Connectional Ministries

Create and nurture relationships and connections among the local, district, conference and general church ministries.

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What a joy it has been to serve as the chair of the conference Nurture Team since its inception.  We have shaped and molded our team to respond to the needs of the local church in the areas of Nurture; in other words, in those places where we intentionally disciple all of God’s children and help them grow in their understanding of who, and whose, we are.

Specifically, we provide workshops, training, networking, and fellowship opportunities for people who volunteer in their church’s Sunday School, Bible Studies, Youth Ministry, Young Adult groups, Older Adult Ministries, Adult discipling groups, Pre-School Directors groups, as well as connect with our conferences Camping and Retreat Ministries.

One event we look forward to every year is our annual Sunday School and Beyond, chaired by Cheryl Maxfield.  (cmaxfield(at)bellsouth.net) In its 20^th year of success, this event attracts hundreds of teachers, leaders and educational ministry workers, and equips them for the teaching challenges ahead.  Plans are underway for 2007, and a huge 2008 event is being planned which will be in cooperation with the South Georgia Conference.

Mary Lou Vergarra (vergara99(at)bellsouth.net) provides excellent leadership with our Older Adult Team and they continue to offer a “Growing With God” conference for Older Adults that is a must.  They have also developed a church of excellence in Older Adult Ministry program this year, recognizing outstanding efforts of local churches in this area.

The Adult Nurture Team, ably chaired by Chris Shurtz, (cashurts(at)juno.com) is currently developing a web data base to share video and dvd resources, as well as a conference wide Adult leader training next year.

Shari Hickom works with Brandon Herder (bherder@bellsouth.net) and Charles Garner (charlesgardner@prumc.org) to plan and implement activities for Youth and Young Adult leaders.  Youth Ministry Institute, Spiritual Life Advances, and networking through “Mind the GAP” are just a sampling of what these two areas are providing.

And this year we welcomed the dynamic Elizabeth Nall (Elizabeth.nall(at)dunwoodyumc.org) to chair our Children’s Ministries Team.  She has already organized a comprehensive team which will attend to the Vacation Bible School trainings, Children’s workers workshops, networking groups, etc.

We also connect with the QUEST leadership team, enabling professional directors of Christian Education to attend a week long training to further their professional skills, and CEF, Christian Educators Fellowship, a support group for those employed in Christian Education in the local church.

For information about funding for these trainings or for Disciple Bible Study scholarships, please contact me at betsy.haas(at)ptcumc.org.  And of course, keep checking the Nurture page on the Connectional Ministries website for the most updated information.

It is our pleasure to serve you!

Betsy Haas, Chairperson