Network

Welcome to the Network for Sunday School Ministry! Whether you coordinate the children’s ministries, organize the Sunday school program, or lead a small group of second and third graders, I hope this site will be a reliable source of support for your ministry! In case you’re curious, here’s the scoop on me: I grew up Catholic and United Methodist before joining the CRC with my family as a teenager. My ecumenical upbringing has given me a great love for the church in all its flavors—and a deep appreciation for the Reformed theology we cherish. How did I come to be the CRCNA’s Sunday school guide? Providence! In college I served as a small group leader for the church youth group and doubled up on Education, Youth, and Evangelism (EYE) and Bible/Theology at Reformed Bible College (now Kuyper) in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I also spent a semester in Los Angeles, California, exploring urban life in an immersion program that shaped my life and faith in many ways. In late August of 2001 I arrived in Clifton, New Jersey—a busy little city just 14 miles from Manhattan—where I served for five years as a youth director, coordinating the youth ministry and overseeing the children’s ministry at Hope Reformed Church. I loved leading my small but gifted team of volunteers and seeing kids grow in Christ! Two years into that role I also began speaking and training for LifeNet, a non-profit organization that offers crisis pregnancy counseling and partners with churches and schools for abstinence education. Though the East Coast was my cup of tea, my heart ached for Michigan (certainly not for the snow, or even for the lake, but for my family back home), so I packed up and moved west again in the autumn of 2006. Shortly after that I began working as the church education training coordinator for the CRCNA through Faith Alive Christian Resources. Now I coordinate workshops, lead webinars, write blogs, and look for new and creative ways to encourage Sunday school coordinators and teachers like you (and me). Just one more very important detail. In May of 2009 I married Jim Howe—a partner in life and ministry. We serve together at Coit Community CRC in downtown Grand Rapids, where he teaches catechism and is a youth group volunteer and I coordinate the educational ministries and lead a fourth and fifth grade class. If you’re ever in town and looking for a friendly place to worship on a Sunday morning, please stop on by. We’d love to have you over for lunch after the service!