check out my most recent post on churchleaders.com – an article i wrote entitled “how to breathe fresh life into your vbs.” these are just a couple ideas i had and things that seem to work for us. (except meeting outside the church wall, that is still a dream of mine.)
you can find the article here.
what do you do to add some fresh life to a historic program? comment and let me hear some of your great ideas.
I am an off-the-charts extrovert, so I was thrilled with social media when it came out. More ways to connect with people, what could be greater?
I refuse to believe I am getting older and crabbier. I would like to think I am getting wiser, but these days social media is on my last nerve. (Seriously, if i didn’t need Facebook for work, it would be the first to go. I already deleted the app from my phone.) We could debate all day the negatives and benefits of social media, but what I would love to see stop is the pointing of fingers at younger generations, blaming them for using this medium immaturely. Are the younger generations perfect with social media? Absolutely not, but I have to caution all of us who blame bad behavior on the young to pause and take a hard look at the fruit of our social media. From where my profiles sit, it is Gen X (that’s me) and up that may need a lesson in social media manners.
So maybe before we pass the blame, we need to not just set a Christ-Centered example, but boldly set the standard for how believers interact on social media. What would our social media profiles and posts look like if we sifted them through a Gospel-centered filter? I have come up with a list of checks I hope to use in the future before I hit “post”. Close friends of mine, you are welcome to hold me accountable.
So as you take a look at this list, let me know what I missed and comment below.
If you saw anything I missed, feel free to add your additions to this list in the comments section.
how do you engage different generations in Gospel-centered conversation? let’s face it many seasoned adults and preteens don’t cross paths much in the church building. that is why we began our secret prayer partner ministry.
each fall we pair up our 5th-grade smasH (students ministering and serving Him) kids with an adult prayer partner in the church. the adult receives a picture and an “about me” sheet to get to know their preteen. then, each month kids receive a letter from their secret adult prayer partner (in life groups). adult prayer partners are given monthly themes to help give them content for their letters. some of the themes include: share your testimony, what is your favorite scripture, how do you study God’s word, etc.
kids have no clue who they are writing. they can ask for hints, but the adults have been instructed not to give out their identity until the end of the year. kids are challenged to write at least five sentences. (if you have ever worked with 5th-grade boys, you know what a challenge this is.) we have to make sure the kids include prayer requests so their secret prayer partner has specifics to pray for throughout the month.
kids are given smasH stationery to write on and they turn in their letters and we mail them out to their secret prayer partners. we take time and reach all preteen letters for red flags. prayer partners can email or drop off their letters. many include candy.
at the end of the year, we do a reveal where all the adults come and line up. the kids try to guess who they have been writing. they then get to meet their adult and they are instructed to pray together. the ultimate goal is for these pre-teens to have yet another adult in the church they can confide in, that can encourage them, and can point them to Jesus.
recently i got an email from a grandmother who was raising her grandson. below is an excerpt of what she shared with me. i am so thankful that God takes a little idea He planed and makes it so much more than we could ever imagine.
“When JT was in 5th grade Danielle put together some Prayer Partners for the kiddos at Dawson. Mr. Beatty and JT were paired. Mr. Beatty and JT wrote some beautiful letters to each other during that time. Mr. Beatty has continued to follow JT and even comes to his concerts.
When Chapel Choir asked about 5 people who had made an impact in his life JT listed Mr. Beatty. Mr. Beatty wrote JT a wonderful letter for Choir Tour and was at the Chapel Choir Homecoming Concert. In his letter Mr. Beatty asked JT to call him when they got back so they could have lunch. He wanted to hear all about the mission trip.
On Sunday Mr. Beatty asked me if JT liked Chick-Fil-A. I reminded him that JT was a 14 year old boy and he just liked food. Mr. Beatty said, ‘well you what a teenage boy is don’t you….he’s an appetite wrapped in skin!’ They had lunch together on Tuesday and JT got to tell Mr. Beatty all about Chapel Choir Tour.
Mr. Beatty and JT have been thoughtful, prayerful friends for 6 years. This precious example of our intergenerational church started in the Children’s Ministry and continues to be lived out and now be part of our Music Ministry.
You don’t always get to know how far-reaching what you do is. You don’t always get to know the impact your actions can have on people. You don’t always get to see God’s handiwork. So here’s a glimpse……”
let’s be honest, God could lead ministries much better than we could and without any of the mistakes, but in His perfect wisdom He chooses to use us. can we just pause and meditate on the fact that the Creator of the universe allows us the great pleasure of servicing Him? what a joy.
one of the many treasures of serving in ministry is the community of other ministry leaders we get to be a part of on the journey. i believe as a community we are stronger. when we unite together with the common cause of Christ, we can do more. when we see that our similarity of believing in Jesus as Lord and Savior is greater than the different opinions we may hold about the nonessentials, we can work together to make much of Him.
because i love to get to know and hear stories of so many who work/volunteer in children’s ministry, i wanted to create a group on facebook where we can share ideas and encouragement with one another – a place where we keep the main thing the main thing, but offer up suggestions to those we are shoulder to shoulder with in the trenches of ministry.
so if you serve in children’s ministry, i would like to invite you to join the “children’s ministry ideas & encouragement” facebook group and invite your other children’s ministry friends as well. simply click on the link below to join the group. i hope to see you there.
this past weekend i had the absolute blessing of worshipping and hearing from God’s word with over 500 other women at the rest 4 the soul retreat.
in my breakout on “faith in the fallen world” i shared that the only object of our faith is to be Jesus. to prove that He alone is worthy and capable i shared who God showed me Jesus was in each of the chapters in the book of john. i promised some friends in the breakout i would make it easier to find on my blog so here is that list!
