United Methodist Publishing House has recently launched the Beta version of a new community designed for church leaders, regardless of job description. It is called Ministry Matters and is located at www.ministrymatters.com.
UMPH says the goal of Ministry Matters goes beyond building a community of leadership. Their site says they “aspire to become the leading problem-solving resource site for ecumenical Christian ministry, worship, and faith formation.”
The site features a searchable database of preaching, teaching and worship planning resources pulled from earlier UMPH offerings such as ipreach.com (no longer available) and worshipconnection.com (now redirects to Cokesbury). Also available is content from Abingdon Press and other publishers.
The features of the site include:
•A search listing thousands of free resources including Bible study (by Pastor Jacqui King), teaching and reference tools, sermon starters, articles, blogs, videos, music, and more.
•The ability for users to create and store personal or shared resource collections for research and preparation.
•A way to connect with other ministry leaders with whom you share common responsibilities, concerns, and vision.
During the Beta phase (for a timeline which isn’t shared), the site claims to offer unlimited, free access to most of the available resources. They note, however, that once the Beta phase closes, many of their premium resources will be available only by subscription.
If you would like to see what they have to offer, you can sign up for a free account at www.ministrymatters.com.
