Children's Ministry--Unpolished

Sloppypalooza

2008-06-24T16:46:00.002-05:00

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

2008-06-10T11:53:00.004-05:00

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

2008-05-30T16:07:00.004-05:00

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

2008-05-27T19:16:00.000-05:00

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

2008-05-22T12:51:00.003-05:00

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

2008-05-21T13:39:00.000-05:00

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

2008-05-18T11:31:00.002-05:00

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

2008-03-20T13:15:00.003-05:00

...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?

2008-01-21T16:15:00.000-06:00

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

2008-01-15T13:04:00.000-06:00

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

2008-01-15T12:47:00.000-06:00

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

2008-01-08T12:25:00.000-06:00

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.

Fear Not Festival

2007-10-26T14:40:00.000-05:00

Ok, I've been a terrible blogger, but a lot has happened since August. We officially kicked off the new children's worship format, so kids are learning all about what worship is and are having the kids put together their own worship service using the main worship services (and sermon themes) as a guideline. Plus, the first Sunday of the month, the kids are in the main service and are helping lead it. They were timid at first but are now scrambling to sign up for spots.

Also the KidsInCers (preteens) have been learning about spiritual gifts and have been putting their gifts into practice throughout the church. Most recently, we learned about serving, and we trick or treated for canned goods for the local food pantry. That was a blast.

Fifth graders have been busy helping teach Sunday School once a month to the little kids. And they served lemonade to the adults after SS.

Personally, I have now officially run a marathon and am thinking about training for another one.

And that brings me to the title of my post--the Fear Not Festival. We're having a carnival type of atmosphere downstairs with crafts and games, etc, but upstairs is the main attraction. Each room upstairs is a different interactive Bible story. Kids will sit in a huge boat as it rocks and shakes with thunder and lightning in the background and then will watch the sunrise as the disciple tells them about how Jesus calmed the storm. Kids will crawl into a giant pit while they hear about Joseph being abandoned by his brothers. They will also hear the story of the resurrection firsthand from Mary in our version of a cemetery and will wind through the wheat fields to hear about Ruth's journey into a new land.

We're very excited, and I will post pictures soon.

Ach! Sorry!

2007-08-09T16:15:00.001-05:00

I've been a terrible blogger recently, but life has actually kept me very busy. I'm in the process of moving, training for a marathon, helping my grandma transition into assisted living, attending reunions with friends, and finally spending a week on planning leave.

The good news, though, is that I have a good vision for the CLPC kids this fall. As I mentioned in a previous post, the theme of our Back to School Weekend is CLPC's Amazing Race (Hebrews 12). For the first time, we've all sort of embraced that theme in our different areas, and I can finally see silos start to come down as we work toward a common goal together. Praise God!

It's been pretty easy for me to grasp this theme since I'm training for a race myself (a coincidence, actually). And as I've learned in my training, I need to focus as much on the miles I've run already as I do on the ones ahead. The same thing goes in ministry this fall. I sent a letter out to volunteers reminding them of the great strides we made at CLPC this last year together, and just writing the letter made me excited about what's to come.

I've got to pace myself, though, as I have a tendency to rush toward the future in everything I do (including running 26.2 miles). And God has really been showing me that I've still got to slow down and focus on training this semester--training of volunteers, parents and kids.

So here's the plan in a nutshell:

