Melanie serves as Director of Ministry with Children in the Leadership Ministries Division of the General Board of Discipleship of The United Methodist Church. She is responsible to The Keynote Speaker United Methodist Church for providing nationwide training and resourcing, and does research and networking for leaders and teachers engaged in ministry for children. Through Faith and Spiritual Formation, Melanie’s portfolio also includes workshop, presentations, and retreats on Parents as Theologians; Weekday Preschool Ministries; Children’s Advocacy; Children’s Ministry in the New Church Start; Children and Prayer; Care for the Leader; Technology, God, and the Digital Child; Christian Response to Bullying, and Revitalizing Ministry with Children. She also directs The United Methodist Conference on Ministry with Children. Melanie wrote What Every Child Should Experience: A Guide for Teachers and Leaders in United Methodist Congregations, Children’s Ministry Guidelines for the 2013-16 Quadrennium, and co-authored Guidelines for Weekday Preschool Ministry Programs in United Methodist Churches. She also writes a monthly newsletter and a weekly blog on children’s issues. Prior to joining the GBOD staff, Melanie earned a Master of Church Ministries degree with an emphasis in Spiritual Formation from Duke Divinity School. While at Duke, she worked at Duke Hospital Center on Aging; co-founded the improvisational comedy group “Axe of the Apostles”; went on pilgrimage to East Africa, creating and producing a documentary film on the Christian Response to Genocide in Rwanda; served as Chaplain at a feeding ministry in Harlem; and developed curriculum for The United Methodist Home for Children in Raleigh, North Carolina. Melanie earned a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education from Clemson University, and taught in various capacities in the public school system in Greenville, South Carolina, including pre-K through eighth grade, theatre and technology. She served as a Family Literacy Specialist with at-risk families through the Even Start Federal Literacy Grant, and was Director of Recruitment and Admissions for the South Carolina Governor’s School of Arts and Humanities. Melanie is a member of the South Carolina Annual Conference and John Wesley UMC in Greenville, South Carolina, and is actively involved with the United Methodist Women at Disciples UMC in Greenville. Melanie loves that her ministry allows her to connect congregations and conferences with the resources that will support them as they share with children our Christian tradition through developmentally appropriate and enriching experiences! Christian Educators Fellowship and the Minnesota Conference Faith Formation Action Team present ... Splash: Energizing Your Children’s Ministry Melanie C. Gordon Saturday, April 25, 2015 8:30 am to 4:00 pm Rosemount United Methodist Church Rosemount, MN Location Rosemount UMC 14770 Canada Avenue West • Rosemount, MN 55068 www.rosemountumc.org • 651.423.2475 eVent schedule 8:30 am 9:00 9:30 10:45 11:00 12:15 pm 1:15 2:20 3:40 Coffee/registration Opening workshop Workshop I Break Workshop II Lunch and vendors Keynote address by Melanie Gordon Workshop III Closing ! h s a l Sp Workshop Schedule Workshop I Offerings 1. Praying in Color Here are some reasons to pray in color: 1) You want to pray but words escape you. 2) Sitting still and staying focused in prayer are a challenge. 3) Your body wants to be part of your prayer. 4) Listening to God feels like an impossible task. 5) Your mind wanders and your body complains. 6) You want a visual, concrete way to pray. 7) You need a new way to pray. Katie Matson-Daley and Jenia Strom 2. Yes ... We Can Do a Christmas Program! Christmas programs give your children a chance to lead the congregation in worship. These script ideas, kid-friendly Christmas songs, and musicals for preschoolers & elementary-age children will help you get in the Christmas spirit—even in April! Cathy Skogen-Soldner 3. Violence: A Christian Response Sadly, we live in an unsettled world, and the media continues to be filled with stories of children caught in the crossfire of violence. This workshop will explore the culture of violence and offer approaches that we can use to encourage and support healthy environments and relationships for children in the church and community. Melanie Gordon 4. Covenant Discipleship and the Short Term Mission trip- a great pair for your youth group! Come and explore how Wesley’s Covenant Discipleship model can be a great foundation for your short term mission trip. How can you incorporate Compassion, Justice, Worship, and Devotion into your youth group? Brainstorm ideas, engage in conversation and come away with a model you can implement now! Erica Koser 5. Classroom Management—Tips and Ideas Investigate and participate in activities that will help you build community, set expectations, and develop relationships with your children that will actively engage them in study. Dr. Stephanie Clark 6. VBS Beyond the Curriculum Once you have chosen the VBS theme for your church, it is time to to start planning! We will discuss tips and tricks to help the week go smoother and easier. Car lines, decorating, snacks and more. Jan Russell 7. Family Ministry Events Connect with your community and church families sponsoring fun and creative outreach events. Cindy Yanchury & Melissa Miller 8. Teens and Social Media/ Technolog y Social media can revolutionize your ministry! Find out how to use it effectively as well as how to talk with parents about keeping their children safe. Lindsey Nuehring Workshop II Offerings 9. Ministry for the Seasons Help kids to creatively encounter God in all the seasons of the year. This workshop will help you with ideas for fall (kick off ), winter (Advent), spring (Lent), and summer. Ideas may be adapted for any size of church and any number of kids. Karen Klekner & Melissa Miller 10. Rookie Camp—New at This Children & Family Ministry Stuff? Setting up your office, getting acquainted with church members and kids, working well as a staff member, getting along with the Trustees, time for personal care and your own life ... there’s a lot that goes with this ministry—let’s talk, strategize, and connect. Cindy Yanchury 11. Ministry with Tweens May the stage between childhood and teenage-dom become a little less awkward! Learn how to do good ministry with an age group that is full of potential! Lindsey Nuehring 12. What’s New in Resources? Jan Russell, Minnesota Cokesbury Rep and Lizabeth Bougie, Director, Resource Center for Churches 13. Understanding Autism and Church Join Cari Larson, a mother of two teenage boys with autism. She will share stories of her journey with autism, the role church played in her family as her children grew and were confirmed and what her family taught their congregation! Get a better understanding of what it might be like to be autistic, why it is hard to find a church, and what your church is missing by not having these families in your congregation. Cari Larson 14. Designing a Worship Service for Children and their Families We will share our experience of offering a monthly service we call Kids2 for the past 16 months. We’ll cover the what, the how and the why. Together we’ll explore how something like this might work in your setting.Children’s Ministry leaders, bring your pastor and music leader – this is a team effort! Donna Draeger Registration 15. Classroom Management—Tips and Ideas Investigate and participate in activities that will help you build community, set expectations, and develop relationships with your children that will actively engage them in study. Dr. Stephanie Clark 16. Preschool Family Ministry. We experience the naturally "good soil" of preschoolers everyday! Come learn and share simple ideas to nurture and support faith formation in the classroom and at home through songs, movement, and family-friendly tools. Deb Hetherington loves being with preschoolers and Kindergartners (and their parents) as a children's choir director at St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Eden Prairie. Their joys (mostly kids) and fears (mostly parents) also influence her work as a Resource Developer at Sparkhouse. Deb Hetheringon Workshop III Offerings 17. Talking With Kids About Race Kids are not colorblind. Race, culture, and diversity: we can talk openly with our kids about these topics, but often we feel a lot of anxiety about doing so. What can we do in churches and families to raise a generation of kids who work for racial justice and demonstrate cultural competence? What is unique about addressing racial justice and cultural competency from a Christian faith perspective? Katie Matson-Daley Return this form or register online at www.rosemountumc.org Church: ! _____________________________________________ Address: ! _____________________________________________ ! _____________________________________________ Phone:! _____________________________________________ Email:! _____________________________________________ Workshops Attendees I II III 18. Kid-friendly Children’s Music that Makes Your Job Easy! Are your children singing the same 5 songs again this year? Wanna try something new? Come and sing, pick up tips on making your old songs new and learn how to incorporate motions & rhythms that will encourage your non-singers to be a part of the songs. Cathy Skogen-Soldner 19. Church and Home—Seamless Faith Families are at church for an hour or two—the rest of their lives are beyond church walls. Using the book Seamless Faith you will go back to your church with actual plans for family events at church that teach parents how to create faith traditions and rituals for home. Cindy Yanchury 20. Teens and Social Media/Technolog y (see description for session 8 under Workshop I) Lindsey Nuehring 21. BIG and little Ministry Ideas Let's go BIG! No wait, let's go little! Ministry can be whatever works for your church. This workshop will explore creative ministry ideas for Bible study and events for any size of church. Melissa Miller 22. Children and Prayer How can the Church support parents as they spiritually form the children entrusted to their care? How do they learn how to pray? This workshop will equip participants with helpful, scripturally sound experiences and resources for use in the church and for parents to use at home with young children to promote and enhance spiritual growth and prayer in today’s world. Melanie Gordon Please note any dietary restrictions: _______________________ ______________________________________________ Childcare needed? _________ Registration fee: Total amount enclosed: 23. Understanding Autism and Church (see description for session 13 under Workshop II) Cari Larson 24. Preschool Family Ministry. (see description for session 16 under Workshop II) Deb Hetherington 25. Dynamic Bible Presentations and Building Bible Skills: Kids can’t wait to get their third grade Bibles! Use Bible Presentation Sunday as a springboard to building Bible skills in class, in worship and at home. Simple additions to Bible Presentation Sunday, class structure and curriculum will empower budding Bible scholars to a lifetime of Bible study. Leave this workshop with copies of Bible Sleuth Challenges and lots ideas from workshop participants. Laura Stahl Questions? contact Karen Klekner [email protected] Please send completed registrations to: Splash! Registration c/o Rosemount UMC 14770 Canada Ave W Rosemount, MN 55068 $10/ child $35 each $______
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