the first thing i did when transitioning to a new church was to set up a goal and filter for dawson kids. i needed clarity and direction. after spending 3 weeks with a varied group of parents, we prayerfully came up with confident in Christ. this has served as an amazing tool to help keep us focused on the goal of our ministry. if an activity doesn’t help kids and families become and stay confident in Christ, we don’t do it. it’s that simple. this has been a lifesaver in trying to make the most of precious time with busy families. (it is also a continual work in progress.)
this year we also took our goal a step further. working with an amazing #kidmin team, we expanded our focus into a year long theme. our theme this year is blueprint – God’s great message. so where our focus of confident in Christ filtered our ministry and kept us accountable, this year’s theme will greatly shape each program, event, or ministry we do.
the foundation of this theme is the Gospel and each step is based on scripture. (hopefully some ones that children aren’t so familiar with.) this theme has been such a gift, because we already know what the message of our four family worships will be this year: creation, the fall, redemption, and restoration. we begin with the first one this sunday as we explore God as the uncreated Creator.
because this theme spells out what we desire for the kids and families to grasp by the end of the year, planning fall retreat was easier as well. we believe individuals, families and their community need to connect to God and each other and that is what we will explore at our family fall retreat.
i am excited to see that the diligence, extra planning, and prayer at the beginning of the year has already freed us up greatly to dig into more eternal things and not time consuming busy work. this theme will also provide a cohesive, Christ-centered year for us to walk through with families.
we are excited, but i would also love to hear how some of you plan out your year in #kidmin. comment on this post and share.