Winfield, Kan., July 8, 2021 – Youth and young adults in United Methodist churches in Texas and New Mexico will gain new support from their churches to follow their calls to serve Christ thanks to a Texas Methodist Foundation grant to the Richard and Julia Wilke Institute for Discipleship’s Timothy Circle. The grant application was made in partnership with Perkins School of Theology.    

The one-year $60,000 initiative will help Texas and New Mexico congregations find ways to engage persons 14 to 24 years old as they explore their faith and build lifetime discipleship.   

TMF invests in churches, outreach ministries, and nonprofits in Texas and New Mexico. In the spring 2021 grant cycle, 47 grants were awarded totaling $1.5 million. Last year, TMF supported an extensive grant cycle to assist nonprofits during the pandemic as they served the most vulnerable.  

“The Timothy Circle was established as part of the Institute for Discipleship to help young persons more clearly hear God’s calling and pursue that call,” says Dr. Stephen Wilke, executive director of the institute. “This grant will help establish concrete, practical ways that churches can nurture and support those young persons for a lifetime of meaningful service, in whatever field they pursue.”   

The grant will be used to establish free online conversation and learning sessions that address concerns of congregational leaders in serving persons between the ages of 14 and 24. The grant will also fund regional networks between camps, campus ministries, and congregations to provide continuity of care for these young persons.   

“We’ve discovered that many of our churches are struggling or have given up on connecting and nurturing young people in their faith,” Wilke explains. “In addition, we’ve seen a lack of coordination between the three major ministry branches that interact with Christian disciples between the ages of 14 and 24—congregations, camps, and campus ministries.”   

The conversation and learning sessions for congregations will include a series of eight free live online webinars called “Pathway Conversations: Young Disciples and the Church Today.” Each session will help congregations in their attempts to engage young persons in the lives of churches. The first of these webinars is expected to be hosted online by fall 2021.   

In addition, collaboration between congregations, camps, and campus ministries will be facilitated through face-to-face gatherings funded by this grant. Up to 10 regional gatherings in Texas and New Mexico will be organized by the Timothy Circle, with each gathering hosted by a camp or campus ministry within a three-hour drive of its participants.   

These groups will spend time listening to each other, collaborating, and coordinating their work with young people to improve the way young people move between their ministries. The grant also funds research and follow up to determine the effectiveness of the gatherings and collaborations.     

Both the online webinars and the gatherings will be supported by the existing Timothy Circle network, which offers resources, supports and connects young people discerning their call, as well as their parents, pastors, youth workers, camps, campus ministries, and laypeople.   

“One of the advantages of the Timothy Circle is that the network is already available for congregations who want to support their young adults in their call to God’s service,” Wilke adds. “This will not be a one-day seminar after which the participants go home with nothing but notes from some lectures. This will be an ongoing network that will grow and take root in the lives of these congregations.”   

For more information on the Timothy Circle visit timothycircle.com.   

The Richard and Julia Wilke Institute for Discipleship is based at Southwestern College, a United Methodist-affiliated college in Winfield, Kan.  It manages and supports a variety of educational programs — both online and in person — that increase discipleship and Christian leadership skills.    

Texas Methodist Foundation (TMF) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering the Church to achieve its God-appointed mission, and to living our values of servanthood, integrity and competence. TMF is the largest United Methodist foundation in the country offering assistance to United Methodists through investments, loans, grants, leadership platforms, gift planning, and endowment services. Based in Austin, Texas, TMF serves the six United Methodist conferences throughout Texas and New Mexico. To learn more, please visit tmf-fdn.org.  

Webinar Series to Encourage Nurture of Young Adults in Congregations

Winfield, Kan., Sept. 20, 2021 – A series of free live, online learning conversations will encourage churches as they help teen and young adult Christians in their congregations discern their call to follow Christ. Three webinars are scheduled for this fall on Oct. 14, Oct. 28, and Nov. 11.

The series of stand-alone sessions, titled “Pathway Conversations: Young Disciples and the Church Today,” will feature leading authorities in discipleship and ministry with young people. The live Zoom sessions will be at noon on Thursdays and each will last less than an hour. The webinars will feature short, practical teaching videos from leading ministry experts and will also include the opportunity for participants to engage in small group discussions.

Hosted by the Timothy Circle (a ministry of the Richard and Julia Wilke Institute for Discipleship at Southwestern College) and the Perkins School of Theology Office of External Programs, the webinars are made possible through funding from the Texas Methodist Foundation.

