This lecture by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III addresses the necessity of preparing leaders and talents within the church, and emphasizes that the goal is not only to help the priest in his service but also to prepare the next generation for a life of service.

Reasons and Purposes of Preparing Leaders

1. To help the priest in his daily work by distributing administrative and spiritual tasks.

2. To prepare the next generation to take over the service and continue the practice of handing over in church service.

3. To utilize the individual energies and skills of each member — youths, young women, men, women, and retired elders — in useful works inside the church.

Practical Ways to Use Talents

• Assigning groups for visiting (loss-checking), communications, writing correspondences, and organizing meetings.

• Involving youth in organizational tasks, maps of the area, family databases, exhibitions and artistic activities, and scouting groups to maintain order.

• Entrusting retired elders with administrative tasks or attending records and following up on attendees and absentees, instead of spending time without benefit.

The Importance of Training and Practice

• Continuous practical training is important: mistakes are possible at the beginning but learning from the mistake and correcting it establishes competent leaders.

• Giving opportunities to laypeople and volunteers to train in preaching and management instead of preventing them from chances, because talents are discovered only by practice.

Result of Correct Implementation

• A church that uses its energies does not stop its work when one priest is absent or travels or even dies, because the work is distributed and the trained ones are able to continue.

• Preparation is a handing-over in service as Christ did with His disciples and Paul with Timothy: training then sending then establishing the servants.

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