You know one the highlights of my week is hanging out in my office after church on Wednesday nights just talking with the kids. Now, you have to understand my office opens up into the church's main hallway and also has a door and windows into our Family Life Center (or gym). Our Wednesday night adult program and meal take place in the FLC. So, after classes, kids meet up with their parents in the FLC and then wait for them to stop talking and go home. The two Wednesdays I don't have elders meetings to go to after services, I open the door to my office, pull up the blinds and kids come in and hang out.
There's a candy bucket where they can get a piece of candy. The only catch is they have to personally ask me for a piece. It's quite a sight as kid after kid (from toddler to high school) file in and ask for a piece of candy. I have been doing this for about nine years and have only refused on person a piece of candy....because she refused to ask for it.
After the candy craze, kids hang out and play fooseball or look at my fish tank (a big hit with toddlers) or Hunter, my leopard gecko. There are toys around for them to play with. They talk and I listen. Sometimes there are adults in the room playing with the kids or talking, other times it's me and a packed room of kids. Some kids would rather run around in the FLC, but others hang out in my office. Some are Jr. High age, others are two.
In years past, I've been asked if I would like my office moved up to be with the rest of the staff because I am down there by myself most of the time (which isn't all bad) but then I'd miss out on hanging out in my office after church with the kids...so I say, " no thanks."
So, all that to say, create a space where kids gather after services and be available. And don't spend all of your time talking with parents. There's something about hanging out, playing and not being the teacher or the boss. Just be there. Lend an ear and play with a toy. You are building memories and making church a place to belong.
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Making use of a slow day
Well, it was a nice, quiet day in the office. Only the preacher, janitor and myself around as everyone else is out for Christmas. So, with everything slowed down, I took the chance to start cleaning out nine years of junk.
When I got started, in 1997, I didn't have many resources so I ended up keeping just about everything that came across my desk, to my inbox or in the mail. I filed and boxed curriculum, skits and whatnot and put it away for future use. But, I figure if I haven't used it in three years, there's not much use to keep it around. So, today three boxes became one and hopefully next week, that one will be lighter. There's still piles and boxes to clean out, maybe I can start the new year out with a fresh start.
It was a good week. I was able to put together a new digital newsletter that came out quite nice, if I do say so myself. Computers are amazing tools. Well, hope your Christmas is a good one!
When I got started, in 1997, I didn't have many resources so I ended up keeping just about everything that came across my desk, to my inbox or in the mail. I filed and boxed curriculum, skits and whatnot and put it away for future use. But, I figure if I haven't used it in three years, there's not much use to keep it around. So, today three boxes became one and hopefully next week, that one will be lighter. There's still piles and boxes to clean out, maybe I can start the new year out with a fresh start.
It was a good week. I was able to put together a new digital newsletter that came out quite nice, if I do say so myself. Computers are amazing tools. Well, hope your Christmas is a good one!
New Focus for Old Blog
I have decided to make this blog my daily Children's Ministry journal (of sorts). So, if you are interested in Children's Ministry, this may be helpful....hopefully not a deterrant. I love my job and the kids I work with, but some days it is work.
We'll see how it goes and what kind of habit I can make it. God bless!
Greg
We'll see how it goes and what kind of habit I can make it. God bless!
Greg
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Man, this is a lot of work!
Well, the school year is in full swing. Our Family Zone has had three or four weeks going, and seems to be successful with getting parents and kids together during the class. Families are learning side-by-side and then working through application together and then spending time in prayer together. Our home resources are still pretty weak and we really haven't stressed their use like we need to. I hope the class has encouraged spiritual discussions at home.
Kid Zone, our children's church, is reinforcing the Family Zone story which occurs the hour before. The kids have been better able to apply the story to the situations the characters find themselves in quicker and easier. They are much better able to discuss what should happen and what may happen as the character resolve their issue in the second part of the program.
All is going well, my only though right now is MAN, THIS IS A LOT OF WORK! I'm teaching the FamZone class which is a totally new situation for me working with kids to adult seniors (some of which taught me as a child). I have been involved in the start up drama, but will likely be working myself out of that role soon. Then I'm writing a full kids productin for Kid Zone and teaching a couple of other classes. The work is worth it if families are growing closer to God and each other because of it.
Kid Zone, our children's church, is reinforcing the Family Zone story which occurs the hour before. The kids have been better able to apply the story to the situations the characters find themselves in quicker and easier. They are much better able to discuss what should happen and what may happen as the character resolve their issue in the second part of the program.
