LAKELAND — The Florida Conference’s Board of Lay Ministry last month named T. Terrell Sessums as its nominee for conference lay leader to replace Mary Alice Massey, who is completing her second and final two-year term this May.

The new lay leader will be elected by both clergy and laity at the Dare to Share Jesus 2000 Florida Annual Conference Event May 30-June 2 in Lakeland. The office is a two-year term and can only be held twice consecutively, according to Massey.

Sessums was one of several possible candidates submitted to the board as part of its search process. Although he received a majority of the votes, he will not necessarily be elected lay leader, Massey said.

"We want to make sure this is a fair process and everyone has equal opportunity," Massey said. "Anyone who…has consented to being available to hold the position can be nominated from the floor. People who want to run from the floor have the same respect as someone nominated from the board."

Massey said Sessums received the board’s nomination because of his "long list of accomplishments." He has served on both the General and Florida Conference Board of Higher Education and Campus Ministry, is a trustee of Florida Southern College and served the Florida House of Representatives from 1963 until 1972.

Sessums said the lay leader position is not one he actively sought, but he would be open to accepting it. "I view it as a…significant position of great service to the conference," he said. "It is something I can do, and I can do it responsibly."

Sessums said he is distressed that the church has been "stalling out" and not growing and hopes that he will be able to provide vision and leadership in the area of church development and redevelopment.

"My vision is to continue the momentum…and help the church reach more people and be active in Christian service," he said.