Tempe First UMC’s Sidewalk Sunday School reaches out to at-risk kids right here in Tempe. Our site is 1 of 21 sites in the Desert Southwest Annual Conference's Sidewalk Ministries program. Across the conference, the annual attendance is topping out at over 10,000 and Sidewalk Faith Communities are growing. At our site, we typically have 30 children ranging in age from 2 to 16 years and between 5-7 volunteers.

Our Sidewalk ministry at Tempe First has three major teams:

• The Visitation Team talks with the Sidewalk community. Once a month, typically a day or two before the Saturday morning ministry, volunteers go to the site (currently in the courtyard of a Tempe apartment complex) around 4:00pm and visit with the children (and sometimes their parents) about school, about any concerns or joys, and about their lives in general for approximately 30 minutes.
• The Saturday Morning Team meets in the church parking lot at 9:30 on Saturday mornings once a month, carpools to the apartment complex, and returns to the church parking lot by 11:15. On Saturday morning, volunteers help sign-in and make name-tags, play games, read books, sing songs, assist in collecting children’s prayer concerns and offerings, and/or assist with a devotional.
• Everyone is invited to participate on the Prayer Team by holding the Sidewalk community in your prayers. Children’s specific prayer concerns and joys are listed in an insert in the church bulletin on a monthly basis.

Volunteers are needed on all three teams. Because a majority of our community is primarily Spanish speaking, volunteers who speak Spanish are in great need for all teams, but especially the visitation team.

If you have any questions, or would like to participate, please contact us.