5 Ways to Better Equip Vital Congregations

This is the May 2015 issue from DISCIPLESHIP MINISTRIES.  How is your church offering H.O.P.E.? Making disciples for the transformation of the world means offering the hope of Jesus Christ in all aspects of life. At Discipleship Ministries, H.O.P.E. is an acronym that helps us remember the core process of making disciples found in The Book of Discipline: Hospitality, Opportunity, Purpose and Engagement. Tell the world how is your congregation making disciples and offering hope to your community. Visit UMCHOPE.org.   Renew your congregation’s focus on discipleship because One Matters. Discipleship Ministries is urging each annual conference to use the new One Matters Discipleship Award to recognize a church that is turning zero annual baptisms and professions of faith into positive numbers. Each "1" in those categories represents a transformed life – a life that matters to God and a life that should matter to us all. For more information about the One Matters Discipleship Award, contact your conference office, or go to http://bit.ly/1IvZ52n.   Create ‘prayer spaces’ at annual conference or camp gatherings. The Upper Room staff has prayerfully designed 12 ideas for creating prayer stations in your settings this summer. Each of these prayer spaces incorporates a visual focus, a simple written meditation guide and a prompt to respond to God’s calling. Download information about how to create each of the dozen prayer spaces athttp://voices.upperroom.org/prayerspaces.   Connect young people to opportunities for putting their faith into action. Use the searchable platform on the new website UMConnector from Young People’s Ministries to get young people involved in the many opportunities provided by the agencies of the United Methodist Church. Browse one-page profiles of other UMConnector users that include direct contact information, and then go directly to a program or event webpage, or contact the staff in charge of that program. Explorewww.umconnector.org today.   Learn the basics of children’s ministry for New Church Starts. Participate in a two-part webinar series with Melanie Gordon of Discipleship Ministries at 9 a.m. CDT on June 16 and at 1 p.m. CDT on June 22. The interactive webinars will focus on the basics needed for programming and developing resources in New Church Starts to welcome and form children from birth to age 11. For more information and to register, go to http://bit.ly/1PeFXKa. That’s all this month.  5 more ideas coming your way in June. SUBSCRIBE TO THIS MONTHLY NEWSLETTER