Congratulations to Corey Nieman, who is now our Children, Youth, and Families Minister! She accepted the call at Lakeview UCC's annual meeting on January 22 and we couldn't be happier. Corey has been working with the children of Lakeview for about five years, so it was a natural fit. She grew up in this church, after her family moved here when she was heading into 6th grade. This is her home church, and Corey can't imagine herself anywhere else, which is part of why she's so excited to take on this role. With a little bit of time under her belt after being officially called, Corey is already loving being able to work with Pastor Todd and the families at Lakeview to figure out how to meet the spiritual needs of the children and their families. She also is more than happy to work on how to fully realize and celebrate all of their individual gifts.

To that end, Corey and Pastor Todd are working on intergenerational, hands-on, “messy” faith. The goal is not only to learn about God in play, but also to meet God in that space and in the messiness of our lives. Making these programs a reality is going to take a lot of work. The number of children and families at Lakeview has doubled in the last few years, which is wonderful news, but means Lakeview needs to set up their programs to reflect this change. However, if anyone can do it, Corey can. She is amazed by the unexpected drive that came with her call to give everything she can to these kids and their families. Besides, she isn't worried about limits. As Corey told me, “One of the best things about working with children—they just don't see limits like adults do and when you spend a lot of time with them you stop seeing them too.”