Like the adults, our preteen group will be doing a unit on Spiritual Gifts this fall. I've been writing the curriculum all week, and I'm soooo ready to implement it. The best part is that once the kids sort of find the gifts they enjoy and are comfortable with (I like this way of looking at giftings rather than labeling kids and putting them into a box), we're going to give them an opportunity to use them. I plan to pull out kids from Sunday School classes occasionally and help them learn to PLAN what we're doing in CM. For example, I'll pull out the hospitality/encouragement group and work with them on how to make kids feel loved and welcomed in SS and worship. They'll help come up with ideas and then carry them out with help from adults who have the same giftings.
I've scheduled 3 different types of trainings for volunteers: email, face to face, and teacher talks (get together at a kid friendly restaurant and, with a guided table topic, discuss ways to help each other in ministry).
I've also scheduled a parent appreciation Sunday where the kids will put together some sort of video and there will be refreshments, etc. I'm sneaky, though, and I plan to use this event to encourage parents to sign up to volunteer.
Coupling with adult ed to have some panel discussions on ADHD, Asperger's, etc. We have several child psychologists in the congregation and families whose lives are touched with these learning differences, and it's time we tap into those resources.
I've divided my team up into 2 groups: CFM discipleship and CFM special events, in order to utilize their gifts more effectively.

So there it is on paper and in cyberspace, and I'm praying it works in reality. It needs to happen though, so now is as good a time as any.

Ok back to my planning (and another cup of coffee).

BTSW 2007

2007-07-11T16:28:00.001-05:00

I can't believe it's almost Fall and time for planning the big Back to School Weekend. Last year, we had a safari theme, but this year, it's the Amazing Race type of thing, and we are giving ministry areas different countries. BTSW is an all church event, kind of like a volunteer fair/outreach event. Each ministry sets up a booth with a game or something and uses that opportunity to give people the chance to know more about what we have to offer and/or to sign up to volunteer. During the worship services, we spend time praying for teachers/administrators/cm teachers and professionals/homeschoolers/students. It's a pretty big deal. Here's my CFM team blog post about it. We do our meetings virtually for the most part because of crazy schedules. To my readers from around the world--please let me know of any ideas you have to make your country's representation more authentic. Our area is only doing 4, but most of the major countries of the world will be assigned (and some smaller ones, as well). Keep in mind that it's for all ages (I just post about elementary and under) and that some of the ministry areas do something more solemn like a prayer wall or a missions project.

2007-07-10T07:57:00.001-05:00

For some reason, blogger won't let me put a title on this one. This is why I need to switch to wordpress. Sigh, perhaps by fall. I'm such a slacker.

Anyway, I'll make my own title: SUPER SLOPPY SUMMERS REVEALED

I guess I never really explained SSS to anyone, so here goes. SSS was the spawn of a brainstorming session between a friend (youth director at a previous church) and me. I was the CE director, and we were trying to come up with a way for the kids to have fun and a way to connect the jr highers with the preteens (3rd-5th grade). I already had KidsInC going at that church (same preteen group you read about on this blog, only different church), and we had a big sib/little sib program going. The jr highers would pick a tweener, send them secret pal type notes, and then there was a big reveal at a campout type of retreat. The big sibs then would take the role of mentoring the little sibs, teaching them all about youth group and then finally mentoring them as the 5th graders graduated into 6th grade. This way, the kids already had a friend in the group, and the transition was smoother.

Well, we were planning the campout, and as campouts do, things got sloppy in our planning (sloppy in a good way), and then we thought, what if we did an entire summer of this? So we put our heads together, I came up with the name (I think) and then we went crazy planning, and we invited jr highers in for their input bc everyone knows that jr highers love to get little kids messy. The first SSS had a theme: Peer Pressure, and we let the jr highers take the role of counselors.

Counselors would have colored bandanas, and the kids would be placed in color groups. Each group did an ice breaker to start and also had to make up a cheer for their team, and then they rotated from mess to mess, with each mess reinforcing the theme for that day. We even had a movie station outside for clips to emphasize the theme (yes, we had a license).

SSS day came, and we had TONS of kids. I can't emphasize the amount of kids well--TONS! Think megachurch kids on a little church budget. We had strategically set it outside in view from the street so that neighboring kids would come, and they did. It became way too much for our little church to handle with only 2 staff and a sprinkling of youth volunteers and with the fact that I left shortly thereafter, so we didn't do a second one, but the memory lingered, and I think that after I left the current CE director did a smaller version of it.

