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
!
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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: ! _____________________________________________
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_____________________________________________
Phone:!
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Email:!
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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
$______