All is going well, my only though right now is MAN, THIS IS A LOT OF WORK! I'm teaching the FamZone class which is a totally new situation for me working with kids to adult seniors (some of which taught me as a child). I have been involved in the start up drama, but will likely be working myself out of that role soon. Then I'm writing a full kids productin for Kid Zone and teaching a couple of other classes. The work is worth it if families are growing closer to God and each other because of it.
Friday, September 15, 2006
A Day and Counting
Well, we're about a day out from our first Family Zone. I'm definetly excited about the possibilities of this new ministry. Still a little nervous as I finalize my first lesson and the first week's resources, but still really excited.
We've got a new stage built and sound system tested so we can be seen and heard well, which have been common complaints when others tried to do dramas in the past for large groups at my church.
Lately, I've been told by folks that the reason they are excited about the class is because I tend to try to make things simple. You know, easy to understand. I don't know why we think to really go deep in the word means it has to be difficult to understand. I'm reminded of a book I have called "Simple Pictures are Best." It's an old book from my child hood. I remember seeing it read on Captain Kangaroo - yeah, it's been a while. The whole way through the book the photographer is saying, "Simple Pictures are Best," all the while the couple is bringing more and more things to be in the picture. In the end, the only thing you can see is a big black bull that got out during the whole picture process and walked in front of the camera as the picture was taken. They just tried to make the whole thing too complicated.
I think sometimes we do that when we try to teach God's word. We try to teach too much, that often nothing we're saying gets taught. I know that several Bible publishing companies are focusing in on this idea, of focusing on one thought or one idea.
So here I sit feeling the pressure to be complicated for adults but knowing that they want simple, just like children. So K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple.....Silly.
We've got a new stage built and sound system tested so we can be seen and heard well, which have been common complaints when others tried to do dramas in the past for large groups at my church.
Lately, I've been told by folks that the reason they are excited about the class is because I tend to try to make things simple. You know, easy to understand. I don't know why we think to really go deep in the word means it has to be difficult to understand. I'm reminded of a book I have called "Simple Pictures are Best." It's an old book from my child hood. I remember seeing it read on Captain Kangaroo - yeah, it's been a while. The whole way through the book the photographer is saying, "Simple Pictures are Best," all the while the couple is bringing more and more things to be in the picture. In the end, the only thing you can see is a big black bull that got out during the whole picture process and walked in front of the camera as the picture was taken. They just tried to make the whole thing too complicated.
I think sometimes we do that when we try to teach God's word. We try to teach too much, that often nothing we're saying gets taught. I know that several Bible publishing companies are focusing in on this idea, of focusing on one thought or one idea.
So here I sit feeling the pressure to be complicated for adults but knowing that they want simple, just like children. So K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple.....Silly.
Friday, September 01, 2006
Family Zone
Beginning in September, we will be starting a new era for our Sunday morning Bible class time. We will be bringing kids back together with their parents and helping parents to be the spiritual leaders of their kids. For so long, families arrived at our church and went their seperate ways. Bible classes for each age, and children's church or "Big" church and they met back up on the way to the car and to eat.
I read recently that about 10% of parents do anything spiritual with their kids during the week. I think we are seeing some of the results of this as more and more kids "check-out" of church as they get older. I ask you, what can we accomplish with forty mintues of Bible stories and maybe another hour between children's church and Wednesday nights if they don't get anything reinforced at home or worse, they see parents modeling behavior that goes against what an acquaintence has said is important in class once a week.
Now please, don't hear me saying Bible class, church or teachers are not important and don't make valuable impacts on children, but it's parents that are the biggest influencer on children. How many commercials do we see telling parents to have conversations with their children about drinking, smoking or drugs? All of them. I've never seen one for school teachers, preachers, or policemen. It's parents that make the impact by what they say and what they do.
Children's ministers have been challenged for the last few years to give this role back to parents and be a resource not a substitute.
So what's our goal? I think it's found in the mission of the class: Family Zone is a quality experience for the whole family on Sunday morning that equips parents to teach their children all week long.
That's our goal. For parents to have spiritual discussions with their kids throughout the week. We will use drama as an introduction to the topic, a host of multi-media tools to teach a solid Bible lesson and then conduct a time for families to apply this to their lives in multi-sensory activities, learn together memory verses, books of the Bible and other important Bible knowledge and finally, end the time together with families praying.
