Alternative Gifts Marketplace

Thanks to Emily Enders and the folx at Oak Grove Presbyterian for sharing this Great Idea! Oak Grove Presbyterian has held an annual Alternative Christmas Marketplace with kids baking cinnamon rolls to raise summer camp scholarship funds;…

Six New Things – Week of October 25, 2021

This week is all about stories of compassion - intent upon engendering greater kindness and tenderness in all of us. ONE Evelyn Hooker and the Fairy Project (Magination) is the biography of the pioneering psychologist and poet 'behind the…

Multicultural Christ Child

Thanks to Building Faith's Alexis Chin for creating this important and helpful Great Idea about helping young people identify with the Christ Child - while balancing mystery, reality, and multicultural awareness and inclusivity. Responding…

Six New Things – Week of October 18, 2021

It's a question of perspective this week - and developing some new ones: ONE The "fun and funny bird's-eye tome to individuality, community, and harmony" that is They're So Flamboyant (Magination) is a romp through stereotyping, acceptance,…

Saying, ‘I Appreciate You!’ to Pastors

Thanks to Kathy Noble from Resource UMC and Christa Meland at the MN Annual Conference UMC for creating and sharing this Great Idea for Pastor Appreciation Month - October! Gratitude is a gift we all need to receive. Genuine gratitude (or…

Using Godly Play with Senior Adults

Thanks to Building Faith's Kat Mercer for this Great Idea! Mercer, quoting Rebecca Nye in her 2009 book, Children's Spirituality: What It Is and Why It Matters (Church House), writes, "'Their reality is messy, made up of having a voice and…

Pandemic Lighting of the Advent Wreath

Rev. Elsa Anders Cook shines as usual with this pile of Great Ideas (there are lots in here!). First, Rev. Cook highlights a congregation that formed zoom groups early on in the pandemic - groups which continue to meet often. These groups…

Six New Things – Week of October 11, 2021

Every day is an opportunity to experience the Divine in our midst: through practices of listening and seeing in community transformation as we celebrate saints through wise stewardship in acts of justice as we prepare for…

Drive-Through Journey to Bethlehem

Thanks to Building Faith and Rev. Keith Anderson for this Great Idea of a drive-thru Nativity visit. Rev. Anderson's article includes an outline of the scenes used by Anderson's congregation last year, tips for developing each station including…

Helping Children Prepare for Worship

Thanks to Building Faith and Rev. Sylvia Miller-Mutia for this Great Idea! This is a Great Idea for those preparing to return to in-person worship, especially for families with small children who haven't participated in in-person worship much…