Florida United Methodist Review Online

Camping ministry, youth grow together
   While Florida Conference Summer Camp ministry experienced a 30-percent increase in attendance this year, the young people participating in the program are also growing spiritually, said Carol Sue Hutchinson, director of the Florida Conference Council on Ministries' (CCOM) Discipleship office and one of the directors of the camping ministry.
   She says the ministry's success is due to the fact that it is "culturally-relevant" and interactive.
Full Story

Conference grants help strengthen ethnic local church ministries

Conference grants help kids become accountable and provide leadership development opportunities for all ages.

   At Simpson Memorial United Methodist Church in Jacksonville, children are learning about computers while they learn about being accountable, according to Gertrude Jarrett, a member of Miami Lakes United Methodist Church and chairwoman of the Florida Conference Council on Ministries' Ethnic Local Church Concerns (ELCC) Committee.
   Simpson Memorial is among 12 Florida Conference churches and ministries that have received funds from the ELCC so far this year. Those grants were given to help ethnic local churches strengthen their ministries, according to Larry Rankin, the ELCC's representative on the Conference Council on Ministries' staff.    Full Story

Floridians elected to general, jurisdictional boards
More than a dozen clergy and laity from the Florida Conference were elected to serve on denominational and jurisdictional boards, as well as ecumenical councils, during last month's Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference. Full Story

New church builds playground first

"We're here to build a church, not a building," said the Rev. Tim Carson, pastor of Shepherd's Community United Methodist Church here. "We care about families and kids in our community. This is a way for us to serve our community."
The 100-member church, which was launched in 1998, recently decided to start its building program by constructing a playground rather than a building on its 10 acres of land in south Lakeland. Full Story

Marketing the church is spreading the word
     Movie theaters, fax machines, diaper-changing stations and a banner towed behind an airplane are just some of the ways First United Methodist Church here is letting its community know what's going on.
     "We have a lot to offer," said Candie Whitney, the church's director of communications. "We just have to get people in. Some church members don't feel it's necessary to advertise. But it's spreading the word of the church and the word of Christ. It's outreach."   Full Story

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