Resources - Hinton Center

Hinton Rural Life Center Resources

Equipping Mission Outreach Groups and Local Churches

Resources for the Journey

Hinton Rural Life Center retreat, mission outreach, and training ministries provide opportunities for churches, small groups, organizations, and individuals to grow in faith and become more equipped to bring help, healing, and hope to others. In addition to the Training and Workshops page on our web site, resources on this page include:

Theotokos Connections Confirmation Curriculum order info
Mission Outreach forms and applications
Recommended articles, books, and online activities
E-learning options for ministry in smaller membership churches

Theotokos Connections Confirmation Curriculum

In our ongoing efforts to support rural churches, Hinton has partnered with Dr. Jonathan LeMaster-Smith and Rev. Shannon LeMaster-Smith to create a United Methodist Confirmation resource that would be accessible, relevant, and affordable to smaller membership churches. Because it is designed to be flexible and adaptable for the needs and contexts of different Confirmation ministries, churches of all sizes and settings will find it to be easy to use, youth friendly, and theologically solid as a United Methodist resource.

This resource shares the Theotokos name with the Theotokos Confirmation Retreats ministry offered at Hinton, but it is not used at the retreats nor is it required to be used by groups that attend the retreats. It does share a focus on and highlights the connectional aspect of our Methodist polity and experience.

Theotokos Connections is a digital resource consisting of 6 sessions. With the exception of the first session, the sessions can be used in any order. There are multiple options offered for openings, learning activities, and closings, and it includes an appendix full of ideas and resource links.

TO PREVIEW AND ORDER:

To receive a preview version of the introduction and first session, email karen@hintoncenter.org .
To order the resource (there’s just a leader guide, no student piece), complete and submit the order form linked HERE, with payment, or complete the online form by clicking HERE.
The cost for this resource is $10/user, which includes numbers of confirmands and adult leaders. This is a one-time charge, but if you continue to use the resource in the future, we hope you’ll consider making a donation to Hinton Rural Life Center to help support our Theotokos Confirmation ministries.

Mission Resources

Books and Articles We Recommend

* When Helping Hurts: Alleviating the Poverty Without Hurting the Poor and Ourselves by Brian Fikkert and Steve Corbett

* “Ministry With the Poor at Its Best: Ministry From the Margins” by Mary Ellen Kris

* PlaySpent.org — “Play” a month of a person’s life living in poverty.

* An Introduction to Appalachia

* Diamonds in the Dew by Nora Stanger

* “Justice & The Limits of Charity” — Article from The UMC General Board of Church and Society

* “Being Poor Ain’t Cheap: This Appalachia Life”

* My Name Is Child of God… Not “Those People” by Julia Dinsmore

Interested in Hinton's Mission Outreach Program?

2022 Missions Preparation Booklet Note: updated 3/15/2022

COVID-19 Protocols and Guidelines Note: updated 5/3/2022

Fact Sheet: Why We Do What We Do

What to Pack

Required forms for groups attending our mission outreach program:

2023 Group Application Forms Checklist 2022 Group Dietary Information

Group Travel Roster Group Skills Individual Medical Liability

Individual Registration Form

August-May Missions Outreach Application

Below is a list of forms to be completed ‘online’ and can be submitted directly to Hinton Center’s Missions Outreach team. The forms below are to be completed by the ‘Group Leader’.

Group Application Dietary Information Travel Roster Skills Survey

Click here to complete your T-shirt pre-order on line, or click here to download a PDF version of the form.

The forms below are to be completed by the individual members of the group. The forms can be completed ‘online’ and will be submitted directly to Hinton Center’s Missions Outreach team.

Individual Registration/Liability Release

E-Learning

This resource page is available for you to access freely. You may use these resources with your congregation, district, or annual conference. If you have questions, please call Rev. Dawn Livingston at Hinton Center (828) 389-8336 or email dawn@hintoncenter.org.

Hinton Rural Life Center is the recognized leader in resources for smaller membership churches. We offer assistance for congregations that make a vital and measurable difference in the ministries of those churches. Among the services offered by Hinton Center are:

– Training and resources that are size- and setting-appropriate for congregations, cooperative ministries, districts, and annual conferences

– Workshops at your location tailored to your specific needs and schedule

– Consultations with local congregations and cooperative ministries

– Models of Ministry resources (See below for links)

– Training and networking events for pastors and for laity

– Guided programs in spiritual formation

Hinton Rural Life Center publishes Effective Ministry in the Smaller Membership Church, a guide with models and resources for congregations. We now offer this guide online for your use at no charge. Please click through the following links to find out what countless congregations, districts, and conferences have found to be invaluable.

To order this guide in printed version, please email your request to info@hintoncenter.org. Notebook copies are $20.00 each plus $6.00 shipping.

Practicing Vital Ministry in Small Congregations: When congregations are willing to become vulnerable to the prompting and leading of God, they can be guided and, ultimately, transformed by three questions.

First, who are we? A congregation must know itself well.

Second, who is our neighbor? A congregation must understand the surrounding community.

Third, what is our next step? A congregation must have a plan. These were originally used for a Vitality presentation in the Florida Conference.