Asbury Church in Wichita expanded its community garden to nourish both physical and spiritual needs. 

The garden began as a simple response to rising grocery costs but has also grown into a community gathering space. Asbury embraced this by incorporating a peaceful “New Eden”-inspired sitting area with fruit trees and art, deepening its role as a place of connection, hope, and renewal.

Countryside UMC launched a college internship program to support its growing children’s ministry and better serve young families. 

Five interns now serve weekly, building consistent relationships and helping improve engagement, while bringing skills that support diverse learning needs. The program has strengthened the ministry and created meaningful experiences for the interns.

Congregants of Stilwell UMC joined together with Community for Kids to provide weekend food packs to food-insecure students in the Blue Valley School District. They are currently serving 250 students across 30 schools in our district. 

In the future they hope to develop a summer program to assist students who receive the majority of their food at school. Just recently a team of people from Stilwell UMC met to pack holiday treat bags for students to receive in December.

Roots Church was able to jumpstart their ministry through branding, marketing, and design. "It's been a gift to be able to have a recognizable logo, inspire donors, and get the word out about this new church! Now people are sharing the news about the church because there are handouts, stickers, t-shirts, website, and more. The good thing about investing in the branding, website, and marketing, is that it is the gift that keeps on giving. I use the brand package almost daily for content creation for social media." Says Rev. Lora Andrews, Pastor of Roots Church.

 As a result, from receiving the grant people are coming back to church for the first time in adulthood or for the first time ever. They are inviting friends and sharing the word about the church on their social media. For historically marginalized groups to want to share the good news and invite others to be a part of it is huge! The community that is growing because of getting the word out will help them have a successful launch of the new church in the spring!

In an effort to meet and reach people where they are, members of the Sedan, Wauneta, and Elgin UMCs began the Gathering Ministry in a local coffee shop. The group meets on the first Wednesday of the month. 

Since the group’s inception, they have connected with new people and had the opportunity to make invitations to church. Some of the families are now members of the church. Through the support of a Pathways for Discipleship grant, the church had funding to sustain the project.

Students in the youth group at Larned UMC took a mission trip to Kansas City. While in KC, the 13 students and leaders served at various ministries. The first stop was delivering Happy Kits to Children’s Mercy Hospital. 

At the next stop, they helped at Healing House by cleaning up the parking lot and scraping an outdoor wall so that other volunteers can repaint it. Next, they learned about the Veterans Community Project and assembled boxes of free food to be given to veterans. The last stop on the trip was at the global headquarters of FCA, Fellowship of Christian Athletes. After a tour of the building, students helped FCA by moving boxes.

With the goal of creating a new ministry to promote wholeness, Wichita Heart of Christ UMC started a new Journey to Wholeness ministry. The fitness ministry helps people understand the importance of being whole spiritually, physically, mentally and emotionally.

The weekly workouts include a variety of ways to get physical from power walking, Zumba, Yoga, and more. Through the support of a Pathways for Discipleship grant, the church was able to buy the equipment needed for the workouts. In addition, the fitness time concludes with healthy snacks.

After the pandemic, members of the Burden UMC desired to restart the Central Believers’ Club for children from Kindergarten through 8th grade. Through the support of a Pathways for Discipleship grant, leaders were able to purchase the needed supplies for the year as well as provide opportunities for the children to go to church camp this summer.

Each week the students studied the chronological order of Jesus’ life and their memory verses were posted in their “Clubhouse” meeting space. During Advent, students experienced hands-on Bible lessons during Advent with nativity scenes.