The Miracle Offering is gathered within United Methodist churches of North and South Dakota and delivered to annual conference session. It benefits international, national, and Dakotas Conference missions. The conference Sessions Committee with the Bishop determines the annual recipients.

For the past five years the Dakotas Annual Conference has collected a Miracle Offering during the annual conference session—a gathering of United Methodist clergy and laity from across both states.  Collectively, churches and individuals have given over $575,000 to ministries across the conference and globe. Over 10,000 volunteer hours have been donated to conference missions and 20,000 clothing and household items donated to the Bakken and other conference missions.  Together we make a difference!

The theme of the 2017 Annual Conference session—taking place June 8-10 in Bismarck, ND—is “Encounter the Spirit: Live Expectantly.”  This year’s offering, “Kids Count Miracle Offering,” has both a hands-on and financial component. 

Volunteer at your local school

We invite you and your congregation to allow the Holy Spirit to breakthrough your life and the lives of the children in your community by investing your time volunteering at your local school.  There are many ways to volunteer at school reading to children, helping in classrooms, helping at a school event, assisting with a special school project, donating school supplies, creating or assisting with an afterschool program.

The goal is 10,000 volunteer hours pledged for Kids Count Miracle Offering.  Churches will be asked to report on their volunteer efforts throughout the next year.  Begin with completing your pledge card and brining it to conference session in Bismarck.

Funds for church-school partnerships and camperships

Over 100,000 children are living in poverty across North and South Dakota. Over 75% of the children have parents who work out of the home during their school years.  Church-school partnerships can help fill the gaps for kids who are lacking in school supplies, clothing, books and positive role models. 

The Dakotas Conference camping program reaches thousands of kids in our communities each summer. There are kids in communities where new worshipping communities are starting—places like Box Elder, Fargo African Worship, Kenmare, Salem, Spirit Lake and Watford City—who have never been to camp.  They have not seen a campfire, roasted a hot dog, or a marshmallow. 

The goal of the 2017 Kids Count Miracle Offering is to raise $100,000 for grants for church-school partnerships and to help new worshipping congregations send the children in their target communities to our United Methodist camps.  Eighty percent (80%) of the cash offering will go to support church-school partnerships and twenty percent (20%) will go to help our new churches send children and youth to camp.  Bring or send your offering envelopes to annual conference. 

Resources

All churches recently received a packet with materials (click to download: poster, pledge card, offering envelope, bulletin insert, letter from the Bishop) to help them promote the Kids Count Miracle Offering to their congregations. Please share this giving opportunity!