Sloppypalooza

Wow! We had 47 kids on Wednesday night (from 33 the week before). This is amazing since many of our CLPC kids go to camp during the summer, so our numbers are significantly down. About half of the kids present were neighborhood kids who saw us having fun. We're planning for 50 tomorrow!

I live for Wednesdays!

Grief for Children

Hey churches: do any of you do ongoing or sporadic grief counseling for children? We're thinking of setting something up, and we wanted to look at some ways churches are already ministering to children in this way.

Speaking of which, in January of last year, I went to a wonderful conference about children and grief. Just FYI.

Super Sloppy Summers

Pull out those ratty t-shirts because the kids (well, and adult helpers) are getting slimed again. We’ve got a whole group of incoming 3rd graders who can’t wait to participate. Truly, they’ve been asking me about it since September.

Wikiworld

Hang on to the lap bar and strap yourself in because Children’s Worship has an amusement park theme this summer. The curriculum focuses on choices we make as Christians and the kids are going to have a blast. We’re combining all ages again this summer and will meet in room C112-113 for all services. If you don’t know which room that is, look for the twinkling lights and roller coaster murals. The CW schedule will remain the same with the kids staying in the service on the first Sunday.

CLPC Zoo

We’re bringing out the animals again in SS this summer to teach aspects of Christian character development. Once again, this curriculum will only be used for elementary kids, but this year, we're moving the Kindergarteners upstairs!

Hangin' Out

One of the things that keeps coming up in CFM Meetings is about wanting more time to just hang out together as a church. With 3 services and busy schedules, it seems that people just aren’t connecting the way they want to. Families, too, are hard pressed to find activities that allow them to spend time together AND with other members of the congregation. Enter: Hangin’ Out. Two times a month, we’ll head out to the beach or the movies or wherever we have planned to just chill with CLPC. These outings will be low-key and simple, virtually running themselves and requiring little volunteer power. Plus, it will be a great chance to invite friends and neighbors to just hang out with us.

Summer of Change

This summer we're trying something a little different.

The CFM team has really looked hard at VBS these past few months and at what we wanted to get out of it. What we found is that while we’ve got great goals in mind for VBS, our current program is not achieving them. From the outside, VBS is polished and pretty, but the reality is that we’re exhausting our resources. It takes 3 people other than the DCFM to spearhead VBS, and all 3 of those people resigned last year due to burnout. Additionally, every time CFM committee members approach people to volunteer for Sunday mornings or for events, we hear the same excuse repeatedly: “I did my time at VBS.” It’s a one stop shot for people, and that’s not what VBS is meant to be.

One of the things we looked at in our meetings was that VBS should be an outreach, but in reality, we haven’t gotten ANY new people from VBS. We cap our numbers at 200, and most of those kids are already CLPC members or have churches of their own. Every January, the Clear Lake DCFMs call each other to schedule out the summer, so that our VBS weeks don’t coincide. What happens, then, is that kids travel from VBS to VBS, and sadly, we become babysitting services.

So what are our goals, then, and how are we meeting them this summer?
· We want to reach out to friends and neighbors (Hangin’ Out will reach out to all ages, not just kids, and Super Sloppy Summers brings in new kids who DO return in the fall).
· We want to have multi-generational events (Hangin’ Out will focus on babies through older adults).
· We want more family involvement (Many dads and working parents who have heard about Hangin’ Out have approached me about how excited they are for the family time it will provide).
· We want our kids to be spiritually nurtured (all of our programs are Biblically strong).
· We want our kids to have a smoother transition into youth group (Summer Safari)
· We want more mission activities for kids (Summer Safari and CLPC zoo).
· We want our kids to have good music (Passport to Adventure and Summer Safari will have great music, and we hope to have CDs for kids to take home).
· We want Tshirts (almost all the programs will have tshirts, I promise)
· We want to give our burned out volunteers a chance to recharge (simplify) and other volunteers a chance to do something new for a summer, so that we can enter Fall with a full team.
· We want to bring different program areas together to function as a church body and not in silos (Summer Safari and Hangin’ Out both meet this goal)

There’s our plan, and we will re-evaluate at the end of the summer to see if we meet our goals. I’m excited about collaborating with other ministry areas and about the needs that will be met within and without. More posts to come about what all the hype is about!

Yeah, I'm a slacker

...blogwise, anyway.

Thanks to Emerging Kids for still reading. You've prompted me to write a post today. :-)

Well, lots is going on here at CLPC. Sunday mornings are trucking along as always. We added a new prayer tent to our children's worship room. The kids are psyched about it, and it's been well received by adults who use the room for prayer, as well. Basically, it's just fabric clipped to the ceiling with binder clips, but inside the tent is a pillow, a long scarflike piece of material and 2 Glade flickering un-candles. I actually don't know the name of them, but they are an air freshener designed to look like a candle. I just took out the air freshener, and voila, we've got candles that won't break fire codes.

For Palm Sunday, we rolled out the red carpet for Jesus (literally a long piece of red butcher paper) and the kids wrote out what they would give Jesus if he came walking/riding into CLPC. My favorite response was a map of Houston, but other touching responses were a place to stay, clean clothes, and fireworks.

KidsInC has been really hitting the books hard this year, so we took March off to just have fun. We had a rodeo party (a big thing in Texas), an ice cream seder, and are prepping for a Spring Fling which translates to a pool party next week. KidsInCers are also planning a party for the preschoolers on March 30. They'll wear their pjs to church and play games, etc. The tweeners are having so much fun planning it, and the preschool SS classes can't wait to wear their pjs to church! Actually, I think the teachers are the most excited about wearing their pjs, surprisingly.

