United Reformed Church

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Presidency at the Sacraments

Presidency at the sacraments is a training course for authorised elders and lay preachers. The course is provided through the synods who will make arrangements for the material to be delivered locally, or in ways appropriate to local situations.

Please contact your synod office or synod Training and Development Officer for more details.

Learning outcomes

After participating in the training course, those authorised will feel more confident to preside at both Communion and baptisms, and will feel confident that they share best practice with others so authorised throughout the United Reformed Church.

Learning outputs

Authorised elders will understand:

  • The nature of authorisation within Church order
  • The nature of sacrament
  • Sacraments and the Bible
  • The purpose of the sacraments
  • The theology of the sacraments
  • Symbolism of the sacraments
  • Liturgies for sacraments
  • Practicalities of presidency

Course outline

The course follows a blended learning format and is designed to be flexible in its use. Face-to-face sessions (which might be a series of evenings or a single day session if that is more appropriate) are supplemented by the reading material that is available on this site. The course trainers are encouraged to cover all the elements of the training, while being flexible in how the face-to-face sessions are arranged.

The material below will be used as preparation for and during the face-to-face sessions.

They include the URC’s:

Pre-course questions to consider

Before you begin your face-to-face training sessions to expand your practice of sacraments, it will be helpful to review your experiences so far.You may like to simply ask these questions of yourself and think of your answers, or you may like to write down your answers.

Communion

  • When did I feel most alive when I participated in a Communion service? What single thing stood out for me?
  • Are there words said or heard in a Communion service which remain in my heart or head? What are they? Why have they been important?

And, if you have already presided at Communion:

  • Which experience of presiding at Communion stays happily in my memory and why?

Baptism

  • What does my baptism mean to me?
  • What service of baptism which I have witnessed stays in my mind as a deeply moving event? What happened? Why was it important?

And, if you have already presided at baptism:

  • Which experience of carrying out a baptism stays happily in my memory and why?

Session material 

Face-to-face sessions will expand on the material available online, will draw in participant experience, and will introduce new material on the nature of authorisation, for both Communion and baptism. Sessions can be held either on one day, or spaced out as desired by the group and by the trainer.

After face-to-face reflection

Participants may like to keep a journal as they start thinking about and training to preside at Communion and baptisms. After the course has ended these journal entries could be used to reflect on presidency and it may be appropriate for a learning group to discuss these entries and reflections together.

If you need futher information about celebrating the Sacraments, please contact your Training or Development Officer.

Further resources

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