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African American Ministries

Scripture Reading

We have developed a strategic plan to:

  • Have a summit with other ethnic ministries to determine common needs of our respective churches and communities
  • Establish various forums, panel discussions, and meetings to identify needs of the churches and communities
  • Design and develop seminars and workshops that will equip diverse groups in ministry and support cultural competency
  • Continue our partnership with the Urban Youth Camp to create leadership training and forums for youth leaders, ministry opportunities for youth and young adults, and to participate in their summer camp program
  • Create opportunities for African American adults and youth to participate in coaching and mentoring programs that will assist them in discerning areas of ministry in which they may serve
  • To work in collaboration with young adult ministries including campus ministries, such as the Wesley Foundations; Mission Interns; and global justice ministries
  • Establish intergenerational ministry opportunities within the church, community, state, and outside of Michigan
  • Continue our partnerships with the United Methodist Black Clergy of Michigan (UMBCM) and the Black Methodist for Church Renewal (BMCR) organizations to provide educational and training opportunities for the African Americans in the United Methodist churches throughout the Michigan area and their surrounding communities
  • Work with UMBCM to identify the needs of the African American clergy to address ways they can be supported in their ministry settings
  • Work with BMCR to identify social justice issues specific to the African American community and direct people to BMCR for discussions on social justice advocacy

Responsibilities

  1. Identify the spiritual practices of their respective churches and communities in the Michigan Annual Conference
  2. Identify the social justice needs of the African American churches and communities
  3. Conduct a needs assessment to determine the spiritual formation and leadership gaps in the African American churches
  4. Provide resources and/or activities for
    1. equipping clergy/clergy candidates, congregations, and communities in spiritual disciplines, transformative visioning, leadership development/training, media/communication resources, community engagement, and team-building
    2. including children, youth, and young adult in spiritual formation and leadership development 
    3. inviting seminarians/clergy candidates to attend clergy, BMCR, other clergy related conferences
    4. promoting congregational/community events that will encourage the sharing of the mission and ministry of the gospel
  5. Identify grant or funding opportunities at all levels of the United Methodist Church as well as those available through government and/or private sector agencies that support faith-based organizations
  6. Have grant writing workshops for churches and communities

Members of COAAM

Training and Equipping African Americans for Ministry (two members)

United Methodist Black Clergy of Michigan (two members)

Urban Youth Alliance (two members)

African American Seminary Students (two – voice, no vote)

Laity (two members)

Black Methodist for Church Renewal (two members)

Relationships

The Committee on African American Ministry will continue to interact with the United Methodist Black Clergy of Michigan, Strengthening the Black Church for the 21st Century, Black Clergy Women of the United Methodist Church, Young Leaders Initiative, Mission Interns, and the Michigan Conference agencies relevant to ethnic and multicultural cultures to identify the needs and concerns of the African American clergy, congregations, and surrounding communities.

Mission

To encourage, train, and equip African American clergy, congregations, and their respective communities to:

  • Engage in behaviors and lifestyles that reflect Christ’s image through learning Christian spiritual disciplines and participating in mission and ministry activities that support each of the three Detroit Annual Conference Vision pathways as well as the Design Team’s Michigan Conference vision statement.
  • Prepare the leadership of the church and community to work together with the common goals of caring for and supporting each other
  • To adopt and adapt relevant existing resources for the African American community that will assist it in their spiritual formation development.

Vision

To actively engage the African American clergy, congregations, and communities in Christian transformative practices and cultural competencies that will work towards equipping and empowering them to make effective disciples of Jesus Christ.

Purpose

To provide resources and activities to stimulate healthy African American clergy, congregations, and communities that will inspire and nurture them through spiritual renewal, transformative visioning, coaching, mentoring, creative ministry (arts), team training, leadership development, holy conversations, and collaborative community involvement within the African American community.

Value

What the group values:

Having equitable voice at the table

Transparency

Honesty

Commitment

Determination

Endurance

Perseverance

Fairness

Justice

Follow-through to the end

Integrity

Reflection

Self-assessment

Right attitude

Mature Emotional Intelligence (need a workshop on this)

Time

Humanity and God’s creation

Triune God

In Addition

COAAM. will be in conversation the Asian, Hispanic, and Native American ministries to identify common goals and to discuss the possibility of joint ventures.

Last Updated on July 13, 2023

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The Michigan Conference