Older and wiser, I've tweaked this one, and I also work at a much larger church with more volunteers. Sadly, the youth are very busy with their own activities and a bit removed, so I haven't gotten to get the involvement that I wanted. It's such an integral part of it. So what I did this summer was make the 5th graders (upcoming 6th graders) counselors with an adult leader, and that has worked pretty well.

At CLPC, we have SSS every Wednesday night, at the same time as KidsInC. Really, it IS KidsinC; we just change the name for summer. It's 1 1/2 hours divided as such: pizza time and table topics, small group icebreaker, small group challenge (groups compete against each other), large group activity (groups disband for a bit) and then small group discussion time and snack(leaders are given discussion questions based upon the theme) and finally hose down--their favorite.

I looked at Summer Camp curriculum by Standard Publishing for ideas. They didn't have this curriculum when we did SSS a few years ago, and I'm not used to following any curriculum, so I just use it as a base and springboard off. Some of the themes are good (some lacking), and if you need everything spelled out for you, it's a great resource. An incredibly detailed writer, she leaves nothing to the imagination, which is preferable for some people, especially if you've never done anything like this before. I prefer to pick and choose a few activities, tweak them to make them messier or to make a more solid connection to the theme or change the theme all together. Then I add some activities from other books, make them messier, and add some others from my head or pick the brains of the kids. Really, any CM "game" book works if you just add some whipped cream to the supply list or chocolate pudding. Take Duck Duck Splash from my last post--a tweak on an age old game. Let your imagination run wild.

The key is to make sure you have volunteers who don't mind getting kids dirty. I had a couple of volunteer moms who didn't want to put chocolate syrup on the kids so they just drizzled a few drops. This was because they pitied the poor parents who had to wash the clothes (and because they felt girls shouldn't get dirty--sigh, when will this antiquated thinking die?). I tell parents to dress the kids for a mess, and they actually sign medical release forms that have a little note at the bottom about understanding that clothes will get very dirty. So I just walked over, opened up the vat of syrup and poured it on kids with a soundtrack of mass giggles in the background. You also have the option of "no mess kids," outlined in Summer Camp. They wear stickers that say don't get me messed up and shower caps on their heads. I have never had a kid need one.

Another key: goggles. Cheap eye safety. And garbage bags with holes cut out of the top make great ponchos for sending kids home. Parents love them. Just splurge on decent sacks. I bought some from the dollar store, and they were all gathered at the bottom so that when I cut a hole in the top, it made 4 holes. It looked like Charlie Brown's ghost costume from Great Pumpkin.

I think that's about it.

SSS Summer Picnic

2007-06-27T21:22:00.000-05:00

Tonight's Super Sloppy Summers was picnic themed. We ate outside and then had a whipped cream pie eating contest where you had to find the cherry sour in a pie tin of whipped cream without using eyes or hands. We also played blanket volleyball with water balloons, which actually ended up being a very nice lesson in unity and cooperation because it was much more difficult than I thought it would be. We covered the parking lot in sidewalk chalk paint [I love the stuff]. And we played duck duck splash, which is like duck duck goose but with a splash ball--oh, and the mush pot was actually a giant rubbermaid container filled with instant mashed potatoes. That was awesome, and I am sure that you can guess what happened after we were done--mashed potato fight! I just found mashed potatoes near my armpit, actually.

Small group time involved discussing the feeding of the 5,000 and also what Jesus meant by the term bread of life.

So much fun, and parents are telling me that the kids countdown the days until the next one. That's cool to me.

postsecret

2007-06-24T19:14:00.000-05:00

I am a big fan of this site and am thinking of adapting it for use in children's ministry. I pray for each and every secret.

