It’s back-to-school time, and churches can lean on the new Michigan Conference Children’s Ministry Team for fall ministry support and then prepare to receive an offering for Christian Education Sunday, set for August 18.
JAMES DEATON
Content Editor
The Michigan Conference implemented a new Sustainable Children’s Ministry Model earlier this year. This innovative team approach has four leads who advise and equip children’s ministry leaders in faith communities throughout the state. They are available to support in various ways, especially as churches plan for their fall and winter programming.
Kids Ministry Zoom Team
Susan Adam-Rita from Chelsea: First UMC runs the online Kids Min Zoom meetings, which provide a helpful network of children’s ministry peers to share ideas and encourage one another. See what Kids Min Zoom topics are planned for this fall. Contact Susan here.
Curation/Resourcing Team
Deaconess Anne Hillman from Detroit: Central UMC leads this team by gathering and vetting resources posted on the Michigan Conference’s new faith formation website: LifelongFaith.org. New content for fall/back-to-school resources and Advent/Christmas will be available soon. Contact Anne here.
Regional Networking Team
Rachel McCollum from Ann Arbor: First UMC is coordinating two in-person events for this fall, one on the east side of the state and one on the west side. More details are forthcoming later this summer. These networking events will provide peer support as church leaders engage in faith formation ministry in their contexts. Contact Rachel here.
Communications Team
Maddy Martinson from Marshall UMC sends out monthly e-newsletters for the team (click to sign up), monitors and posts to the Michigan Conference Children’s Ministry Facebook page (click to join), and updates the children’s ministry portion of the LifelongFaith.org website. Contact Maddy here.
Rev. Kathy Pittenger, Michigan Conference Connectional Ministries Team staff member, oversees the Children’s Ministry Team, which is supported by an Advisory Board comprised of Pittenger, Deaconess Anne Hillman, Laura Johns, Erica Kozlowski, Rachel Lunning, Maddy Martinson, Rachel McCollum, and Deacon Christy Miller-White.
Pittenger was once employed as the primary conference staff person dedicated to children’s ministry, but significant staffing changes in 2023 eliminated this position. This restructuring shifted current staff from “experts” to “generalists,” and so there arose a need for a creative, sustainable ministry model for children’s ministry here in the Michigan Conference.
An Advisory Board was formed to guide the transition, and data received from listening sessions and feedback forms led them to focus on the four areas noted above. Before going on renewal leave on July 29, Pittenger recorded a brief update (watch video) on this discernment process and mentioned a few of the accomplishments made by this new model of children’s ministry.
Christian Education Sunday, August 18
The new Sustainable Children’s Ministry Model is how the Michigan Conference connects with and resources churches around faith formation. One resourcing avenue is the annual Christian Education Sunday offering, which supplements the funding of formation ministry in the conference.
Christian Education Sunday is set for August 18, but churches can choose a date that fits their schedule better. Some prefer a Sunday right before children and teachers head back to school. Funds from this offering promote children’s faith development in the Michigan Conference in two ways. Half of the money received from local churches goes toward cohorts (learn more about fall cohorts), mini-grants, and supporting the sustainable Children’s Ministry Team, and the other half sends children and youth to United Methodist camps in Michigan.
In 2023-2024, offerings from Christian Education Sunday supported seven faith formation cohorts. So far, in 2024, 30 participants have joined one of these cohorts offered through the Michigan Conference. A fall mini-cohort is planned, beginning September 11, for three sessions. Learn more and register here. New cohort options will be available in 2025, and details will be provided soon.
The purpose of Disability and Inclusion Grants is to provide funding for churches to invest in training, supplies, and resources directly related to providing accommodations for those with disabilities or neurodiversity of all kinds. In 2023-2024, grants were approved for Coopersville UMC, Holland: First UMC, and White Lake UMC.
Thirty-six Advent/Christmas mini-grants, totaling over $9,500, were approved for community outreach, Christmas Eve worship bags, resources, supplies, devotionals, Advent boxes, and more to churches and United Methodist-related organizations across all seven Michigan Conference districts.
Northville: First UMC was one of the recipients of these Advent/Christmas mini-grants. They used the funds to purchase paint-your-own nativity sets for the families in their congregation. The sets were put into Advent bags along with a booklet with suggestions for using them during the Advent season.
“Receiving the grant meant that we were able to do something special for our families that would have normally been outside our budget,” said Rachel Lunning, director of children and family ministry at Northville: First UMC. “Providing kid-friendly nativity sets not only allowed families to have a special moment together during the Advent season as they painted them together but also provided the opportunity for our kids to interact with the Christmas story in a meaningful way.”
Pastor Kate Van Valkenburg, director of ministries at United Campus Christian Fellowship (UCCF) in the Grand Rapids area, also received one of the Advent mini-grants. This allowed this campus ministry to provide supplies and printed Advent devotionals at their ornament decorating events at Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids Community College, and Kendall College of Art and Design.
Kate noted, “At the tabling events, I got to sit with students and listen to them talk about their favorite holiday traditions and how they were feeling about heading home. The holidays bring up mixed emotions for us all. The Advent mini-grant allowed UCCF to spiritually engage with students in a unique way.”
Last Updated on August 13, 2024