1. Family Ministry Training: Co-facilitator Co-facilitator
WELCOME!
Family Ministry Training:
unpacking “family”
Facilitators:
Co-facilitator Co-facilitator
family ministry training

2. Music: Lynn Adair Ungar
WORKSHOP 3
Opening Worship
Hymn 188…
Come, Come,
Whoever You Are
Words: adapted from Rumi;
Music: Lynn Adair Ungar
family ministry training

3. Come, come, whoever you are Wanderer, Worshiper, Lover of Leaving.
Ours is no caravan of despair.
Come, yet again, come.
‘Though you’ve broken your vows
a thousand times.
family ministry training

4. Introductions I’m ___________ from ______________
where I ________________.
Share an object representing how your congregation ministers to families …
family ministry training

5. Families are the heart of congregational life
Core Assumption of Family Ministry:
Families are the heart of congregational life
family ministry training

6. family ministry training
Prompting Questions for Small Groups (Handout 3.3)
Rites of Passage
What are the rites of passage observed in UU settings? How do rites of passage support a congregation’s ministries to families? What rites of passage might we be ignoring or missing? What rite of passage do you wish you had experienced personally? What is the most powerful rite of passage you have participated in, witnessed or heard about? How might rites of passages be used even more intentionally to provide ministry to families?
Supporting Faith Development at Home
What are examples of faith development happening in the home that you have seen, experienced or heard about? How does helping families find ways to live their faith at home support a congregation’s ministries to families? What aspects of faith development in the home do you believe might be the most impactful? What faith development tools resources or rituals do you wish every UU family would make use of at home? What do you wish your congregation understood about faith development in the home and how it supports ministry to families?
Special Events/Programming
What are examples of successful multigenerational special events you have seen or experienced in a UU settings? How do multigenerational special events/programming support a congregation’s ministries to families? What special events/programming might we be ignoring or missing? What special event/programming do you wish you had experienced personally? What is the most powerful special event/programming you have participated in, witnessed or heard about? How might special events/programming be used even more intentionally to provide ministry to families?
Sunday Morning Experiences in the Congregation
What are examples of successful Sunday Morning experiences in the congregation for families in your congregation? How does the Sunday morning experience in your congregation support your congregation’s ministries to families? What aspects of the Sunday morning experience in the congregation do you believe are the most impactful for families? What faith development tools, resources or rituals do you believe best supports ministry to families? What do you wish your congregation understood about ministry to families?
family ministry training

7. Reflect on this …
What personal challenges and frustrations have you experienced in your efforts to minister to families in your congregation?
family ministry training

8. Reflect on this …
What have been some of the systemic challenges you’ve faced in your (or your congregation’s) efforts to provide ministry to families?
family ministry training

9. Reflect on this … family ministry training
What feelings came up for you during the meditation?
How are you feeling about the part you play in your congregation’s ministry to families?
What action might you like to take?  What support do you need?
family ministry training

10. Words & Music: Joyce Poley Used with permission
WORKSHOP 3
Closing Worship
Hymn 1008…
When Our Heart
Is In A Holy Place
Words & Music: Joyce Poley Used with permission
family ministry training

11. When our heart is in a holy place, We are bless’d with love
And amazing grace.
When our heart is in a holy place.
family ministry training

12. When we trust the wisdom In each of us,
Ev’ry color, ev’ry creed and kind,
And we see our faces
In each other’s eyes,
Then our heart is in a holy place.
family ministry training

13. When our heart is in a holy place, We are bless’d with love
And amazing grace.
When our heart is in a holy place.
family ministry training

14. And we listen with a loving mind, and we feel the power
When we tell our story
From deep inside,
And we listen with a loving mind, and we feel the power
Of each other’s faith,
Then our heart is in a holy place.
family ministry training

15. When our heart is in a holy place, We are bless’d with love
And amazing grace.
When our heart is in a holy place.
family ministry training

16. When we share the silence Of sacred space, And the God of our Heart
Stirs within,
And we hear our voices
In each other’s words,
Then our heart is in a holy place.
family ministry training

17. When our heart is in a holy place, We are bless’d with love
And amazing grace.
When our heart is in a holy place.
family ministry training

18. family ministry training
Ministry is All That We Do Together
(Gordon B. McKeeman)
Ministry is all that we do—Together
Ministry is that quality of being in community that affirms human dignity— beckons forth hidden possibilities, invites us into deeper, more constant, reverent relationships, and carries forward our heritage of hope and liberation.
family ministry training

19. family ministry training
Ministry is All That We Do Together
(Gordon B. McKeeman)
Ministry is what we do together as we celebrate triumphs of our human spirit, Miracles of birth and life, Wonders of devotion and sacrifice.
Ministry is what we do together—with one another— in terror and torment—in grief, in misery and pain, enabling us in the presence of death to say yes to life.
family ministry training

20. family ministry training
Ministry is All That We Do Together
(Gordon B. McKeeman)
We who minister speak and live the best we know with full knowledge that it is never quite enough…
And yet are reassured by lostness found, fragments reunited, wounds healed, and joy shared.
Ministry is what we all do—together.
family ministry training