And in keeping with the theme of secrets and confessions, I have to admit that I would like to write on this blog a few more of my frustrations with ministry and even seek advice on what to do about situations at work, but I don't due to a fear of someone at work reading it or any other retribution of writing about them. I am a little more candid than most of my friends (I actually admitted that I hated VBS, and man, the negative feedback I got from that offline--seems you just can't be honest anymore, since being 'negative' is such a sin ). Still, there are things that come up that I just don't write about. Think, though, of the support and help we could give each other as ministry professionals if we could just be totally honest on a blog.

Am I the only one who holds back?

Random Shout Out

2007-06-15T16:01:00.001-05:00

I just noticed that I have a lot of knitters who read my blog. Knitters, you have my utmost respect for the patience and artistry that comes with your talent. I sometimes just look at the pictures of the things you make, and it makes me smile.

Note to Self

2007-06-14T21:12:00.000-05:00

When having a fundraising hot dog dinner, remember to put a gigantic sign out front that reminds people to only get 2 hot dogs apiece to start. Otherwise, people think it is an all you can eat buffet and will pile 6 hotdogs on their plates.

And another weird question...if you buy an equal number of hot dogs and an equal number of buns (and you know this because you are meticulous about such things), how do you run out of buns and still have hot dogs? Do people just eat buns plain? Are they carb loading or on some anti atkins kick? Is there a bun gremlin just like the sock gremlins? Does it go into another dimension? I wonder these things.

Pentecost

2007-06-10T18:00:00.000-05:00

Our multigenerational Pentecost celebration was such a blessing. Everyone got into it, and I was very pleased. I planned it with the adult ed person who is really starting to get into reading about different generations, which is a great asset in an adult ed person.

We started out together and listened to the kids and youth read the Pentecost story, which was illustrated (and projected onto the screens) by the KidsInCers. Then we moved upstairs and rotated freely around to stations--making windsocks, making pinwheels, constructing balsa wood airplanes [a very cool station because it was led by an airplane enthusiast and a prominent NASA person], candle making, cupcake decorating [birthday of the church, you know], bubbles etc. We also had a missionary visiting who pilots planes to bring supplies to remote villages in Africa. I guess you can see that we were trying to emphasize the wind and fire imagery of the Holy Spirit. Anyway, it was the coolest thing to see the ages intermingle. At one point, I saw an elderly man in a wheelchair holding up his airplane with a smile that rivaled his neighboring 6 year old seatmate. From the smile, you couldn't tell who the 6 year old was, and the man began telling the boy about his plane, and soon, 2 girls came up, and then a huge crowd was gathered. In fact, the buildings and grounds people were counting to make sure we didn't bust fire code.

Then the crowd broke, and they all headed down the stairs and elevators with wind things in hand and filled the sky with their toys, smiles beaming brighter than the sun.

I stood there, red velvet cupcake in hand [cream cheese icing mustache atop my grin] thinking, yep, this is good. This is very, very good.

VBS and burgers

2007-06-10T17:15:00.000-05:00

Ok, let me clarify why I hate VBS, but first I need to talk about my favorite burger place.

I don't eat many burgers, especially now that I'm training for a marathon, but when I do, I don't go for McDonalds or the higher class, Fuddruckers. I go to Lucky Burger. The building is shaped like a sombrero and serves up a nice 1/4 lb burger with a side of some of the best fried rice in town. When I go out of town, I search for these sort of places because I like the indigenous, the eclectic, the heterogeneous. I'm just not a happy meal kind of gal.

Now onto VBS. Many years ago, VBS was a different animal. It kind of had the feel of a backyard Bible camp, the closeness of small groups, a distinct personality, and just overall simplistic fun. Perhaps it is just my "neck of the woods," suburban, affluent Houston, TX, but things just aren't the same. Now, VBS is prepackaged, overpriced, and homogeneous to the point that aside from the theme, you can't tell the difference between publishers. One has a chipmunk and a buffalo telling about Jesus, and another has a mouse. It's all the same.

