A very demanding program of study requiring a two-year commitment and 300 hours of class and preparation time, the School of the Laity was a vision of then Executive Presbyter Dr. J. Richard Bass, who saw the desire of laypersons to engage in serious study of scripture, theology, and ministry. As evidence of their serious intent, students pay tuition fees and provide for their own transportation costs. While the presbytery pays the lodging and meal cost. The students are required to participate in three summer courses taught by seminary and college professors. Each session involves eighteen hours of class time and thirty-six hours of personal study.
Students are to complete briefer courses in the spring and fall of two successive years.
Savannah Presbytery ministers and laypersons lead these studies on such subjects as Christian ethics, history, mission and polity, Old Testament, and New Testament. The school has continued to grow to an average class of 20. To date over 250 laypeople have participated in the School of the Laity, representing two-thirds of the churches of the presbytery. Its graduates are providing outstanding leadership in their congregations, the presbytery and the larger church. The intent of The J. Richard Bass School of the Laity is to prepare lay people for our Christian witness to the world.