“Our goal with these learning conversations is to give laypeople additional tools and understanding to use in their churches to better support 14-24 year old Christians. We want every church setting to be as conducive as possible to young people hearing and following God’s voice,” says Britt Bradley, director of the Timothy Circle. “This series is an incredible opportunity for United Methodists in Texas to learn from respected and creative ministry leaders at no charge.”

• Thursday, Oct. 14: Dr. Patrick B. Reyes, “How Congregations Can Connect with Youth and Young Adults.”
  Reyes is the author of the bestselling book “The Purpose Gap: Empowering Communities of Color to Find Meaning and Thrive,” and the host of the “Sound of the Genuine” podcast. A Chicano educator, administrator, and institutional strategist, he is the senior director of learning design at the Forum for Theological Exploration.
• Thursday, Oct. 28: Dr. Elizabeth Tamez Méndez, “Creating FLOW to Form Intergenerational Relationships.”
  Méndez is the founder and executive director of New Generation3 (NG3), an international organization dedicated since 2005 to training leaders, conducting research, and providing consulting services that help youth and adults connect. She is a specialist in multicultural youth development and strategic planning, has 30 years of diverse ministerial experience working with all church traditions, and holds a Ph.D. in leadership.
• Thursday, Nov. 11: Rev. Nathalie Nelson Parker, “Can Every Person at Our Church Have a Ministry or Calling?”
  A former English educator, speaker and author Nelson Parker is an ordained minister with the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church. Her career includes developing new national initiatives for the United Methodist Church and improving student performance in both public and private school sectors.

Five additional seminars will be offered in the spring, with hosts including Dr. Kara Powell from Fuller Youth Institute, Romal Tune (author of “Love Is an Inside Job” and keynote speaker from YOUTH2019), and Bart Patton and Dr. Priscilla Pope-Levison from Perkins School of Theology.

Registrations are open to anyone, lay or clergy, and can be found at www.timothycircle.com/live-learning.

The Timothy Circle is a network of adults, churches and ministries joined to nurture faith and calling in young people (ages 14-24). It offers resources and support to each part of the network, as well as tools to help young Christians discern God’s call in their lives, whether in a secular profession, through volunteering, or in a ministry setting. For more information on the Timothy Circle, visit www.timothycircle.com.

The Richard and Julia Wilke Institute for Discipleship is based at Southwestern College, a United Methodist-affiliated college in Winfield, Kan.  It manages and supports a variety of educational programs — both online and in person at the college — that increase discipleship and Christian leadership skills.

END

Free Online Learning Session Open for Registration: Forming Intergenerational Connections in Congregations

Winfield, Kan., Oct. 12, 2021 – Registration is open for a free live, online learning session on forming intergenerational connections in church congregations. This live Zoom session is part of the “Pathway Conversations” series from the Timothy Circle and Perkins School of Theology Office of External Programs.

This free webinar and discussion will be at noon on Thursday, October 28, and will last less than an hour. Registrations are open to anyone, lay or clergy, and can be found at www.timothycircle.com/live-learning/.

This session on forming intergenerational relationships will feature teaching videos from Rev. Dr. Elizabeth Tamez Méndez, director of New Generation3 in Atlanta. In the session, Dr. Tamez Méndez talks about the importance of forming connections and relationships across generations, gives examples of these relationships and their benefits, and breaks down the steps congregations can take to form and maintain meaningful intergenerational relationships in their own church.

Additional Pathway Conversations seminars will be offered later in the fall and in the spring, with hosts including Dr. Kenda Creasy Dean from Princeton’s Institute for Youth Ministry, Dr. Kara Powell from Fuller Youth Institute, Romal Tune (author of the book “Love Is an Inside Job” and keynote speaker from YOUTH2019), and Bart Patton and Dr. Priscilla Pope-Levison from Reboot Youth Ministry and Perkins School of Theology.  Registration for those free sessions may also be found at www.timothycircle.com/live-learning/.

Rev. Dr. Elizabeth Tamez Méndez is the founder and executive director of New Generation3 (NG3), an international organization since 2005 dedicated to training leaders, conducting research, and providing consulting services that help youth and adults connect. She is a specialist in multicultural youth development and strategic planning, and her work is published in articles, blogs, and edited books. She has 30 years of diverse ministerial experience working with all church traditions and holds a Ph.D. in Leadership.  Her work includes teaching youth development courses at various universities and seminaries, fulfilling speaking commitments, and assisting in multi-year research projects. She often collaborates with the United Methodist church, has presented at SMU/Perkins’ Hispanic Youth Ministry Convocation, and has published in Perkins’ Apuntes Journal.