Now don't get me wrong--it runs like a well-oiled machine. When I started this job a year ago, I was told that I didn't have to do anything but walk around and smile, and they were right. Here it is, a year later, and aside from adding a rather large missions component to it, I'm the smiling poster queen, but I hate that. Why don't I do anything about it? It's because at this point, it runs smoothly, it's not broken, per se, and since I am a one staff member team, I've got to pick my battles.

Now to answer Trisha's question-- yes, I am ministering. If you read the rest of my blog, you can see the many, many areas in which we are ministering. I'm busy because I am constantly in prayer, constantly in motion, thinking of ways to minister inside and outside our community and doing all of them. The problem is that VBS is not a ministry to me, at least not in this area. The churches around here call each other in January to find out which publisher each church is using so that they don't duplicate. They also pull out their calendars and fight over weeks because down here, parents want cheap (yes, we charge for VBS down here because the curriculum is so expensive and so are the tshirts and all the little dodads that go with it) babysitting all summer--every week should be filled with a VBS from somewhere, and it is. June is the Baptists, us, the Church of Christ and the Methodists. July is taken by independence day, the Bible church, the other Baptist church, the nondenominational mega church, etc. It is sickening.

And because it is a well oiled machine, it is the most efficient choice to put a cap on the amount of kids who come--200. It means better security, better organization, better planning. It also means that once Suzie and her little friend Betsy and all their little goldilocks friends pay their tuition with checks clipped together to ensure that they are in groups together, the chairperson/s begins having to turn away neighborhood kids, last minute move ins, kids who are outside the flock and sometimes worse turn away reasons--I've seen it all from churches around here, not just ours. That's not ministry to me, but it's the obvious choice when you're doing one of these kits.

I have a volunteer crew of brilliant, creative women and men, and yes, they run the ship so well that it is flawless year after year, but to me, their brilliance and love of the Lord is lost in the midst of (forgive me using the phrase again) Chuck E Church, and the kids get lost in it, too. But my team is only so big, and we are planning unbelievable ministry opportunities all the time, so I can understand why doing something as simple as Group VBS sounds easy and wonderful.

Two years ago, I worked for a church in Bolingbrook, Il that didn't have the funds for one of these VBS to go boxes. We put our heads together and created our own VBS. It was called Bible stories come to life, and the kids became a part of the Bible stories. They crawled into an ark that we made of crates and pallets and heard the story while a friend of mine and I ran around outside holding up rainbows and blue streamers and spraying the window with water and making fake birds fly. Yeah, it was low budget, but the kids loved it, and every one of them could tell you the story afterward. "Yeah, but it's Noah, you say. " Ok, well we also made a life sized ark of the covenant, created a river in the church hallway with rocks and reeds on the side, had the kids carry the ark down the river and into the temple, etc. We had the kids blow trumpets to crumble the wall of Jericho and on another day, had them sit inside the dark well/pit while looking up at the tiny light in the ceiling and hearing the story of Joseph. This was ministry--this was VBS to me, and I even adapted the idea to create the Fear Not Festival last year, which was astounding because of my volunteers' brilliance and artistry. That is my idea of VBS.

Well, I've rambled on enough, and you hopefully understand my point of view now, and if you don't, well, I can't ramble on anymore. It's not that VBS is bad, it's just another happy meal, and next year, maybe we'll do something more.

forever busy

2007-05-25T22:53:00.000-05:00

Ok, sorry I've been gone for forever, but I just haven't had time to blog. I'm training for a marathon, and I'm busy planning summer programs and such.

Just finished the last KidsInC for the year and am planning Super Sloppy Summers. The tshirts came in last week, and they are awesome.

Today we decorated for CLPC zoo, and the tshirts came in for them, as well. I'm really excited about this program, and I think the kids will be, too. Also, I'm piloting a new curriculum for the preschoolers.

We've also got VBS underway (secretly, I hate VBS. I'd put it on a post secret postcard, but the public wouldn't care, I don't think, so I'll just say it here--I HATE VBS or at least what it has become), and so that's a time consumer, and then this weekend, we've got this ubercrazy Pentecost celebration going on, which is cool and multigenerational, but man, it is a lot of work.

