REV. MELANIE CAREY
Clergy Assistant to the Bishop
A few weeks ago, I shared a devotion with the Michigan Area Committee on Episcopacy about the current state of our children in Michigan.
I heard about the current state of Michigan’s children during a recent retreat with The Design Team for Creating a New Annual Conference for Michigan. During the retreat the design team looked at demographic trends in Michigan and Rev. Paul Perez, a deacon, and staff member of the Detroit Conference shared some sobering statistics about Michigan’s kids.
According to Annie E. Casey Foundation 25% of children in the state of Michigan currently live in poverty! That is 1 out of every 4 children across our state!
This demographic includes children in rural, suburban, and urban areas. A further look at this state of childhood poverty also includes the fact that 69% of children in the 4th grade are unable to read at grade level proficiency and 70% of Michigan 8th graders are not proficient at math.
In Matthew 19:13-15—Jesus said “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them for to such belongs the kingdom of God.” What would Jesus say and do about Michigan’s children? In the process of forming a new annual conference and thinking and dreaming about “our mission field”, what might the gospel “good news” look like for children and parents in our state? What might our witness be with those whom Jesus said, “do not hinder them for to such belongs God’s Kingdom?”
Over the Summer I attended a lecture by Dr. Robert Putnam, author and social science professor from Harvard University. Dr. Putnam wrote a book called Bowling Alone and most recently has published a book called Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis. In the book Our Kids, Dr. Putnam chronicles with many more sobering stories and statistics the state of poverty that our children across the U.S. are facing. I would recommend Our Kids to your reading and I hope that you might consider not just reading it yourself, but reading it with your Bible Study Group, or your UMW circle, or with your UMM Breakfast group or with your book group or your Sunday School Class.
One of the suggestions that Dr. Putnam makes in the face of such sobering statistics about children in poverty in our nation is that we first and foremost need to think of all kids as our kids. Kids are not just someone else’s problem, or responsibility. In truth, in God’s realm they all are our children. And Jesus tells us that God’s kingdom belongs to them.
When we think of all kids as our kids, we are more likely to respond with ways to help and that can make all the difference in kids lives. The good news in the face of these staggering realities is that one person can easily make a difference and actually save a life!
“Getting help from just one key adult person can literally save a kid’s life.”
West Michigan Conference Lay Leader Ann Soles, wrote to me after my devotion and mentioned that getting help from just one key adult person can literally save a kid’s life. Help and support can come from a teacher, a youth leader, a coach, a counselor, a pastor or even an entire church. Congregations can intentionally help kids to read, to do math, to improve self esteem and to know Jesus and his love!
When I was growing up in The Dexter United Methodist Church, my church family surrounded me with love and care. I had Sunday School Teachers who taught me about scriptures and how to live my life in a faithful way. I had pastors who invited me to consider my call to ministry and encouraged me to consider mission outreach and preaching opportunities. I play the oboe and one time when I was in Jr. High, I was playing a solo during a worship service and my reed broke and I really messed the solo in front of everyone. I was so embarrassed by my failure, that I ran out of the sanctuary in tears! I locked myself in the church bathroom and vowed NEVER to show my face in the church again!
And yet, people in the pews, especially some of the UMW members wrote me notes of encouragement, they showed me with words and actions that I was still loved and appreciated and that God wasn’t interested in my perfection, but rather in faithfulness. Those actions made all the difference for me. Not only did I come out of the bathroom and dry my tears, but I decided to stay in the church and listen for the ways that God might use me for greater purposes! It was such a helpful lesson of unconditional love and it really impacted me and helped me in my time of growing up.
A few years ago, the church where I was serving decided to start a number of small groups and my husband, Jon, and I felt called to lead one of the groups. It was called “parenting teens” and the members of this small group were all people from the church and the community who were looking for support and assistance in being parents. We studied scriptures and read to each other from a wonderful and helpful book called Get out of My Life, But First can you Drive Me and Cheryl to the Mall by Anthony Wolf. I know that Jon and I are better parents because of this group and I know that it has made a difference for our kids, Nick and Grace Carey and other kids as well. I thank God for the ways the church has helped me as a kid, and me as a parent of teenagers and also my own teenagers.
In his book, Our Kids, Dr. Putnam suggests that the following things can and do make a difference in changing childhood poverty rates:
- High Quality Early Childhood Education and Development Programs
- Helping parents with family leave, coaching and home visits
- Investing in public education and ending pay to play for sports teams
- More intensive mentoring of kids
- Providing more on-ramps for kids to get to college with scholarships, and assistance to get to community colleges, apprenticeships, internships and other assistance.
Jay Hook, a lay member of the Committee on Episcopacy Committee, shared with me a wonderful idea. I commend it to you as together we listen to the call to serve OUR KIDS in Michigan. Jay said “We have churches in the Michigan Area who are already doing some wonderful ministries with kids.” What if we found a way for those congregations to share their learnings and best practices? What if we could share what churches would like to do more for kids in their community and then connect people who have skills to help launch and lead those ministries? How might we do this? How might we best communicate both the ministry needs, best practices of successful and effective kids ministries and develop and deploy a volunteer pool all for the sake of our kids?
What if our vision for a new church in Michigan included a priority of helping our kids find a way out of poverty? I invite you to pray about our kids and to share ways you might wish to respond.
Last Updated on October 20, 2023