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Kintail Speaker Series
May 7, 2019 @ 10:30 am - 3:00 pm
$25.00
We are thrilled to announce that Dr. Tori Smit will be our speaker for 2019!
“Will Our Faith Have Children?” Join Tori as she discusses ways to plant fruitful and sustainable ministries for congregations with ten or fewer children!
May 7, 2019, 10:30 – 3:00
Cost: $25.00 (includes lunch) – Location: MacDonald Lodge, Camp Kintail
To register: Online HERE, call 519-529-7317, or email [email protected]
Theme Summary
Will Our Faith Have Children? Planting a Fruitful and Sustainable Ministry With Children in Congregations With Ten or Fewer Children.
In the Synod of South Western Ontario 51% of our congregations have 10 or fewer children on their Sunday School roster, yet most of these churches continue to try and do ministry with children with programmes designed for churches with hundreds of kids. It’s not working! Is there something better that we could be doing? Are there better ways of sharing our faith with our children that are engaging and transformative? Are there things we need to consider if we want our children to grow into a life-long faith? Can our ministry with children transform our whole church?
Together we will consider six key best practices for ministry with children that are effective and possible in congregations with just a small handful of kids; practices that are transformative and long-lasting and take the primary emphasis off the Sunday School and place responsibility for ministry with children across the whole church as it affects worship, education, mission, justice ministries, fellowship and in family homes. This day is for everyone who is involved in the church, whether you’re presently working with
children’s programming or not. Come and answer this critical question for your church: Will Your Faith Have Children?
P.S. If your church has more than ten kids – every one of these practicesare relevant for you too!
Bio:
Tori Smit is a Diaconal Minister with the Presbyterian Church in Canada (PCC), presently serving as the Regional Minister for Faith Formation for the Synod of Central, Northeastern Ontario and Bermuda (CNOB). Tori has been a professional Christian Educator for over thirty-six years, serving congregations in Milton, Hamilton and Guelph, Ontario, and in Orlando,Florida. More recently Tori served as the Associate Secretary of The Vine for the PCC. Tori has led many workshops across Canada and the United States on behalf of the PCC and the PCUSA, The Association of Presbyterian Church Educators, and LOGOS/GenOn Ministries. She has written a broad variety of curriculum for the PCC, youth conference curriculum for Montreat Conference Centre (PCUSA), and adult leader’s guides on Amos and Hosea, and Matthew for Kerygma Bible Studies.
Tori holds a Doctor of Educational Ministry degree through Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia, with her dissertation focus on, Will Our Faith Have Children? Planting A Fruitful and Sustainable Ministry With Children In Congregations With Ten Or Fewer Children.” A journal length summary of her dissertation can be found in, InterGenerate: Transforming Churches Through Intergenerational Ministry, Holly C. Allen (ed.), (Abilene, TX: Abilene Christian University Press, 2018).
Tori also serves as an adjunct professor of Christian Education at Columbia Theological Seminary (DeCatur, Georgia), and Emmanuel College (Toronto, Ontario).
Tori is married to the Rev. Dr. John-Peter Smit, Regional Minister for Congregational Health with CNOB. Together they have two adult children and two very spoiled cats.