Within this section is a collection of resources to aid you in your ministry. Here, you will find links to helpful websites, materials and videos for interpreting the ministries of the United Methodist Church, the Kansas Area Resource Center and other helps for your ministry.
If you have a resource to share, e-mail Linda Louderback or call her at 800-745-2350. Rev. Louderback is director of clergy and congregational excellence for the Kansas Area.
Featured resources
Free worship-planning calendar
The General Board of Discipleship offers a free worship and music planning calendar for 2012. Download it here.
Web Ministry Workshop - Boost Your Net Appeal workshop resources
M2Live founders Matt Carlisle and Erin Sean McAtee have posted a collection of the presentations and resources shared during the Sept. 24, 2011, web ministry workshop in Hutchinson. For a list of resources, connections to presenter Justin Wise, and more, visit: http://www.m2live.org/tour/kansas/kansas-resources/
Pathways to Congregational Vitality
This is a series of articles on worship and preaching, evangelism, Christian education and formation, stewardship and more.
Each article includes information and reflection on the selected topic, ideas for discussion and application, and other resources for further information and assistance.
These resources are intended to be used with your leadership team--perhaps as a prelude to either short- or long-range planning.
The articles are available on the General Board of Discipleship website at http://www.gbod.org/site/c.nhLRJ2PMKsG/b.7425437/k.4B58/Pathways_to_Congregational_Vitality.htm.
New crib safety regulations mean drop-side cribs must be removed from church nurseries.
Sweeping new safety rules that outlaw drop-side cribs and require stronger hardware and supports for cribs went into effect June 28, 2011.
The U.S. Consumer Protection Safety Commission unanimously approved the new rules and said it is unlikely that existing cribs will meet the new standards. In order to meet with these new safety regulations, churches will need to replace nursery cribs, which could pose a danger to children.
Since 2000, drop-side cribs have been blamed for the deaths of 32 infants and toddlers and suspected in another 14 fatalities. In the past five years, more than 9 million drop-side cribs have been recalled, and Congress has pushed for stronger crib safety rules.
At issue is malfunctioning hardware, including cheaper plastics or assembly problems that can lead to the drop-side rail partially detaching from the crib. A dangerous "V"-like gap between the mattress and side rail can trap a baby, causing it to suffocate or strangle.
As children grow, they can apply more force to the crib by shaking it, running around in it or jumping up and down, creating additional safety issues. The new regulations also address these issues.
As of June 28, 2011, all cribs manufactured and sold must comply with the new federal standards. Child care centers and places of public accommodation, which include churches, must use only compliant cribs that meet new standards by Dec. 28, 2012.
Consumers can check the safety commission's website at www.cpsc.gov for companies that have recalled their cribs and are providing immobilizers to secure the drop-side on cribs. But a drop-side crib, even with an immobilizer installed, will not meet the new standards.
Learn more at these links:
Social Principles bulletin inserts
The inserts are available from the General Board of Church and Society. The new resource, designed to be included in church worship bulletins or newsletters, can be downloaded for free from the agency's website.
Twelve Social Principles under the Social Community are in the first release of inserts. The inserts highlight positions approved by the denomination's highest policy-making body, the General Conference, on issues such as immigration, health care, religious minorities, racism and children's rights.
In future releases, inserts will be added to the Web site from the other five Social Principles areas: Natural World, Nurturing Community, Economic Community, Political Community and World Community.
The bulletin inserts are designed in two colors that reproduce excellently in black and white. They are 11 by 8.5 inches.
Most inserts are two-sided, offering a Social Principle from the United Methodist Book of Discipline (¶160-166) and some background information such as scripture or other resources that influence how United Methodists think about a particular topic. The Social Principle itself is on the front side.
CyberSafety Training Kit
The kit was developed for families and churches by the General Board of Disicpleship and is designed to help churches and community groups protect children and youth from the perils of the digital world of cell phones and cyberspace.
The CyberSafety for Families Training Kit allows the church to be more directly involved in providing awareness and training around technology to help ensure children and youth are protected as they navigate the Internet world.
The training kit's CD includes a section on "what you need to know first," a planning guide, teaching plans with schedule options, handouts and a slide presentation. Subjects include safety in the high tech world of computers, cell phones, video games and social networking Web sites.
The kit is available for $35 plus shipping from The Upper Room (www.upperroom.org) and Cokesbury (www.cokesbury.com) and also at Cokesbury bookstores nationwide. The kit also is available for check-out from the Kansas Area Resource Center.
God's Creation Renewed: A call to hope and action
The call was issued by the United Methodist Council of Bishops at their November 2010 meeting.
The call to all United Methodists is to change our way of being in the world to effect a change in the world. Pandemic poverty and disease, environmentla degradation and a world full of weapons and violance are the wages of our sins against God's creation. But there is hope if we chagne our ways, the 69 United Methodist bishops said in a pastoral letter the council asked to be read in churches during Advent. The letter is found on a special website for this initiative at www.hopeandaction.org.
Churches can continue the conversation during Lent with a Bible study. The Bible study can be downloaded from the Hope and Action website.
For more information on the call to hope and action, visit www.hopeandaction.org