The other buzz around here is that we've decided to do some things in place of a weeklong VBS this year. You all remember my previous posts about VBS, I'm sure, but I actually sat down with my team, and we all decided that this new format would meet our goals much better. I'll post about it as soon as I get the word out to the congregation. It's pretty hush hush right now (aside from the circulating rumors). We're meeting next week to finalize things, and I'm very excited.

More soon.

Propaganda or promise?

I saw this postcard entry on Post Secret. It reminded me to examine my own ministry for empty propaganda. I generally try to avoid Cheeseville, but this postcard made me think about how much propaganda I see in kids' ministry materials/supplies and how it creeps into our classrooms innocuously.

Thoughts?

Baptism brainstorming

We're finishing up a rotation about Jesus' baptism this week, and on the last Sunday of the month, I try to have a special reflection lesson for all the elementary kids together. I had wanted to do an intergenerational baptism lesson, but our education system here is divided. Adult Ed has different elders and committee members, so they have their own thing going on that weekend.

Anyone have any ideas for refecting upon baptism itself or Jesus' baptism? Keep in mind that the kids have talked about symbolism and have done some tactile lessons with water during the rotation lessons. One of our pastors is willing to come talk to the kids, and we're hoping to view baptism from a different perspective. Another thing to keep in mind is that while we are a Presbyterian church and baptize babies, there is a strong Baptist undercurrent here in the South, so many of the families have chosen to wait until their kids feel ready to be baptized. Therefore, we want to be cognizant and respectful of that decision.

So any ideas?

Table talk

For almost a year now, our kids have had more leadership opportunities in worship. In fact, the 4pm Christmas Eve service was solely children led--no pageants, no showmanship, just worship. Because we teach about worship in Children's Worship, the kids have become not only comfortable leading worship but enthusiastic about helping lead it(The first Sunday of the month, kids help lead in the main worship service).

Our pastors have been strong supporters of this new vision for children in worship, giving them instruction, encouragement, and strong leadership roles. One such role was to say the prayer before and after communiion. The child leading (usually a 4th or 5th grader) stands directly next to the pastor, and while he/she doesn't actually pass out or even touch the elements, he/she is a part of the ritual. We've discussed communion at length, and these kids understand what and whom they are praying for.

Like I said, we've been doing this for a year now, and we've received much positive feedback from the congregants and parents; however, this past week, we received an email from an elder expressing her concern for the kids standing at the table. She said that it was "distasteful" for an unconfirmed child to be speaking at the table. Keep in mind that the pastor was presiding over the sacrament; the child's role was to say the prayer. Elders passed out the elements.

So what do you think? Where do we draw the line at what is ok and not ok for kids to do in worship? Is there a line? Is the line distinctly different between kids and adults? Who draws that line?

Emerging from silence

I've been away from blogging for awhile, not necessarily because of writer's block, but more because the web is an intimidating thing. Everything that I've wanted to write about has been silenced by the fact that blogging lacks anonymity. In a previous post, I asked the question: Do you feel that you can be completely honest on your blog, or do you find yourself holding back? I got a lot of feedback on that one, and truthfully, it scared me a little.

I'm not really good at holding back. I'm one of those "out there" free spirited types, who finds herself struggling with ministry. It's not ministry as a whole that I struggle with. I grew up as the kid of children's ministers, so I've been involved since birth. It's moreso that I struggle with how my personality fits in with "The Church." I'm direct, honest, a feminist, and I don't have any problem questioning things. Plus, I'm a mama lion when it comes to the kids I serve, so I'll confront anyone who treats them as unvalued. In some way, I'm always stirring up controversy, and while I'm well loved at the church, I also find myself well challenged. That said, I spend a significant amount of time listening for guidance from the Holy Spirit and collaborating with pastors, so the decisions I make are not random. Still they're often challenged.

I have a lot of friends who consider themselves to be Atheist, though many of them grew up in the church. They are consistently surprised that I am a Christian, stating that I embody the opposite of what Christianity preaches. To them, Christians are judgmental, fake, pushy, closed minded bullies who, I suspect, have hurt them deeply. It saddens me to have to defend my faith in this way, to defend myself and my fellow believers. I find myself saying, "No, we aren't all like that. No, really, give us a chance," but I found that these disclaimers only made things worse. Now I just listen. I listen and reflect. Are we this way? Am I this way? Who have I hurt? Am I teaching the kids to be this way, unknowingly? Do I speak Christianese, forming an exclsive little club?

And then I go to blog and find that I only want to post the good things for fear of appearing negative or fearing what people might think. And so I just quit. I silenced myself, my voice. But doesn't this just perpetuate that horrible view of Christianity? That we are fake? If I never post about the negatives, the struggles, the challenges, doubts and pains of ministry, am I being real? And more importantly, am I missing out on hearing other real voices out there? Sadly, I'm more real with my Atheist friends than I am with the Christian ones because I, too, feel I'll be judged.

One person made an excellent comment to my original question. He/she said find a real life person to share these things with. But to me, my felllow bloggers are real life people, and connecting with them online is the same to me. And truthfully, I don't think that people I talk to in person are any more real with me than they would be online. There's still a holding back pattern.

Aren't we called to be real? Yes, we are accountable for what we say online, but aren't we accountable also for what we say aloud or hold in our hearts? Ultimately, we're accountable for all to God, the one who knows us for who we really are and loves us anyway. So why can't we share that humility, that imperfection, the real person saved only through grace with everyone?

The real question is: Will I do that? I'm still struggling with it. For now, at least I broke my silence.