Marc Middleton is our Director of Youth and Children’s Ministries. We offer a variety of bible studies and activities that are coordinated for children and youth ranging from toddlers to teens. Here are just some of the programs that we offer:
Sunday School: From September to May, we offer Sunday School classes before church from 9am to 10am. The classes include bible studies, music, and crafts as well as occasionally preparing for participation in our worship service (skits, musicals, etc.) We offer classes for all school-age children and teens. We encourage you to come as you are! We also have different bible studies for the adults at the same for anyone that is interested.
Sunday School is returning after a break during the Covid-19 Pandemic on 04/25/2021:
Read our Safety Protocols for our return on 4/25/2021
CORE (5th – 12th graders): On Wednesdays from 2:45 – 4:30pm, we offer a time for our youth to finish their homework, fellowship with other youth, and receive the Word through a devotional. We are always looking for volunteers that want to connect with our youth and help grow their faith and relationship in God. If you are interested in helping, please contact Marc and he will help you get involved. Our summer CORE program varies from year-to-year. We encourage you to contact the office or reach out to us on Facebook or Instagram if you have any questions.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, our youth are meeting over Zoom on Wednesdays from 5:30 – 6:30pm. If your youth is interested in joining us, please contact Marc for the room details.
Parents – Get information on CORE here.
Wednesday Night Live: On Wednesdays from October to April, we offer programming from all ages. From 4:30 – 6:45pm, we offer snack for our kids, music classes, bible studies, recreation, crafts, and more along with a family dinner that is prepared by our willing congregants. We also offer a bible study for adults from 4:45 – 6:00pm. This program is open to all people that would love to join us. Come as you are. The dinner does have a free-will offering, but you are not required to donate to join us.
Youth Music: Our youth have a variety of opportunities to get involved in our music ministry. We have youth involved in our Hand Bell Choir, Bethany Band, Youth Chimes, Choir, and Ukulele club. Practices happen throughout the week. If you and/or youth would like to get involved, please contact the church and we will connect you to the right people. We also have Happy Bells that are used throughout the year during Worship that serves as a fun way for the children, youth, and adults to get involved in making a joyful noise!
United Methodist Summer Camp: Contact Marc Middleton or Les Randall about the various camp opportunities that the UMC offers. The UMC has a variety of camps across the state that your youth can participate in. We offer a variety of fundraising opportunities throughout the year to help offset the cost of camp. If you have any questions, please let us know.
Youth Missions: Our Bethany UMC youth participate in a variety of mission projects throughout the year including Operation Christmas Child, 30-Hour Famine, and others. To help support these missions, our youth collect a loose coin (noisy) offering during church on the last Sunday every month.
With the current Covid-19 protocols that we have, we aren’t able to physically do that. There is a container outside of Marc’s office in education hallway that is available for you to drop off your coin. You can drop off your offering anytime during our office hours.
Other Activities: We try to plan a variety of fun activities, both on- and off-campus, for our youth and children throughout the year. Some of these include Pizza-Pizza-Laffa-Laffa, which is a pizza and Christian comedy show. We’ve attended our Conference’s U-Nite lock-in with youth throughout the district and conference. We’ve attended Winter Jam, which is a huge Christian concert. We also have done NERF nights, Laser Tag, Messy Game Nights, VBS, Lock-Ins, and more at the church as well. We also offer a variety of fundraising opportunities for our mission projects, camp scholarships, and overall ministry needs.
Check out some photos of recent activity for the youth of Bethany United Methodist Church
Marc Middletong – Youth Director 
Skating 
Learning to skate 
Ready to serve 
Putting on skates 
Roller Skating 
Operation Christmas Child 
Fork 
Easter Egg Hunt 
Easter Egg Hunt 
Showing Love to our Food Pantry 
Church dinner 
Little ones in the nursery 
Happy Volunteers 
Amy & Claire at the photo booth 
Thank you to all who were a part of the Fall Festival 
Some of the folks that helped make the Fall Festival 2015 possible 
A pretty good crowd! 
Sunday School class 
Children passing out palm leaves 
Children’s Prayer Packets 
Children’s prayers in color 
Children’s prayers in color 
Children’s prayers in color 
Children with the donkeys they created on Palm Sunday 
Children’s prayers in color
Are you looking forward to meeting Pastor Kayla? She's hosting Tea on Tuesdays at 10 and there are many opportunities to meet her. If you'd like to schedule a one-on-one, just call the church office to set up a time. Pastor Kayla is looking forward to getting to know the people of Clio and Otisville