Book Your Room with Us at the Hampton Inn Suites Downtown

Hampton Inn hotel 320 Market Ave. is offering us special rates for Beyond attendees! However you do not want to delay. They have reserved a block of 5 rooms for $99 rate special for us. Once they are sold out they will reserve 5 more but only at that rate until 1/9/20.

Click on the link or call and ask for the Jan. 23 -24 Beyond Conference blocked rooms! This rate is ONLY good until January 9, 2020 ! At that time a new rate will be posted.

Fun and helpful fact! The Beyond Social Hour with appetizers will be held at same hotel from 6:00-10p.m. RSVP Social Hour with Leanne on Friday night at 6:00 p.m.: melinda.shunk@arumc.org

All Children's Ministers and Pastors are welcome so invite friends from you community of churches that
may benefit as well!
We are now at the Mid-Way Pricing and T-shirts Cost an extra $10 onto the registration. January 15 is when all the orders go in for materials for Beyond!

Late registration is Jan. 16-20 and Cost $40 and no guarantee of shirt or gift bag.


Children's Sermon for Epiphany
Children are coming off a month of the Nativity story where they saw the magi appear bringing gifts in so many renditions directly after the Christ child was born. Explain because the Magi's visit is so important it is in the Nativity story, but they leave out the timeline of the Magi's arrival. A children's sermon on Epiphany is a good time to let the kids know that there was actually a bit of time passing between Jesus's birth and the visiting of the Magi. (about 2 years) I always like to say they were on foot and camel and had to travel from afar so they really didn't get there as fast we see in so many of the stories of Jesus' birth! This was long before minivans and the SUV were invented so it took longer for them to get to see Jesus with the gifts they were to bring. The other important part of the story is that Jesus was born into a Jewish family. Because the star lead the Magi to Jesus and they were gentiles, the story models for us that Jesus' birth was for Jew and Gentile. Jesus is for all and on Epiphany, we remember the Magi giving their gifts and worshipping the baby Jesus, the son of God.
If you can get your hands on some gold, frankincense, and myrrh that is always extra fun for the kids to smell. Many pastors have these on their shelf as a visual aid, but I found a $14 gift set that you may find helpful.
Chuck Knows Church
Once again Chuck does a great job explaining Epiphany for the young and old. I encourage you to click in the picture above and copy and paste it onto your social media pages for parents. Not everyone grew up in the church. Those who did may have never been taught the church holidays and why they are important. Chuck's well-done video offers a clear and quick way to help all understand the spiritual practices of the church.

Spread the Word
Last month, I was contacted by Peggy McCall asking if I could help her get the word out across the state about to parents about the wonderful opportunity offered by the Miracle League of Arkansas. She said so many parents of kids need adaptable sports only think Miracle League is offered in Little Rock. She says they have fields and teams all over the state. She needs our help as those in ministry that have contact with families who may need adaptable sport teams to spread the word and hand out her email and phone number. She would love it if you would contact her and she could send you promotional material to post at church.
Not to leave out the opportunity for students who have the heart to serve as a buddy for someone who needs an extra pair of legs or an arm to throw. It would be a great service project for any group of tweens and teens. You can email her about those times and opportunities as well. Find her email, phone, and website in the graphic above. P
January 20th we observe Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. He was a Christian Pastor who used love and peaceful protest to right civil injustices. He is an example of how someone's faith helped him to help others. The Story of Martin Luther King Jr. is great if you have a preschool in your church, use the green book pictured above to read to the class for your chapel time. It is a lovely book to introduce M.L.K. Jr. to preschoolers.

My Uncle Martin's Big Heart is a beautiful non-fiction book written by Rev. Martin's actual niece. The book is written from a young girl's point of view of how she sees him set to an example of love and justice peacefully. Below is a link to a simple lesson you can do with both age groups actually. Of course with the preschoolers, you would have one heart and do all the writing in front of them. Click on the lesson for pictures and step by step lesson instructions that you could use on a Sunday, Wednesday or any after school program in the month of January. Remember public school teachers won't be able to focus as much on his faith in God as we can when we teach it at church!
We now have the ability to offer a scholarship to help defray the cost of hiring a Wonderfully Made trained educator to come your church. Please be sure to check out the Children's Ministry Web page to read the scholarship requirements and application process.

Dates to remember :
  • Beyond 2020 January 24 & 25, 2020
  • Annual Conference Hot Springs May 27 & 30, 2020