally 12, under a Class Leader, and also a member of a local Methodist Church or Society. The Class Leader has some pastoral responsibility for the Class.
Early Methodism (as organised by Wesley) had Local Preachers and Travelling Preachers. A Local Preacher was a layman, perhaps a farmer in our example, appointed to preach within his own Circuit. A Travelling Preacher, or Minister in modern Methodism, is appointed by Conference to serve for a limited time in a Circuit and then move around the country to any other Circuit where Conference may send him. In John Wesley's time, this could be as little as a few months. As Methodism became more settled as a denomination, this was from one to four years, now typically five to ten years. Some Circuits may also have Lay Pastors.
The non-pastoral work is done by Society Stewards and Circuit Stewards. These are appointed to various functions, such as Treasurer, or Property Steward, etc. to look after various practical needs. Usually these are voluntary workers, but some situations also require paid staff.
Read more about this topic: Methodist Circuit
Famous quotes containing the word people:
“Great people talk about ideas, average people talk about things, and small people talk about wine.”
—Fran Lebowitz (b. 1950)
“There are of course people who are more important than others in that they have more importance in the world but this is not essential and it ceases to be. I have no sense of difference in this respect because every human being comprises the combination form.”
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)
“There is an enormous chasm between the relatively rich and powerful people who make decisions in government, business, and finance and our poorer neighbors who must depend on these decisions to alleviate the problems caused by their lack of power and influence.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)