Mary Margaret Corless to Step Down as Lay Leader

Anyone who attends Monaca UMC likely knows Mary Margaret Corless. As Lay Leader — and Volunteer Extraordinaire — Mary is involved in most aspects of church life and always has a smile ready to share!

Mary began in her position as Lay Leader more than 15 years ago. With a new pastor coming to the church in July, Mary recognizes this summer as a good time for someone else to step into the Lay Leader role.

From Mary’s perspective, one of the primary roles of the Lay Leader at Monaca UMC is to work with the pastor to make home visits to church members. She notes that this role requires a high level of trustworthiness and discretion. Because the Lay Leader represents the laity (i.e. people in the church who are not clergy) in a variety of meetings, Mary is exposed to discussions and information not always ready to be made public. It is also important to protect the privacy of the more vulnerable members of our congregation by not sharing information, even as a prayer request, without the member’s specific consent.

Before Monaca UMC moved to the “single board” model for the church’s Executive Council in 2021 — which consolidated most of the church’s standing committees into the council — Mary remembers serving on the different committees of the church at one point or another. She participated in the Trustees for years outside of the Lay Leader position. And as Lay Leader, she was an automatic member of the Lay Ministry/Nominations Committee, Staff—Parish Relations Committee, and Executive Council.

Mary states, “Things have changed so much since I went into this position.” She has served with five pastors and navigated the COVID-19 pandemic during that time. She is excited to see someone new “make their own way” with the role.

Just because Mary is stepping down from this position does not mean she won’t continue to be active in the life of the church. She intends to continue helping with different activities such as the church landscaping and sending cards to shut-ins, as well as helping in the church office and with events.

The next time you see her, be sure to thank Mary for all of her work as Lay Leader and for her continued service to God and the congregation at Monaca UMC.

If you are interested in becoming Monaca UMC’s next Lay Leader, please see Pastor Jim before June 30th or see Rev. Rob after June 30th. Also visit https://www.resourceumc.org/en/content/local-church-leadership-lay-leader to review other information about serving as Lay Leader.