Julie Cannon and her team have done the writing and the prep for your families. As a Children's Minister, you can just purchase and download lesson, prep the box, and promote to your families. Faith practices are best learned at home by the parents, so make faith formation easy for them! Julie is a UMC laity working on her master in Christian Education. Your parents will appreciate the prep and are more likely to use them with their kids if they can grab and go! If you came to Beyond, she gave out a promo code so be sure to use it for reduced priced downloads.
Do you like podcasts? I love them for when I drive or need to do a repetitive desk job like cutting out materials and want to multitask. Our new small group of Children's Ministers have been reading and talking about the book Sustainable Children's Ministry. We have found it to be the real-life nuts and bolts of solid ministry. So when I came across the same writer's podcast, I was thrilled. As I was scrolling through the content to decide what show to listen to, I ran across Welcoming Kids with Autism.
What hit me hard is how the parent in the interview was first made aware of her child's special needs was by a caring early childhood staff member at her church. My son is now 20 and has Aspergers. But I remember how our church acted so awkwardly and indirectly about how my son behaved in class. He was our firstborn and we had nothing to compare. I like how this interview the mom complemented the church on how they spoke to her and had something different to offer her child's needs.
The Sustainable Ministry Show has topics from Children to Youth and covers everything in ministry, not just differently abled kiddos.
Camp Tanako would like to officially announce that a new Executive Director has been hired. We would like to welcome Kayla Hardage to the Tanako Family! Kayla grew up at White Hall UMC and attended various camps for many years at Tanako. As a youth,
Kayla served on both SEDCYM and CCYM. She was active with the Wesley in college. Kayla now lives in Benton with her husband William and their sons Henry and Harry. They attend FUMC Benton, where they helped start a young adult Sunday school class. As she has accepted the new position as Executive Director at Camp Tanako, she is excited to begin this new chapter. Known by many of her friends and colleagues as a “John Wesley fan girl” she is excited to spread the light of Christ, and the Methodist traditions with a new generation of campers. Camp Tanako
will be a place where she can blend two passions, southern hospitality and the Methodist way!
Register your kids TODAY for Spring Confirmation Camp Retreat at Tanako!
Camp will be held March 6-8, 2020!
Spots are filling up and plans are being made now for the retreat.

Beyond 2020 HIGHLIGHTS
This year we kept what worked, we listened to what you wanted to learn more about, and we added helpful breakout sessions. We had over 75 attendees to this year's Beyond with 5 attendees coming from five different states. Rev. Dr. Leanne Hadley a UMC Elder, minister to children and two time author gave us inspiration, instructions and ideas on how we can best serve the spiritual development of our children and families. If the pictures leave you wanting to learn more, keep checking arumc.myabsorb.com !
All of the speakers lessons were recorded and will be formatted as online training videos for you and your church ministry teams.
Have you done Sacred Circle Time yet? Step by step details are in the book, but Dr. Hadley is looking for a demo video you can use to share it with your volunteers. I will post it on FB and send it in a email as soon as she gets it to me. If you want to create several Sacred Circle time baskets for your volunteers here are the links for the Trinity Objects used with each Bible story.

Just click on the links to the right and it will take you to Oriental Trading Company and for less than $30 you should be able to make several story baskets.
I have had some people already contact me about where to get more Blessing Balm for every classroom. I ordered them from a promotions company and designed the label to go with Dr. Hadley's book. It is cheaper to order them in boxes of 100. If you want a bunch, I can order them for 83 cents each and send them out to you. Email me at melinda.shunk@arumc.org. If you want to design and order ones specific to your church go to www.totallypromotional.com
I have two Bible Timelines left from my breakout session. They are sold at cost of their production for $20. The more printed the less expensive they become. If you were to just print 3 they would be $35 each. They are made from vinyl and I personally own the copyright from 15 years ago, but I am happy to share. If you would like your own please email me at melinda.shunk@arumc.org about use of the graphic for your classrooms.
Thanks to Karen Swales and talent she shares with us all we had the opportunity to create Calendar Planning books that cater to the needs of a Children's Minister! You can't get these anywhere but HERE! They were part of the Beyond Bag all attendees received. I have 23 copies left. First come first serve on the leftovers. If you would like one for free, please email me and I will stick it in the mail in the next week. Melinda.shunk@arumc.org
Dates to remember :
  • Feb 4 VBS at Asbury
  • March 9 & 10 Wonderfully Made Training Bentonville UMC
  • Annual Conference Hot Springs May 27-29 2020
  • Quest September 25, 2020