Making Meaning Together, a joint initiative of the Rio Texas and Michigan Conferences, is helping churches create meaningful worship experiences where children can fully participate. See how churches in Texas and Michigan are putting the initiative into action — and learn how your church can apply to become a 2027 partner.

What does it look like when all ages, particularly children, are welcome to bring their whole selves, authentically, to worship each week? How might this transform the congregation?

The Making Meaning Together (MMT) initiative, a joint project of the Michigan and Rio Texas Conferences, equips churches with the knowledge and tools needed to answer these questions and nurture children in worship and prayer practices.

Launched last year, MMT has provided resources and grant funding to 19 partner United Methodist churches in Michigan and Texas to launch projects designed specifically for their worship spaces. Applications are now open for 2027 partner churches, with an application deadline of October 12, 2026.

Creating Space for Children in Worship

Okemos Community Church in Michigan is one of the partner churches seeing the impact of the initiative on its faith community. Through its Making Meaning Together project, the church has intentionally created worship experiences in which children are not merely present but active participants.

The church updated its Prayground, a designated area where anyone — especially children — can experience worship through play and creative expression alongside the rest of the congregation.

Okemos also developed an intergenerational worship series centered on multisensory, hands-on experiences and created a “Worship Flow” book to help children understand what happens throughout worship, what comes next and why each part is meaningful.

For Rev. Dillon Burns, lead pastor at Okemos, one of the clearest signs of transformation has been seeing families feel more welcome and at home.

“One of the most meaningful transformations we’ve seen,” Burns said, “is families with neurodivergent children finding a place where they feel welcome and able to fully participate in worship.”

Making Meaning Together in Rio Texas

Northwest Hills UMC in Austin, Texas, has also created a Prayground as part of its Making Meaning Together project, designing the space to be intentionally integrated into the larger worshiping community.

The project became a congregation-wide effort. Church members whose own children are now college-age helped create the space, while families with younger children began using it even before it was completely finished.

The project has also opened opportunities for conversations about what it means to welcome children into worship. When questions arose about how a Prayground might affect the worship environment, church leaders invited congregation members to see the space and learn about its purpose.

Heather Taylor, project lead for Northwest Hills UMC’s MMT project, said it has been meaningful to see people from across the congregation become involved, including those who no longer have young children at home.

Applications Open for 2027 Partner Churches

Is your church passionate about making worship more engaging, meaningful and welcoming for children?

Making Meaning Together is currently accepting applications for its next group of partner churches. Churches selected through the application process will receive seed money to implement creative and intentional ways to include children in worship.

The initiative provides churches with resources and support to explore why children’s participation is vital to their spiritual growth and to put new ideas for inclusive worship into practice.

apply here

Applications for 2027 partner churches are due October 12, 2026.

Visit makingmeaningtogether.org to find out more, explore FAQs about the project, or email questions to Laura Schwarcz, MMT project coordinator, at lschwarcz@riotexas.org.

This article was originally written and published by the Michigan Conference of The United Methodist Church. It has been adapted for the Rio Texas Conference to highlight the shared Making Meaning Together initiative.