July workshop aids weekday ministries
By Rachel L. Toalson
Staff Writer
The Rev. Margaret Persky considers training up children in today’s world an “awesome responsibility and challenging task.”
The United Methodist Church doesn’t take that task lightly, said Persky, director of weekday ministries at First UMC, Mason.
The Southwest Texas Conference Council on Children’s Ministries has been sponsoring an annual Weekday Ministries Conference for nearly a decade. This year’s one-day event, designed for caregivers of children, is scheduled for July 28 at Windcrest UMC.
The conference brings together Mother’s Day Out teachers and workers, preschool staff members, and those working in church-related children’s ministries. Attendees hear from childcare professionals and share stories from the field,
said Persky, weekday meeting chair.
Church ministry workers are the most frequent attendees, she said. The conference drew 435 participants in 2006.
Past attendees dubbed the conference “encouraging and insightful,” according to comment cards.
“In the last 10 years, this event has grown in popularity and attendance,” Persky said. “This is something they look
forward to every year.”
The children’s ministry council used to schedule sessions at three sites across Southwest Texas, Persky said. But difficulty finding hosts for the event caused organizers to offer only one this year.
The council recognized the importance of offering a training session each year, Persky said, because by age 3, children’s brains are 90 percent of adult size. That means childcare workers have a responsibility to help children grow spiritually, physically, emotionally, mentally and socially.
“As United Methodists, we believe in the importance of training young children in the way they should go,” Persky said. “We’re opting for a better world.”
The session satisfies some licensing requirements for those working with children, giving workers six hours of training, Persky said.
The gathering begins at 8 a.m. and concludes at 3:30 p.m. It includes a keynote speaker, workshops, vendors and sharing times.
Keynote speaker for this year is Elizabeth Vandewater, associate professor of human development and family sciences at The University of Texas at Austin. She directs the Children and Media Research Center there and is associate director of the Population Research Center.
Vandewater researches effects of mass media messages on children’s social and academic development, the impact of interactive technologies on reading skills and the media use of toddlers and babies. She is to talk about the electronic
media impact on children.
The leaders luncheon, which is limited to the first 100 registrants, is to feature Robin White, education specialist from the Texas Education Agency’s Region 20 service center.
Registration fee is $30 by July 14 and $35 after that date.
Brochures that include registration information are to be mailed in late May.
For more information contact Perksy at (325) 347-0043 or Marcy Williams, design team chair, at (210) 654-0404.
