As a welcome gift to ConNext Summit 2022, The Ministry Lab is happy to share our picks of the Greatest Great Ideas from the past 12 months. We chose these particular Great Ideas based on the sub-themes of this year’s Summit. You can find our full offering of Great Ideas here. We would love to […]
Sorry this is a day late! (My spouse’s minor medical emergency threw off the last three days; he’s finally on the mend!) We kick-off LatinX Heritage Month with some book lists and reorient relationships with neighbors, society, enemies, creation, women and partners. Let’s move with grace from offering blessings to standing in solidarity! ONE To […]
Thanks to Glenda Schnirring of St Philip’s Lutheran Church, Hastings, MN and the St Paul Area Synod for sharing this Great Idea! In January 2022, St Philip’s received grant funds from the St Paul Area Synod’s Gleaning from the Harvest grant program. The money came just as a ‘contentious school board election…[gave] life to the […]
Jeremiah’s call to repentance (RCL for this past Sunday) and 9/11 remembrances, have inspired resources that ground us in Divine Love and renewed commitments to (re-)turn to right relationships with God, creation, one another, and ‘things’. ONE Start by tending our primary and most reassuring relationship with Divine Love: For your Littlest, Glenys Nellist shares […]
Thanks to Andrew Hartley at the United Methodist Church’s Creation Justice Movement for generating this Great Idea! Andrew Hartley writes, “Even though we adopt environmentally responsible [personal] habits, America and the world need to do so much more. God’s Earth is still being degraded, and recent government decisions have worsened that degradation…[Y]et many who care […]
With so much happening at The Ministry Lab and so many great resources just emerging, we can’t resist sending out a post this week. Especially as so many resources resonate with our Belonging: Welcome Wellbeing series. We hope you’ll join us for all seven conversations, but you can participate in one, some, or all – […]
Thanks to Jennifer Enriquez for sharing this Great Idea via Building Faith. Jennifer Enriquez outlines how a long-standing relationships with a shelter for women and children escaping domestic abuse put them in an ideal position to provide something meaningful and fun for the children making this difficult transition (not to mention their moms!). The costume […]
Thanks to Cindy Merten at Children’s Ministry network and Hope Hutchison at Richfield United Methodist Church for sharing these two worship-space related Great Ideas! Cindy Merten cites the CRC article Grant Makes Way for Sacred Play as inspiration for creating a similar space for children in her congregation (including her grandchildren). She found all of […]
Five women and a transgender man bring us back to basics – with a twist – including ‘revolutionary’ approaches to prayer; leadership 101 for navigating tension and intense boundaries; and Biblical insights to turn justice and the church outside in. ONE Minneapolis pastor, poet, and mom Meta Herrick Carlson offers Ordinary Blessings for Parents: Prayers, Poems, and […]
Hope springs eternal! Six amazing resources to re-member hope, inspire perseverance, develop faith, playfully anticipate justice, buoy awareness, and look to the future with joyful expectation. ONE How can saving one tree inspire an entire people? The Tree of Hope: The Miraculous Rescue of Puerto Rico’s Beloved Banyan (Beaming) spreads that inspiration to young readers everywhere who […]