By Russell Casteel

This past weekend, September 13-15, the TWK Children’s Ministry Team hosted “Wesley in the Woods,” a confirmation kickoff retreat focused on developing United Methodist spiritual leadership. Students from churches throughout the conference gathered at Cedar Crest to continue their confirmation journey through worship, workshops, and mission work! Led by Keynote Speaker Brittany Radford from the Missouri Annual Conference, students were encouraged to spread the love of Christ by “sprinkling their dust.” 

Workshop learning time focused on our core United Methodist identity. Workshop leaders Kelsey Sledge (Cookeville FUMC), Rev. Paul Purdue (Belmont UMC), and Rev. Maggie Jarrell (West End UMC) led students through the practices of gifts, service, prayer, presence, and witness. Students also got to experience Christian meditation practice in prayer stations, organized by Betsy Haley (Calvary UMC). In addition to learning more about the United Methodist church, students connected to the greater United Methodist community by packing 120 hygiene kits for UMCOR to distribute to those in need; Rev. Stacy Harwell-Dye from West End UMC helped to facilitate this experience. A rainy zip line and s’mores bookended a busy Saturday, offering children and leaders the opportunity to fellowship in our United Methodist Connection. The future is now!

Cedar Crest Program Director and TWK Children’s Team member Audrey Jordan reflected:

“One of the highlights of the weekend was watching youth from churches across our conference build relationships with each other. The connectional piece of our United Methodist heritage is one of our greatest strengths, so offering opportunities for children and youth to gather this weekend as we collectively explored what it means to be UMC was incredibly special. From playing in the rain to singing together around a campfire, this weekend was filled with holy moments of connection.”

Interested in connecting with the children’s team? Email children@twkumc.org and join our Facebook group, TWK Conference Children’s Ministry.

Ready for more Conference Children’s programming?  

 

All photos courtesy of Russell Casteel.