Resources

Resources for Young People

• Timothy Circle Trail Guide (an online, free call discernment framework; exclusively at TimothyCircle.com)
• Hearing Your Call short videos with discussion questions, to be used as a series or a la carte:
  • Vocational Discernment Through the Power of Story, with speaker and author Rev. Romal Tune
  • Discovering Your Unique Calling and Ministry, with speaker and author Rev. Nathalie Nelson Parker
• Youth Can Lead Now (free, downloadable book that provides eight sessions on biblical leadership principles. Each session is meant to be a conversation space between Youth and Adults.)
• View our whole library of resources for young people

Examples of Calling

What Is ‘Call’?

• Different faith backgrounds have different ways of understanding call.  Here’s what we mean in the Timothy Circle.

Call Stories

• CALLED series videos (Call stories to lay ministry, pastoral ministry, and servant ministry; scroll to bottom of page to download)
• The Listening Chair podcast (stories of how laypeople feel God moving in their own lives)
• Lives Explored video project (Call stories collected by the Collegeville Institute; includes call stories from non-Christian faiths)
• Called to Be… (a collection of call stories from people serving in a wide variety of fields, collected by Student Christian Movement)

Small Group & Bible Studies

• Pathway Conversation short videos with discussion questions, to be used as a series or a la carte:
  • Meaningful Connections with Youth and Young Adults, with Dr. Patrick B. Reyes
  • Having a Great Youth Program Without Any Paid Staff, with Bart Patton & Dr. Priscilla Pope-Levison
  • Forming Intergenerational Relationships that FLOW, with Dr. Elizabeth Tamez Méndez
  • Assessing Your Youth Ministry: 3 Big Questions That Change Teenagers, with Dr. Kara Powell
  • Helping Youth Hear God’s Voice, with Rev. Wendy Mohler-Seib
  • Innovation in Youth Ministry, with Dr. Kenda Creasy Dean
• 5 Cups of Coffee group discussion guide (a group discussion guide to help adults or young adults practice having conversations with one another about their spiritual lives and their calls)
• Make a Difference (small group study with real-world stories to help you connect your passion to the world’s needs; UMC-centered)
• CALLED Bible Study (6th-12th grade; K-5 also available; scroll to bottom of page to download)
• TRU Colors: Exploring Ministry as a Career (downloadable resource with 8 modules to help young adults wrestle with their calling and purpose)
• Journey to the Table (curriculum that can be used as a weekend retreat or adapted for weekly/monthly gatherings)
• Discovery Weekend (high schoolers provide leadership to middle schoolers on a retreat aimed at teaching foundational Christian practices
• Stories of Calling (short devotions on Biblical call stories, from the Church of England)
• Your SHAPE for God’s Service (6 session discernment study from Diocese of Carlisle of the Church of England)

Books Recommended for Further Learning

• Practicing Discernment with Youth: A Transformative Youth Ministry Approach, by David F. White
• Nurturing the Sanctified Imagination of Urban Youth, by Annie Lockhart-Gilroy
• Lives to Offer: Accompanying Youth on Their Vocational Quests, by Dori Grinenko Baker
• Dreamcare: A Theology of Youth, Spirit, and Vocation, by David F. White
• Additional Book Suggestions from Timothy Circle Partners

Culture of Call Resources for Churches

• Congregational Resources from Communities of Calling at Collegeville Institute
• Additional resources from Communities of Calling at Collegeville Institute
• Creative Strategies on Calling – a webinar offering practical ideas for starting or continuing efforts around vocation and calling in your congregational community, from Communities of Calling at Collegeville Institute. Download the PowerPoint for the webinar
• A Feast of Ideas – Laura Kelly Fanucci shares an overview of the Exploring Vocation in Community program (from Communities of Calling at Collegeville Institute), in which 10 congregations worked on vocation: project examples, key findings, and best practices.

Exclusive Resources for Trained Timothy Circle Mentors

Exclusive Resources for Trained Timothy Circle Call Champions

Relating to Young People

Conversations with Young People

• Casual Conversation Starters
• Call-Oriented Conversation Starters
• 5 Cups of Coffee (a resource to guide you through conversations about call with a young person)
  • This resource may be reproduced, shared, and/or adapted to meet the needs of the user. Contact 5cups@greatplainsumc.org for more information.
  • The Missouri Annual Conference of the UMC has created several resources around 5 Cups
• Timothy Circle Trail Facilitator Notes (a group discussion resource that follows the Timothy Circle Trail Guide)
• ‘Calling’ Cards (conversation starters around call)
• Five Walks in Faith (five mentoring conversations for those early in their faith walk)

Learning About Gen Z

• How to Reach Gen Z  (a great overview article from ResourceUMC.org)
• Understanding Generation Z and Connection with Their Passions (transcript of podcast interview with Dr. Rock Jones, president of Ohio Wesleyan University)
• What Are the Core Characteristics of Generation Z?  (a non-religious take on Gen Z from the Annie E. Casey Foundation)

Worship Resources for Culture of Call

• Call—Listening for God’s Voice in Everyday Life 4-Week Worship Series (UMC origin)
• Call Sunday resources (sermon ideas, scripture suggestions, hymn suggestions (UMC origin)
• 5 Cups of Coffee-related worship resources (5-week sermon series about Call with sermon outlines and resources)
• CALLED worship resources (sermon ideas, reflection questions, and more; scroll to bottom of page to download)
• To Bless Our Callings: Prayers, Poems and Hymns to Celebrate Calling (book)

Spiritual Gifts & Strengths Inventories

• Spiritual Gifts Inventory from UMC Discipleship Ministries
• Spiritual Gifts inventory from First United Methodist Church, Richardson, Texas
• Gifting Questionnaire from Global Connections, UK