Each month will focus on a Godly virtue, drawing from the rich teaching of the Bible for demonstration and application.
We will then provide resources at church and online for families to use through out the week to futher apply and put into practice what they've learned. We will also provide opportunities for families to serve together.
This is Family Zone. It's our prayer that God helps us use this time to model and equip parents to be the spiritual leaders in their famliy. Mainly because that was God's plan.
"These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates." Deut 6:6-9 NIV
I read recently that about 10% of parents do anything spiritual with their kids during the week. I think we are seeing some of the results of this as more and more kids "check-out" of church as they get older. I ask you, what can we accomplish with forty mintues of Bible stories and maybe another hour between children's church and Wednesday nights if they don't get anything reinforced at home or worse, they see parents modeling behavior that goes against what an acquaintence has said is important in class once a week.
Now please, don't hear me saying Bible class, church or teachers are not important and don't make valuable impacts on children, but it's parents that are the biggest influencer on children. How many commercials do we see telling parents to have conversations with their children about drinking, smoking or drugs? All of them. I've never seen one for school teachers, preachers, or policemen. It's parents that make the impact by what they say and what they do.
Children's ministers have been challenged for the last few years to give this role back to parents and be a resource not a substitute.
So what's our goal? I think it's found in the mission of the class: Family Zone is a quality experience for the whole family on Sunday morning that equips parents to teach their children all week long.
That's our goal. For parents to have spiritual discussions with their kids throughout the week. We will use drama as an introduction to the topic, a host of multi-media tools to teach a solid Bible lesson and then conduct a time for families to apply this to their lives in multi-sensory activities, learn together memory verses, books of the Bible and other important Bible knowledge and finally, end the time together with families praying.
Each month will focus on a Godly virtue, drawing from the rich teaching of the Bible for demonstration and application.
We will then provide resources at church and online for families to use through out the week to futher apply and put into practice what they've learned. We will also provide opportunities for families to serve together.
This is Family Zone. It's our prayer that God helps us use this time to model and equip parents to be the spiritual leaders in their famliy. Mainly because that was God's plan.
"These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates." Deut 6:6-9 NIV
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Gearing Up for a New Season of Children's Church
Well, summer's about over and for the first time ever, we are ahead of the ball game concerning Children's Church (we call it Kid Zone). We actually have things planned out and outlined through December. Now I've still got scripts to write and multi-media to do, but with the ideas in the bag, the scripts come pretty easy.
We are still running four themes (one for each week of the month). We have a space theme which is like Star Trek meets Gilligan's Island; a Diner theme - think Alice (if you're old enough); A Western theme which is really a stagecoach outpost and finally a backyard club house detectives theme. This year we made sure each theme actually had a running story line which has made planning and writing scripts much easier.
We've still got some set items to redo - we are keeping the sets from last year, just tweeking them a bit. This year we are going to drop our 1st service Kid Zone - just not having enough kids to make it really work. So, for the first time, our Kid Zone teams nearly filled up with volunteers in one day. That just means we've got teams of people who really want to be a part of Kid Zone. This year's teams are looking to be mainly youth (5th-9th graders) and a few adults sprinkled in for good measure.
Hope your plans and curriculums are coming along, also. May God bless your Fall season!
Greg
We are still running four themes (one for each week of the month). We have a space theme which is like Star Trek meets Gilligan's Island; a Diner theme - think Alice (if you're old enough); A Western theme which is really a stagecoach outpost and finally a backyard club house detectives theme. This year we made sure each theme actually had a running story line which has made planning and writing scripts much easier.
We've still got some set items to redo - we are keeping the sets from last year, just tweeking them a bit. This year we are going to drop our 1st service Kid Zone - just not having enough kids to make it really work. So, for the first time, our Kid Zone teams nearly filled up with volunteers in one day. That just means we've got teams of people who really want to be a part of Kid Zone. This year's teams are looking to be mainly youth (5th-9th graders) and a few adults sprinkled in for good measure.
Hope your plans and curriculums are coming along, also. May God bless your Fall season!
Greg
Friday, August 11, 2006
New Website Blog
Well, I've gotten better at my personal blogs, so I thought it was time I worked on a ministry blog for this site. I hope it will serve as another tool of helping other children's ministers and maybe getting help for me, too.
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