[Magdalen] Worship leader

[James Oppenheimer-Crawford]

In New York State, anyone can offer their services as a counselor or any
kind, since there is no licensing of the vocation of counselor.  Yet many
choose to get a counseling certification simply because it shows others
that you care enough to pursue a certificate that shows you have a level of
expertise.

Even though you might not be required to obtain a license in order to do
something, people will take you seriously if you have a certificate.

Different locations handle this differently.

I've been asked to preach in the past, and others with no certification
have been asked to preach.  No doubt others would insist on taking up the
bishop's time with getting their okay, and some bishops really want to be
consulted first. It varies.  I was visiting a church where my
Gr-gr-grandfather was rector and noted that on the walls of a hallway
heading into the sanctuary, all the layreader licenses are mounted on the
wall like framed pictures.

There is something to the idea of licensing.  I notice often that folks
reading the lessons seem never to have ever even seen the material before,
and have no idea how one must speak in order to be understood, and
everybody thinks this is just fine, fine. I used to coordinate the readers,
and if anyone dropped the ball like that, they would be spoken with about
ways to do better (after all, nobody ever decided to read badly! They just
don't know).

I've heard some strange, or even horrible, sermons from supposedly ordained
folks. Seldom from someone who was just invited to speak.

James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
*“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy

On Mon, Sep 7, 2015 at 11:20 AM, Marilyn Cepeda <mcepeda514 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> This question came up because we are vacant. There are ongoing negotiations
> with a retired priest to
> Serve as priest in charge but he is not in place. I am the only licensed
> worship leader at this time.
> A staff member expressed interest in sharing responsibilities for worship
> with me alternating. He
> Is not licensed. I do not mind sharing, but what is the point of being
> licensed if anyone can do it anyway.
> We are making an attempt to do things the "right" way. I suppose the bishop
> will have to address the issue.
>
> Marilyn
> On Mon, Sep 7, 2015 at 9:51 AM Charles Wohlers <
> charles.wohlers at verizon.net>
> wrote:
>
> > At my parish in Mass., we often have Morning Prayer when the rector is on
> > vacation. On those occasions, we have two of our regular LEM's lead the
> > service. We're only licensed as chalice bearers - whether that's strictly
> > "legal" or not, I don't know, but that's what we do.
> >
> > Chad Wohlers
> > Woodbury, VT USA
> > chadwohl at satucket.com
> >
> >
> > --
> Marilyn (Owens, Palmero) Cepeda
> Mobile, Alabama
>