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Nurturing a Call

Do you see a call to ministry in someone you know? Finding ways to nurture that call can happen in simple conversations that dig just a little bit deeper. Building opportunities to speak about calling with children, youth and adults is an integral part of supporting the work that God is doing in their lives.

Check out:

• 50 Ways to Cultivate a Culture of Call
• Big Picture Visioning worksheet for Culture of Call
• Next Steps Visioning worksheet for Culture of Call

If you are a pastor particularly interested in nurturing those called to ministry, check out the Culture of Call grant, designed to provide churches, campus ministries and United Methodist organizations in the Great Plains Conference with resources to fuel their imaginations in creating opportunities to cultivate a Culture of Call.

Grants will be awarded in the range of $500 - $2,000. Learn more.

Resources for nurturing a culture of call in your congregation

What does scripture say about identifying and responding to your call? This two-episode series on the "In Layman's Terms" podcast provides some thoughts through two stories from the Bible:

• Part 1 — The prophet Samuel listens to God.
• Part 2 — The first disciples respond to Jesus' call to follow Him.

Young adults and others discerning a call

• A latte only costs about $3, but 5 Cups of Coffee with someone called to ministry can be way more valuable than that.
• Encourage those called to ministry to take a Spiritual Gifts Assessment to find out more about how they can plug into the Body of Christ.
• Identifying spiritual gifts (video)
• The importance of mentors (video)
• Encourage discerning young adults to attend Exploration.

Children

• Use your children’s message time wisely by teaching kids what it means to be God’s special helper.
• Spend a whole week learning about how God has called certain people in the Bible, and how God continues to call us today, with Mission: Called VBS. This curriculum can be easily modified for a youth retreat!
• Read "The Treasure Tree" to children to help them learn more about their personalities.
• Outfit your Sunday school rooms with Echo flashcards and booklets to teach basic theology to children and youth.
• Helping kids discern a call (video)

Worship and ministry

• Suggested liturgies and prayers
• Messy prayer (video from 2016 Orders & Fellowship gathering)
• Call Sunday
• Cultivating a Culture of Call in your Ministry
• 50 Ways to Cultivate a Culture of Call
• Culture of Call grant

Guidance for nurturing call

Do you want to hear more about nurturing your call in the Great Plains? Hear some stories from the Great Plains UMC.

Rev. Craig Finnestad, "The three wins of internships"

Pastor Shane Britt, "Super Doppler Radar"

Rev. Stephanie Ahlschwede, "Sleuthing our Way to Hall of Fame Leadership: What the Church Can Learn from Nancy Drew and Dean Smith"

Rev. Aaron Duell, "The Mighty Might of Many Mentors"