Dear Church Leader,

Last year the Peninsula-Delaware and Baltimore-Washington Conference Committees on Native American Ministries invited United Methodists to observe a special time of prayer and action to remember the atrocities associated with tribal children who were removed from their families and placed in boarding schools to erase their Native culture from them.

The observance paid special attention to the children who died at the schools and whose bodies were buried far from their homes. Moreover, the event also marked the “spiritual deaths” of hundreds of Native children whose culture and spirituality were taken from them.

Native American Ministries Sunday is April 23, 2023. (You may also celebrate on a date that is most convenient for your congregation.) Celebrate Native American Ministries Sunday and share God’s promises of restoration to the community.

It is time to plan your Native American Ministries Sunday celebration. It’s only three weeks away. Bring your team together and begin formulating your plans. We created resources to help you inspire your congregation to support this effort. Share the resources with your leaders and encourage them to use them.

• Download the 2023 Native American Ministries Sunday pastor and leader kit that includes social media graphics, videos, an offering talk, bulletin inserts, children’s resources and more.
• Use the 2022-2023 Special Sundays planning calendar located in the kit to schedule your Special Sunday promotions. Feel free to adjust the planning calendar to fit your congregation’s needs.
• Pastor and leader kit resources are also available in French, Spanish, and Korean—sermon starter, social media graphics, children’s resources, and more.
• Click here to order your printed offering envelopes or call 1-800-991-6011 to place your order.
• Select the person(s) to lead the celebration.
• Announce the celebration date to your congregation as soon as possible.
• Share information about how your members can give to the Native American Ministries Sunday offering:
• Give through our church’s online giving portal at ________; Designate “NAMS” in the memo section.
• Write a check to our local church; designate “NAMS” in the memo line and place it in the offering plate.
• Place a cash offering in the offering plate.
• Give online or set up monthly giving at UMC.org/SSGive.
• Customize the announcement copy and reminder below to fit your needs and share them with members of your congregation. You may also publish this information on your social media platform(s), websites, newsletters and other media your members rely on.
• Thank your members for their generosity.
• Plan to send the offering to your annual conference treasurer.

The Native American Ministries Sunday offering strengthens Native American ministries in annual conferences; Native American rural, urban, reservation ministries and communities relating to the General Board of Global Ministries. It also provides scholarships for Native American seminarians who attend United Methodist schools of theology and continuing education for pastors who attend Native American Ministries Course of Study classes that are distributed by the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry. Fifty percent of the offering remains in the annual conference and is administered by the Committee on Native American Ministries (CONAM).

Thank you for celebrating the gifts and contributions of Native Americans to The United Methodist Church and to our society,

THE CONNECTIONAL GIVING TEAM

ANNOUNCEMENT COPY OR EMAIL

Subject: Native American Ministries Sunday is three weeks away!

Scripture: “For in him every one of God’s promises is a ‘Yes.’ For this reason it is through him that we say the ‘Amen,’ to the glory of God.” —2 Corinthians 1:20, NRSVUE

Pretext: Partner with Native American Ministries Sunday and be part of God’s promise of restoration on April 23.

“Dear Friends,

Thank you for your generous gifts to Native American Ministries Sunday (NAMS). Year after year you have supported this ministry and we are grateful for your generosity. A Native American proverb states that “we will be known forever by the tracks we leave” (Dakota tribe[A1] ). When we give to NAMS, we create a legacy with our Native American sisters and brothers. May God continue to bless you.

The Native American Ministries Sunday celebration is on April 23.  On this Special Sunday, we gather to celebrate the gifts and contributions made by Native Americans to The United Methodist Church and to our society. Please place the date on your schedule and plan to participate in this service. This is an exciting time to celebrate our commitment to God and God’s people! If you know a Native American person, invite them to attend the service with you.

Your gifts to the Native American Ministries Sunday offering strengthen Native American ministries in annual conferences; Native American rural, urban, and reservation ministries and communities and provide scholarships for Native American seminarians.  

How to give to Native American Ministries Sunday offering:

• Give through our church’s online giving portal at ________; Designate “NAMS” in the memo section.
• Write a check for the NAMS offering to our local church and place it in the offering plate; designate “NAMS” in the memo line.
• Give your cash offering in the offering plate.
• Give online or set up monthly giving at UMC.org/SSGive.

Let’s celebrate Native American Ministries Sunday and be part of God’s promise of restoration on April 23.

Thank you,

Pastor”