And then we're constructing an underwater classroom for children's worship, which is a blast. My deco team is outstanding. I couldn't do my job without them.

Add to that some computer problems, and you see why I haven't blogged.

So can you tell I need a vacation? Yeah, I scheduled a little minibreak for New Orleans, but I'm hoping to get out to DC or to CA for at least a week in July. My year anniversary is June 1, and I haven't had a day off yet, other than my Mondays and an occasional holiday.

Anyway, I hope to be a more faithful blogger. Sorry about that.

DC area churches

2007-05-10T11:47:00.000-05:00

My elder (and VBS chairperson) and her family are moving to the DC area. Anybody know of some churches with great children's ministry out there? They've got a 1st and 4th grader.

They are Presbyterian, but they might look outside Presbyland. Traditional (stand and sit hymn) services are not their style, btw.

Lock-In

2007-05-08T17:50:00.000-05:00

Amazing. That's the word for it. Amazing.

I just looked at the pics today and relived all the fun. We had 10 extra kids from the church (those who normally don't come to KidsInC) and about 5 visitors and then our normal crew. Here are the highlights (remember the theme was friendship):

Pizza--we always start with pizza
I shared pictures of my friends and me throughout the years. The kids loved laughing at my 80s hair and grunge look in the 90s. Plus, one of my friends was able to come and help that night, so I was able to share that friendship story, too.
encouragement bags--they decorated bags and put their names on them, and we put them in a designated area. Throughout the night, people could write notes of encouragement to each other, and then they'd get to open their bag the next morning at breakfast.
small group time--making fellowship posters about what it takes for a good friendship; discussion of great friends in the Bible and what held their friendship together
getting acquainted games--they had a lot of fun with these, and they learned a lot about each other. They were designed so that kids had to get out of their cliques and comfort circles and learn more about everyone. Then they had to pick one person they talked to and write an encouragement note to them.
small group time--snack sculptures (playing with food; we took pictures and voted on them at breakfast); trust drops and some discussions about trust and some "opening up" questions; writing an encoragement note to someone in their group
partner games--random games to break them up into partners and then doing a trust walk with their partner down to the gym (one is blindfolded); encouragement note to partner
large group time--run them until they are about to pass out games. My favorite? Go to the Wall. Yell out, "Everyone who loves ______, go to the wall" and they have to run the length of the gym. They love this, and you can keep them running for as long as you need, AND you can tie it in by talking about how we all have different likes and dislikes and even peer pressure (did you run just because you didn't want to stand without your friends?)
small group time--playing board games together (Friendzee is a great game)
lights out--we watched movies until they fell asleep

It was great, and the adults were running right along with them. So much fun! One of my favorite parts was that a visitor became really close friends with another girl that night.

Back in action

2007-05-07T11:40:00.000-05:00

I've been down with a hardcore virus (me, not the computer) this past week, but I plan to update soon on the KidsInC lockin and summer plans. Just wanted to check in.

KidsInC tonight

2007-04-04T21:12:00.000-05:00

Well, it didn't go as planned, but it was great! (Isn't that always the way?) We just found out that one of our 1st graders has juvenile diabetes, and her sister (a 4th grader) is in KidsInC. Many of the kids had questions, so I pulled off this great school guide from the juvenile diabetes research foundation. It has a complete series of lesson plans, and we worked through bits and pieces of them tonight while they ate pizza (usually we have table talk topics during this time). This took longer than our usual eating time, but it was well worth it to dispel any myths. One great section of the curriculum involves how to treat people with diabetes (like a friend!) and has some role playing exercises.

