wfn.org | Local churches offer positive models to shape children's lives

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

May 21, 1999 News media contact: Linda Bloom*(212) 870-3803*New York
10-21-71B{285}

By United Methodist News Service

For more than a decade, parents of children with disabilities have had their
own "night out" two Fridays a month through a program at Boston Avenue
United Methodist Church in Tulsa, Okla.

In Albany, N.Y., Trinity United Methodist Church has linked with local
agencies to sponsor a "buddy program" for children with HIV/AIDS.

And in a poor, racially diverse Kansas City neighborhood, Grace United
Church has created a peacemaking academy where even a former gang member has
taught a conflict resolution class.

All three are examples of ministries found in The Child Friendly Church: 150
Models of Ministry with Children, published in April by Abingdon Press.

The author, Boyce A. Bowdon, said he felt compelled to share stories of the
positive ways in which individual congregations can impact children and
their families after news of the middle school shooting in Jonesboro, Ark.
Three of his nephews were students at the Jonesboro school when the shooting
occurred..

"That (shooting) really brought home to me the fact that we need to do more
than just teach children to sing 'Jesus Loves Me,'" he explained.

As communications director for the Oklahoma Annual (regional) Conference and
its newspaper editor for the past 18 years, Bowdon already had published
stories about outstanding "models for ministry" and knew that "peer
learning" was an effective tool for local churches.

 "They're not as interested in some expert coming in with all the answers as
they are with knowing what some other congregation is doing that works," he
said.

Bowdon's book actually began as a resource for Oklahoma Bishop Bruce Blake
to use in a series of seminars he conducted with clergy last year on the
United Methodist Bishops' Initiative on Children and Poverty. Each
participant was to pick out one model from the workbook, reflect on it, and
think about how it could be adapted to his or her local situation. "We saw
that it generated a lot of energy and enthusiasm that extended beyond that
seminar," he added.

He expanded his search for models of ministry with children beyond Oklahoma
by getting tips from bishops and other church communicators. He also talked
with directors of children's programs with council on ministries in other
United Methodist conferences and then contacted pastors at the recommended
churches. Bowdon visited some of the churches personally.

He cited the children's ministry at Hobson United Methodist Church in
Nashville, Tenn., as one of the successful examples. The Rev. Janet Wolf, he
said, "has given a model there that a lot of our churches are excited
about."

A church in a changing community, Hobson's membership had dropped from a
high of more than 1,700 in the 1950s to about 30 attending Sunday worship
when Wolf arrived in 1993. Only one of those still attending was under 65
years old.

Using biblical images, Wolf began rebuilding Hobson's membership base by
directly linking the church to its community. With Habitat for Humanity, the
church constructed five homes for low-income families on its adjacent vacant
lot, followed by a community playground, which helped attract children and
others to the church. An after-school and summer children's ministry focuses
on self-esteem, service and survival in what can be a rough environment.

In Kansas City, Grace United Church - a combined congregation of the former
Grace Presbyterian and Independence Avenue United Methodist churches - has
faced similar community dynamics. Its pastor, the Rev. Sharon Garfield, used
a vacation Bible school to launch a neighborhood ministry. That success led
to the peacemaking academy and a myriad of other programs.

"We know the academy has turned our church around and moved it from dying to
being a growing church," Garfield says in the book. "And we believe it is
also giving new life to the children and youth and to this whole community.

"We offer a safe environment that helps children discover they are not
trapped. They learn that they do have choices in how they get along with
others and in what they do with their lives. They begin to realize that they
are not doomed to an early death."

Bowdon encourages congregations to use the book and its models as a tool to
develop more effective ministries with children. "It has been inspiring to
me to see some of the really positive things we are doing," he said.
"There's something more basic than gun laws. We've got to touch the hearts
and minds of people and give them some values to cling to."

The Child Friendly Church is available at Cokesbury bookstores, (800)
672-1789, and other major bookstore chains, according to Bowdon. 
# # #

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