printer-friendly email a friend

Tough Times Call for Tough Ministries

By Mike Sims, Communications Director

The Woodlands UMC

Familiar worship song lyrics rise from the stage with spirit and rhythm; colored graphics move across the screen. An encouraging message is offered, then Holy Communion.  The scene is familiar, and yet entirely different. A pair of small arms rises forward from the body sitting in the wheelchair facing the stage. On both sides of the wheelchair sit a mother and father, who sink in quiet respite as the hour of worship unfolds.

Welcome to Special Blessings, a monthly worship service designed especially for children and adults with special needs and their caregivers. Over the years, the number of special needs families who attend such specialized ministry opportunities at The Woodlands UMC has grown from a handful to several dozen. 

Each month, new faces appear as word spreads in special needs circles; some young, some old – but all come seeking an opportunity to worship God freely and without judgment. What they find is the body of Christ, offering help and hope in difficult times.

Special Blessings is one of the many unique ministries that are thriving at The Woodlands UMC. This suburban church of 8,200 members is also taking the lead in offering Christ-centered support to foster care families, teen mothers, and victims of sex trade and human trafficking.

“In Psalm 82, the Bible says that we are to defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed; rescue the weak and needy; and deliver them from the hand of the wicked.  Because God loves these people, we love them, too,” says Sheryl Steely, Director of Family Life Ministries at The Woodlands UMC.

Steely is also chief organizer of the Tough Ministries Conference ’09 – an equipping conference for churches who are seeking to expand their current ministries to include the outreach efforts mentioned above. Steely says, “Hosing this conference is our way of sharing our success in these tough ministry areas and helping them take root in other churches so that God’s love will continue to spread.”

All pastors, church staff, and ministry volunteers are invited to attend the Tough Ministries Conference ’09 to help equip them as they minister to the least, lost and looked-over members of society. Slated to take place on The Woodlands UMC campus November 5-7, 2009, conference keynote speakers include Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell, Coach Gene Stallings, Paul Pennington, David Ring, Mark Tennant, Chris Heuertz and Nate Huss.  Houston’s own, Matt Brouwer will lead worship.

Three topic areas will be explored in-depth during the conference: Special Needs and Disability Ministries, Adoption, Foster Care and Orphan Ministries and Compassion & Care Ministries. Lectures will equip attendees to address the “toughest” issues of our time:  Human Trafficking, Foster Care, Adoption, Divorce, Prisoner Rehabilitation and more.

More information and online registration are available at www.toughministries.com. Registration fees include entry to all conference sessions, workshops and exhibit hall, conference materials, and two boxed lunches for the track-specific luncheon speakers and discussion panels.

Tough Ministries Conference ’09 is hosted by The Woodlands UMC in partnership with: Arrow Child and Family Ministries, Hope for Orphans, Word Made Flesh, Mercy Ministries, Access Ministries, Key Ministry Foundation, AAPD Interfaith Imitative, Interfaith Care Partners, GracePoint Counseling Center, Church Initiative, One Million Arrows, Lifesong for Orphans, Tapestry, Neighbor to Family, royal Family Kids Camp, Joy Ministry, CanCare, Restorative Justice Ministries, HOPE, Young Life Capernaum Ministries, Joni and Friends San Antonio, DHS and CPS Faith Initiatives, and Parkinson/Alzheimer’s Care Ministries.

Comments

There are no comments
be the first to post one...

view discussions throughout the site