The Timothy Circle is a network of adults, churches and ministries joined to nurture faith and calling in young people (ages 14-24). It offers resources and support to each part of the network, as well as tools to help young Christians discern God’s call in their lives, whether in a secular profession, through volunteering, or in a ministry setting. For more information on the Timothy Circle, visit www.timothycircle.com.

The Richard and Julia Wilke Institute for Discipleship is based at Southwestern College, a United Methodist-affiliated college in Winfield, Kan.  It manages and supports a variety of educational programs — both online and in person at the college — that increase discipleship and Christian leadership skills.

Free online learning session open for registration:
Can every person in our congregation have a calling?

Oct. 26, 2021 – Registration is open for another free online learning session hosted by Perkins School of Theology Office of External Programs and the Timothy Circle. The live learning and discussion webinar is a part of the Pathway Conversations series and will focus on identifying purpose and calling.

The session will be at noon on Thursday, November 11, and will last an hour. Registrations are free and open to anyone, lay or clergy.  Register at www.timothycircle.com/live-learning/.

This session on individual callings will feature teaching videos from Rev. Nathalie Nelson Parker, an ordained elder in the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church and program coordinator for the National Network for Young Adults (NNYA), a program of Strengthening the Black Church for the 21^st Century (SBC21).

In this free seminar, Nathalie talks about reimagining what calling is, shares a framework for clarifying it, and how calling informs the ministry work that both youth and adult laypeople can do in the church and the world.  This session is an exercise for participants that will help them understand their own call and give them language for how to help young and adult laypeople think about their own calling. It’s an excellent webinar to take as a Sunday School class, church committee, or group to kickstart excitement and vitality in your congregation.

Additional Pathway Conversations seminars will be offered later in the fall and in the spring, with hosts including Dr. Kenda Creasy Dean from Princeton’s Institute for Youth Ministry, Dr. Kara Powell from Fuller Youth Institute, Romal Tune (author of the book “Love Is an Inside Job” and keynote speaker from YOUTH2019), and Bart Patton and Dr. Priscilla Pope-Levison from Reboot Youth Ministry and Perkins School of Theology.  Registration for those free sessions may also be found at www.timothycircle.com/live-learning/.

Rev. Nathalie Nelson Parker is a nationally renowned speaker and educator who inspires young leaders and organizations to lead, innovate and transform. Nathalie is passionate about holistic leadership that inspires both people’s heart and mind. Her career includes developing new national initiatives for the United Methodist Church, raising multiple six-figures in grants and scholarships, as well as improving student performance in both public and private school sectors in the states of New York and Georgia. She is the author of “I Love My Future HBCU: Teaching Children About Historically Black Colleges and Universities” and “Transformation Starts with Me: Bold Strategies for Innovative Leadership.”

The Timothy Circle is a network of adults, churches and ministries joined to nurture faith and calling in young people (ages 14-24). It offers resources and support to each part of the network, as well as tools to help young Christians discern God’s call in their lives, whether in a secular profession, through volunteering, or in a ministry setting. It is a ministry program of the Richard and Julia Wilke Institute for Discipleship at Southwestern College. For more information on the Timothy Circle, visit www.timothycircle.com.

The Richard and Julia Wilke Institute for Discipleship is based at Southwestern College, a United Methodist-affiliated college in Winfield, Kan.  It manages and supports a variety of educational programs — both online and in person at the college — that increase discipleship and Christian leadership skills.

Online conversations equip congregations to nurture young adults

January 6, 2022 — Funded by the Texas Methodist Foundation and produced in coordination with Perkins School of Theology Office of External Programs, a series of online learning conversations will give participants practical tools to serve teen and young adult Christians. Free for participants, these live conversations are perfect for laypeople, youth workers, and clergy who want to gain additional tools for ministering to teens and young adults in their congregations.

Five webinars are scheduled for this spring on Jan. 20, Feb. 10, Mar. 3, Mar. 24, and Apr. 7. Each of the live Zoom sessions are scheduled for noon on a Thursday and will last one hour. There is no fee to register, and registration is open to everyone. Register at www.timothycircle.com/live-learning.

The series will feature short, practical teaching videos from ministry experts and will include the opportunity for participants to engage in small group discussions with one another.  Because of the live nature of these conversations, these sessions will not be recorded, and those interested in participating should register and attend each conversation on the day it is hosted.

This online conversation series is hosted by the Timothy Circle, a ministry of the Richard and Julia Wilke Institute for Discipleship at Southwestern College.

