Midland First United Methodist Church, founded in 1857, is nestled in the heart of downtown Midland, Michigan. The church places a high priority on following Jesus’s command to love your neighbor and shows this love by remaining actively involved in the surrounding community. First United Methodist Church is an intergenerational church where congregation members become like family.
The children’s ministry serves babies through fifth graders each Sunday morning. Children begin with their families in the worship service and leave together after the children’s blessing to attend Sunday School. Here, the children join together to enjoy varied opportunities to engage with the lectionary-based curriculum.
The youth ministry is in a rebuilding phase. With abundant physical space and devoted volunteers, families are eager to watch the youth ministry develop a critical mass as students grow in faith and impact the Midland community.
The ideal candidate will be an experienced team builder who will come alongside faithful ministry volunteers and recruit others to join the team. This person will nurture relationships with children, youth, and families to develop a cohesive, fun discipleship ministry that thrives within the life and mission of the congregation.
Plan and implement ministries that include opportunities for fun, connection, worship, Christian education, mission, and spiritual growth
Work with teams and staff to integrate children and youth ministries into the church’s broader life
Recruit, train, and support volunteers for children and youth ministries
Facilitate clear, consistent communication with families
Love God, children, and youth, and have spiritual gifts to share
A sense of calling to ministry with children, youth, and families
A foundational understanding of Scripture, Christian faith, and United Methodist theology
Knowledge of child and youth development with an openness to each person’s individuality, background, abilities, and needs
Demonstrated ability to be a self-starter and lead teams through instilling trust, inspiring others, good organization, clear communication, and flexibility
Midland, Michigan combines the warmth of a close-knit community with the resources of a thriving city. It has a family-friendly atmosphere and a deeply held commitment to community life. With beautiful parks, excellent schools, and a wide range of cultural and recreational opportunities, it is a great place for someone to feel right at home.
For a long time, most ministry leaders have assumed they had to choose. There's been this choice between disruptive innovation or sustainable systems. Today, smart churches are realizing that their survival depends on not choosing, but embracing both creativity and structure as partners in the same dance. Our group is made up of a peculiar collection of radically practical visionaries, intensely committed to help you build healthy systems that create space for deliberate, often disruptive, innovation.
Ministry Architects has partnered with over 1,000 churches from 24 different denominations, as well as faith-based organizations and institutions of high learning all across the country. Whether big or small, Ministry Architects can guide your community through strategic planning, conduct staff searches, build sustainable ministries, and reach all generations.
Thriving, sustainable ministries can never be built on a parade of young, enthusiastic leaders try to piece together a disjointed collection of ideas from popular models, books, and seminars.
At Ministry Architects, we believe there is a better way than one-size-fits-all training events and quick-fix searches for superstar staffers. It all starts with building intentionally. So like architects, we don't tell churches or organizations what they want to build. We start by listening and create a blueprint of exactly how they can move from where they are to where they want to be. And then, we walk alongside them to make sure that they can build the kind of infrastructure they'll need to support the ministries they believe God is calling them to lead.
