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Resources for Local Church Leaders

Local churches have many important administrative responsibilities in caring for the life, property, mission and witness of the congregation. Roles and responsibilities, overseen by the pastor, are delegated among various church leaders, boards and committees, including the Trustees Board, the Finance Committee, the Staff-Parish Relations Committee, the Administrative or Church Council, etc.

To be effective in their work, leaders and committee members require training and resources to work effectively and cooperatively.  

On this webpage, we offer information and videos, leadership guidelines, and other resources for lay leadership in the local church.

Have questions about foundational UMC beliefs, history and structure? Visit Ask The UMC-FAQs.


Greater Northwest Area Local Church Leader Resources

For password protected files like the conference journals, please reach out to your district office for access.


Guidelines for Leading Your Congregation

One set of resources to assist your leaders is the Guidelines for Leading Your Congregation 2017-2020. These are official United Methodist resources that cover many ministries in the local church.  

To access the guidelines booklets for individual ministry areas, click on Guidelines Booklets Folder with Password Protection. Select the topic of your choice. When prompted, enter the password: Guidelines20172020.

In addition at this site, there are free supplemental materials and handouts available for your use.

Hard copies of the booklets may also be ordered individually or as a set through cokesbury.com.

Video Resources & Previous Trainings

2023 GNW Area Laity Leadership Training Recordings

Links shared during the training:

GNW Circle of Indigenous Ministries has created a great Land Acknowledgment resource site! https://greaternw.org/circle/landacknowledgment/

To identify and learn more about the first people’s in the area where you are, click here: https://native-land.ca

Bishop Cedrick Bridgeforth, book referenced: https://valariekaur.com/see-no-stranger/

Trustee Video Guides from the Faith Foundation NW

2022 Training Recordings