My Ministry Win: Listening Session Dinners
- tapehlyn
- Nov 7
- 2 min read
We can all agree that sacred conversations can happen over shared meals, but beyond that people can find themselves birthing ministries from such moments.
We recently invited ministry leaders to share moments when God’s Spirit showed up in their work. It's so inspiring to see the wins that remind us why we do this and that we're not alone. Carol Van Buskirk, Project Director at Everyday Faith: The United Methodist Publishing House sent this story, and it captures exactly what Faithful Futures is about:
I’m working with a cohort of church leaders to figure out how we can better support parents and caregivers in discipling their kids in their everyday lives. Over the past few months, the church leaders have invited parents and caregivers to listening session dinners, where they had the opportunity to talk to each other, and to share what kinds of support would be helpful. We have had several successful ministries launch already out of these listening sessions, including a Mom’s Bible study that launched over the summer then quickly became "family night” with ministries for all ages, a “Toddler Happy Hour” that became its own Sunday school class, and a mentorship program pairing new parents, and kids of all ages, with a special person in the congregation to journey with them. It has been exciting to see how LISTENING is the catalyst for all of this.
That posture of curiosity, reliability, and presence is at the heart of Faithful Futures: Sacred Tools for Engaging Younger Generations. Stories like this remind us that the next generation isn’t unreachable. They’re just waiting for someone to listen long enough for faith to take root.
If you’ve seen God move through simple acts of presence, we’d love to hear your story too. Find out more at www.futureoffaith.org/faithfulfutures
Stay updated on Carol's work and connected ministries on socials:
God Loves U Kids-
Cokesbury Kids-
