September 6, 2016

First Children & Family Ministry Connection

Thursday, Sept. 15, Noon - 2 p.m.

Salem Covenant Church, New Brighton, MN
Bring a lunch

Join children and family ministry leaders next week for conversation, prayer, and encouragement at our first Connection gathering of the school year. There is value in coming together to meet people and be encouraged in ministry. Hope you can make it!

Child Protection and Safety

We want to provide you with resources to help you keep kids safe, and to equip your leaders to recognize signs of abuse. The Northwest Conference has researched child safety and protection resources and all of this is available to you on our website.

Ministry leaders,

Sadly, we live in a broken world where not everyone has the best intentions for our children. We live in a world where, unless there is strategic intentionality, vulnerable populations can be overlooked and mistreated.

This is why we make every effort to equip our churches to keep kids safe. In 2016, it is no longer enough for children and youth ministry leaders to love Jesus and love kids. Anyone who works with children and youth needs to be screened, trained and background checked.

Many of our churches already do a great job with this. If this is overwhelming to you, and you are looking for a place to start, let me offer some resources to you (Keep reading...)

In addition, two ministry leaders from each Northwest Conference church are invited to view abuse prevention training from Ministry Safe at no cost. To sign up, contact Kara Stromberg. We hope all Northwest Conference churches that don't currently offer abuse prevention training will take advantage of this free resource.

A word of encouragement from the NWC.

We wish we could come to each of your churches to celebrate with you as you kick off your programs this fall. Instead, we offer this video to help encourage and inspire your volunteers. Feel free to use all or part of this in your fall training with your ministry leaders. On behalf of the Northwest Conference, we hope your volunteers will feel supported and equipped in their ministry with children and families this year.

Children & Family Ministry Training in International Falls - Oct. 15

One of our goals is to connect regionally with non-Twin Cities churches. Our first Children & Family Ministry event for ministry leaders and volunteers will be in International Falls on Saturday, Oct. 15. Stay tuned for more information!

Northwest Conference Children & Family Ministry Directory

One of our priorities for Children & Family Ministry is to connect ministry leaders with one another. We have done our best to compile a list of those serving our churches so that you can connect with each other. We'll do our best to keep this updated via Google Drive, accessible here.

If there are any changes, please contact the Northwest Conference.

Resources

Are you familiar with the Aim Lower Journal? Marketed as a global conversation about Jesus, Mission, and Children, this resource provides thoughtful articles with a global perspective. Helpful for all ages! Journal is updated every month. Subscribe to the email update to stay informed.

Orange Tour

Back by popular demand, the Orange Tour is coming to the Twin Cities this fall.

Tuesday, Sept. 13, at Cedar Valley Church in Bloomington, MN, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Think of this as a one-day taste of the Orange conference at an affordable price.

Registration details here.

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Breaking News

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