“Our goal with these learning conversations is to give laypeople additional ideas and understanding to use in their churches to better support 14-24 year old Christians. We want every church setting to be as conducive as possible to young people hearing and following God’s voice,” says Britt Bradley, director of the Timothy Circle. “It’s an incredible opportunity for United Methodists in Texas to learn from respected and creative ministry leaders at no charge.”

• Thursday, Jan, 20, 2022: Romal Tune, “Vocational Discernment and Visioning Through the Power of Story”
  Romal Tune is the author of the books Love Is an Inside Job and God’s Graffiti. He is the creator of ClereStory Education, a nonprofit that teaches communities about the importance of mental health helps individuals create empowering narratives about who they can become in the world and an action plan to make it happen. Romal was also the keynote speaker at the United Methodist Church’s YOUTH2019
• Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022: Bart Patton & Dr. Priscilla Pope-Levison, “How Can Our Congregation Have a Great Youth Program Without Any Paid Staff?”
  Bart Patton is the director of the Office of External Programs at SMU Perkins School of Theology. He has 20+ years’ experience as a pastor and youth minister in three denominations, and has done extensive ecumenical work with churches large and small in rural, urban and suburban environments. He previously served as the director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry Education at Perkins.
  Priscilla Pope-Levison is a Research Professor of Practical Theology at SMU Perkins School of Theology. A United Methodist pastor who started a youth group in her first pastoral appointment, she has also served as chaplain at North Park University, evangelism professor at Duke Divinity School, and Theology and Women’s Studies professor at Seattle Pacific University.
• Thursday, Mar. 3, 2022: Dr. Kara Powell, “Assessing Your Youth Ministry: 3 Big Questions That Change Teenagers”
  Kara E. Powell is the Executive Director of the Fuller Youth Institute (FYI) and Chief of Leadership Formation at Fuller Theological Seminary. In addition to her roles at Fuller Seminary, Kara serves as a Youth and Family Strategist for Orange, and volunteers in student ministries at Lake Avenue Church in Pasadena.  She is the author or co-author of numerous books, including 3 Big Questions that Change Every Teenager, Faith in an Anxious World, Growing With, 18 Plus, Growing Young, and The Sticky Faith Guide for Your Family.
• Thursday, Mar. 24, 2022: Rev. Wendy Mohler-Seib, “How Youth Hear God’s Voice”
  Wendy Mohler-Seib is the Director of Faith Formation at the Institute for Discipleship at Southwestern College where she directs the Summit Youth Academy, a Lilly-funded high school youth theology institute. Wendy teaches at Southwestern College in Kansas and in the Perkins School of Youth Ministry. She brings 20+ years of ministry experience ranging from full-time youth ministry, bi-vocational youth ministry, and pastoral ministry.
• Thursday, Apr. 7, 2022: Dr. Kenda Creasy Dean, “What Do Youth and Young Adults Want From the Church?”
  Kenda Creasy Dean is an ordained United Methodist pastor and the Mary D. Synnott Professor of Youth, Church and Culture at Princeton Theological Seminary. She works closely with Princeton’s Institute for Youth Ministry and in 2013 she co-founded Ministry Incubators.  Kenda is the author of numerous books, including Knee-Deep in Flotsam: Why Churches Innovate and How to Start; and Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers Is Telling the American Church.

 

Registrations are open to anyone, lay or clergy, and can be found at www.timothycircle.com/live-learning.

The Timothy Circle is a network of adults, churches and ministries joined to nurture faith and calling in young people (ages 14-24). It offers resources and support to each part of the network, as well as tools to help young Christians discern God’s call in their lives, whether in a secular profession, through volunteering, or in a ministry setting. For more information on the Timothy Circle, visit www.timothycircle.com.

The Richard and Julia Wilke Institute for Discipleship is based at Southwestern College, a United Methodist-affiliated college in Winfield, Kan.  It manages and supports a variety of educational programs — both online and in person at the college — that increase discipleship and Christian leadership skills.

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Hi, Shannon –

Would you please run this press release in the conference newsletter in the next week or two?  Our first Texas Methodist Foundation-funded webinar is coming up on Oct. 14.  It’s designed to especially help laypeople connect with and support young Christians in their congregations.

I’m attaching some extra graphics that you might like to use.

Thank you!

Britt Bradley
Directory of the Timothy Circle
Richard and Julia Wilke Institute for Discipleship

[press release from above inserted into email here]

 

 

Hi Shannon,

Registration is open for the second webinar in our Texas Methodist Foundation-funded series.  Would you please include the following in one of your conference newsletters before Oct. 28^th?

I’m including a few extra graphics you can use at the end.

 

Thank you for all of your work for our Church!

