In honor of the recent Laity Sunday, Memorial was blessed to have a meal and discussion with Derrick Scott, III at the last Wesley Dinner Club. A long-time friend of Memorial, Derrick wears many hats within in the Conference and Denominational work of the United Methodist Church. Using his gift of breaking down topics into the core issues, and his skill with communicating to multiple generations, he spoke to the group about the role of the laity, our relationship with young people, our denominational connection, and the hope he has for the future.
Derrick has served as the Co-Lay Leader for the Florida Conference since 2022 which he describes as a position which, "represents the dreams, needs, and sometimes the complaints of the laity to the Bishop's Cabinet." Like most lay people serving in the church, this work is a volunteer position, which has him attending weekly cabinet meetings with the Bishop, leading the Conference Board of Laity, and traveling throughout the state. He sees one of his roles in Conference meetings as being a voice to remind clergy and leaders how incredibly diverse and active the laity in our Conference are.
He works to make sure that the laity are well represented and considered in all aspects of church work. In his discussion with Pastor Charlie, he reminded the laity that they all have a part to play in the life and work of the church. He encourages laity to "be in the rooms - go to the meetings, go to Annual Conference. Our presence in the room is part of the work." He suggested that laity be as informed as they can be about what is going on in the denomination and the Conference. He suggested that everyone follow The United Methodist Church and Florida Conference on social media, read the articles they put out, and also visit The Laity Space on the Florida Conference website, which is all information for the laity to know and to use. "You will be thrilled to see how active the messaging of the United Methodist Church is online."
Derrick also is the Director for Campus Ministries in northeast Florida, called Campus to City Wesley (CCW), and is the Director of Studio Wesley, which is a hub for digital ministry. His experience with both forms of ministry work is that it is ever changing and requires flexibility and often a lot of "pivots" to meet the needs of young people and the unchurched. "Online and the digital world is the 'Wild West' right now. It is moving and changing so quickly that there are aspects of it that we don't even have words for yet. But, learning about it and how to best use it within the ethics of the Kingdom is important to the growth of the church and reaching the next generation."
He offered the advice that we should each have courage to try new ways of connecting with digital media because we don't know how God is working within it. He reminded the group that John Wesley was looked down upon in his time for writing down all his sermons and having them printed into pamphlets with the new media of the day. Yet, where would we be without those sermons and Wesley's courage to try new things and push the boundaries?
Derrick spoke joyfully about the experiences he has had with college students in
ministry and mentioned a few examples of specific students whose faith and journeys have made an impact on him. This is where he sees hope in the future and encouraged the Wesley Dinner Club group to make friends with young people. He tempered that suggestion with the caveat that it's playing the 'long game.'
"Play the long game. See what might happen after 10 years of friendship. Part of the magic of campus ministry is that there are people I have known for 20 years, who are just NOW saying, 'Okay, Derrick, you can talk to me about Jesus.' I thank God that I didn't discount them when they were young, college kids." Derrick stressed that those long-term relationships are important to Kingdom work and that being a Christian influence in the life of a friend matters.
"It's like if Jesus were to say, 'On the day that I tapped them on the shoulder (called them), they knew exactly who to go to...you."
We are thankful for Derrick's calling to work with young people, laity, and to have the courage to explore new ways to reach more people for Christ.
