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Poplar Grove UMC Receives
Award of Excellence
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Training congregational leaders to “renew the mainline church” is the goal of the annual Leadership Institute held at the Church of the Resurrection (COR). This church, located in the suburbs of Kansas City, Kansas is one of the fastest growing churches in the country. Many churches in the Northern Illinois Conference have participated in the COR Leadership Institute which is designed to help “ministry teams navigate the overall vision and purpose of the church and gain navigational tools to chart a solid course” for their ministry.”
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A team of church leaders from Poplar Grove UMC attended the COR Institute a year ago and took what they learned and what they experienced back to their church. They used ideas and tools acquired at the Institute to transform several areas of ministry at their church. Rev. Lisa Kruse-Safford describes some of the excitement the church feels about their new ministry initiatives. We developed a “worship series” that has “energized our worship team,” says Kruse-Safford. There is a sermon series with a theme, and the worship team “works with the theme in media, projected images, drama, music, and visuals on the altar and tables in the fellowship hall and even in the bathrooms!” We use the same sermon series with our partner ministry churches, Blaine and Hunter United Methodist Churches, as well as our co-active ministry site, North Boone. Another change that has taken place at Popular Grove has to do with the development of lay leadership. “We have become more intentional about lay leadership training,” saying Kruse-Safford. Training takes place at the beginning of the year and people are brought into ministry with a spiritual gifts survey and their role is clarified by having a job description. “The biggest and most visible area of growth” at our church “is in our youth ministry with junior and senior high kids. Parents and the community wanted a safe place for their kids,” and continue visioning for the future to make this happen. “We now have a coffee house Bible Study with youth on Tuesday afternoon after school, and our attendance at youth events is way up.” We are transforming youth space to help grow that ministry and with soon have a rock climbing wall for youth. We are trying to “meet them where there are” says Kruse-Stafford.
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