Britt Bradley
Richard and Julia Wilke Institute for Discipleship

A United Methodist Institution

[press release from above inserted into email here]

END

 

 

 

 

Hi Shannon,

Registration is open for another of the stand-alone webinars in our Texas Methodist Foundation-funded series.  Would you please include the following in one of your conference newsletters before November 10^th?

I’m including a few graphics you can use at the end.

 

Please let me know if you have any questions for me about this.  Thank you!

Britt Bradley
Richard and Julia Wilke Institute for Discipleship
A United Methodist Institution

[press release from above inserted into email here]

END

 

 

 

Hello, Rev. Smith and team!

You should be seeing this in the conference newsletter in the coming weeks, but I wanted to send it directly to you, too.  I know you’re pretty busy, so I’m going to bold the main points below.

With grant funding from the Texas Methodist Foundation, we’ve teamed up with Perkins’ Office of External Programs to create free learning/discussion webinars.  These webinars are designed to help laypeople connect with and support teen and young adults.

The sessions are FREE, open to laypeople and clergy, and can each stand on their own.  Folks can sign up for as many sessions as they’d like. Each session takes place over a lunch hour and features short teaching videos from experts and will have time for participants to talk together.

The first webinar is coming up on Oct. 14.  It features Dr. Patrick B. Reyes from the Forum for Theological Exploration (FTE) talking about the ways congregations can connect with young people.

I wanted to make sure the laypeople and clergy in your district knew about these opportunities.  They’re practical and – again, thanks to a grant from TMF – free.  Let’s help put those TMF dollars to good use, right?

I’m pasting our press release about the webinars down below to give you more information AND a short description to make it easy to copy the relevant information into an email to your district, if you’d like.  I’m also attaching some extra graphics that you’re welcome to use.

Thank you for the work you all do to serve our Church!

Britt Bradley
Director of the Timothy Circle
Richard and Julia Wilke Institute for Discipleship

 

Short description:

Free, lunch-hour webinars are being offered by the Perkins Office of External Programs and the Richard and Julia Wilke Institute for Discipleship to help your congregation minister to teens and young adults.  These free sessions feature short learning videos from experts, and are aimed at laypeople in the local church.  Encourage laypeople in your church to register for as many of the sessions as they’d like — each session is hosted on a Thursday at noon: www.timothycircle.com/live-learning/  The first session is coming up on Oct. 14.

 

 

 

 

 

(The press release for Fall webinars was also included in in the email here)

Hello, Rev. Harris and team!

I sent an email to you in September about the fall dates for our live learning sessions, and wanted to send another to tell you and the people in the Northwest district about the spring dates we have.

You should be seeing this webinar series mentioned in the conference newsletter in the coming weeks, too.  I know you’re plenty busy, so I’m going to bold the main points below.

With grant funding from the Texas Methodist Foundation, we’ve teamed up with Perkins’ Office of External Programs to create free learning/discussion webinars.  These webinars are designed to help laypeople connect with and support teen and young adults.

The sessions are FREE, open to laypeople and clergy, and can each stand on their own.  Folks can sign up for as many sessions as they’d like. Each session takes place over a lunch hour and features short teaching videos from experts and will have time for participants to talk together.

The first webinar is coming up on Jan. 20.  It features author Romal Tune, who spoke at YOUTH 2019, and centers on the way our stories can shape visioning and vocational discernment for young people.

I wanted to make sure the laypeople and clergy in your district knew about these opportunities.  They’re practical and – again, thanks to a grant from TMF – free.  Let’s help put those TMF dollars to good use, right?

I’m pasting our press release about the webinars down below to give you more information AND a short description to make it easy to copy the relevant information into an email to your district, if you’d like.  I’m also attaching some extra graphics that you’re welcome to use.

Thank you for the work you all do to serve our Church!  And blessings on the upcoming appointment season; I know it must be full of pressure and long road trips to the conference office and back (unless you meet on Zoom these days?). As the wife of a UMC pastor, I appreciate your prayerful work!

Britt Bradley
Directory of the Timothy Circle
Richard and Julia Wilke Institute for Discipleship

Short description:

Free, lunch-hour webinars are being offered by the Perkins Office of External Programs and the Richard and Julia Wilke Institute for Discipleship to help your congregation minister to teens and young adults.  These free sessions feature short learning videos from experts, and are primarily aimed at laypeople in the local church.  Encourage laypeople in your church to register for as many of the sessions as they’d like — each session is hosted on a Thursday at noon: www.timothycircle.com/live-learning/  The first session is coming up on Jan. 20.

 

[Spring 2022 press release inserted here in email]