Putting Children First

Jesus said, "Let the children come to me, do not
hinder them for to such belongs the children of God."
~ Luke 18:16

In January 2007 the Florida Conference hosted a Conference Table on Social Witness. Through a prayerful process of discernment the Conference Table developed consensus that the focus of our social witness should be children. At the 2007 Annual Conference, the Rev. Clarke Campbell-Evans presented our conference-wide initiative and it was embraced by our church. Simultaneously, Florida Impact, a state-wide faith-based advocacy group with strong ties to the United Methodist Church, was in negotiation to facilitate a state-wide effort to end childhood hunger in the next ten years based on a pilot program in Washington D.C. As the Core Advisory Group was formed for this new Partnership to End Childhood Hunger, Bishop Timothy Whitaker appointed Ms. Lynette Fields to represent him on this group. The Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church is on the ground level for this exciting unprecedented collaborative effort. With the commitment of 720 churches and over 310,000 members, and joining private, philanthropic, government, and educational organizations we can be a part of the story for the next ten years as we put an end to the unnecessary hunger our children face daily. Won’t you be a part of this exciting endeavor?

Purpose of this Resource: The goal is to provide every congregation, large or small, within the Florida Conference the opportunity to locate resources, network with other churches and our Outreach Ministries to begin the audacious goal of eradicating childhood hunger in Florida.

Florida Conference Vision: God’s transforming grace in Jesus Christ calls us to become one dynamic church with diverse people in many settings, offering a new life of Christian discipleship to the world.