These are a few of the initiatives that came out of a day-long change management workshop that eight Minnesota United Methodist churches attended. Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary asked Minnesota Conference leaders to identify up to 10 congregations from rural or small communities to participate. They did—and each church sent a team to the gathering in Mankato and received $3,000 for their participation and to assist with a change project of their choosing. The experience was funded through a grant from Lilly Endowment as part of its Economic Challenges Facing Pastoral Leaders initiative. The Minnesota Conference’s Lilly grant also provided funding for a coach for each participating church that wanted to work with one during its change project.
Garrett Evangelical-Theological Seminary is one of the 13 United Methodist seminaries supported by the Ministerial Education Fund apportionment of the United Methodist Church.
A Garrett-Evangelical education doesn't end with a degree, as proven by Rev. Andy Petter (MDiv 2016). Rev. Petter participated in this change management workshop. Through the change management workshop, Petter and his congregation were able to launch a child-centered worship service called Ready, Set, Worship!
When Rev. Andy Petter arrived at Byron UMC in 2022, the church’s Sunday school superintendent, Kelly VanDeWalker, suggested a children-led worship service. A month later, when the church was invited to a change management workshop, the timing seemed fortuitous.
“It seemed like a perfect fit for what we needed—a way to re-engage with families post-pandemic and to start reaching new people in our community with something fresh and bold,” said Petter. “We also realized that if children are supposed to be our future, then we need to make them an active part of our present so that they can grow into the faithful Christians that we want them to become.”
Ready, Set, Worship! is an engaging, kid-centered worship service for God’s children of all ages. Worship is entirely led by children, and the church uses a set of liturgies called “Children First: Worshipping with the Family of God” by children’s minister Mark Burrows.
There are numerous elements of the service designed to be kid-friendly. For example, there's a puppet show, worship elements are shortened, transitions are tailored to keep children’s attention, the vocabulary used is geared toward young people, and even the bulletin—equal parts clip art and text—is designed with kids in mind. Each month has a theme that connects the whole service. At the first worship service in October, the theme was “Remember” and the teaching was about the Last Supper and Communion.
Ready, Set, Worship! will take the place of Byron’s regular worship service on the third Sunday of every month through May. The adults in the pews enjoyed Ready, Set, Worship! just as much as (and maybe more than) the children did, Petter noted.
“Launching Ready, Set, Worship! proved that we can successfully do new things that are bigger and bolder than what we've tried before,” said Petter. “God puts a vision before us that may seem too big for a small church like ours, but when we put our heads, our hands, and our hearts together, God makes it happen.”
excerpt from a story by Christa Meland, director of communications for the Minnesota Annual Conference
One of seven apportioned giving opportunities of The United Methodist Church, the Ministerial Education Fund is at the heart of preparing people for making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. The 13 United Methodist seminaries help students to discover their calling through the challenging curriculum. The fund enables the church to increase financial support for recruiting and educating ordained and diaconal ministers and to equip annual conferences to meet increased demands. Please encourage your leaders and congregations to support the Ministerial Education Fund apportionment at 100 percent.