Then we played a life sized board game that walked the kids through the journey of Christ to the cross. Basically, it consisted of pieces of colored paper and a few props. Kids threw a giant die and moved (in groups) the number of spaces. When they landed on a plain piece of paper, they each just had to put one foot on the square or they had to go back to the beginning (the Jerusalem City Gate). If they landed on a pink paper, they had to follow the directions on the paper (go ahead 3 spaces, for example). Finally, if they landed on one of the place spaces (the temple, the upper room, Garden of Gethsemane, the Sanhedrin place, Pilate's place, Golgotha, and the tomb) they had to answer a question about the life of Christ. If they got it correct, they continued. If they missed it, the team had to stay on that place space until they answered a question correctly. The team to reach the tomb first and answer a series of questions wins.

The kids had a blast, and it actually took almost an hour to play! So we didn't get to do our tenebrae service, but one of the parents brought homemade hot cross buns, and they decorated them with icing crosses and read the last words of Christ, so though not as solemn, it worked.

Spiritual Gifts

2007-04-04T21:07:00.000-05:00

Looking ahead to the fall:

I'm wanting to do a series in the preteen group on spiritual gifts. Anyone know of any good inventories, ideas, curriculum?

KidsInC Lent

2007-03-28T22:30:00.000-05:00

Ok, sorry for the 3rd post in a row, but there's a lot going on. In KidsInC (preteen ministry), we've been doing a Lenten series which came from a hodgepodge of places (books, my head, worship planning, etc). One book that has some really good ideas in it is Seasons of Faith by Abingdon Press. I don't use it exclusively but more as a springboard for ideas. It's a great building block.

We've worked on Jesus' baptism and created a "river" for them to put their feet in while we told the story. It was basically a covered wading pool, some water, pebbles, sand, and some fake rocks and plants, but they got the point, and they loved the tactile sensory stuff. We also did the temptation of Jesus, which led into some peer pressure issues, and then Jesus' healing which was nice because we incorporated some activities from the Bo's Place grief seminar and opened up some great discussion in small groups. And today was the Triumphal Entry lesson. The Seasons of Faith book has some great art projects like a mural incorporating all of these lessons and a Lenten Tree which the kids have had fun decorating.

Next week, it's the Cleansing of the Temple to the Crucifixion, and we're ending the time with our version of a Tenebrae service, which I'm very pumped about. And then the following week, we're doing our Easter celebration, and they can't wait for that.

Then we're doing our monthly service project which this time is goodie bags for the confirmands who go before Session that weekend, and then it's time for our retreat which is going to be focused on friendships.

Ok, I should probably go to sleep now, but I'm just psyched. It was a great night with soooo many kids--a little chaotic, but that's always fun!

CW 4 and Palm Sunday

2007-03-28T22:20:00.000-05:00

The pilot is finished, and it was a huge hit! I haven't gotten many parent surveys back yet, but the kids' surveys were all positive. In fact, the only suggestions they gave for improvement were for more stations. Yup! When we get more volunteers...though the response for volunteers for this pilot was actually very positive. Whether that will wane when this becomes a permanent fixture remains to be seen, however.

Verbal parent feedback was also positive, though there are some funny faces when I tell them that the kids will be in the service for the entire time this weekend and that there won't be any cute processionals--we'll ALL have palms in the pews. I think they'll be pleasantly surprised. Plus, the kids have worked very hard on their leadership roles for worship this weekend; we did a dry run with mics tonight, and it was outstanding. It's the first time in the church (and anywhere else I've seen for that matter) where anyone but the pastors have spoken elements of a sacrament (communion), and that is very, very cool to me. They are leading communion alongside the pastors, saying the Great Thanksgiving and prayers for the people, etc. It's very exciting, and I'm lucky to have such forward thinking and kid loving associates.

Pentecost update

2007-03-28T22:17:00.000-05:00

So now the thought is that KidsInC, our midweek preteen program, will illustrate the different aspects of the story of Pentecost, and then we'll scan them and project them on the screen as we tell the story.

We're doing a similar thing for Sunday School this weekend. All grade levels are going to get a different "station of the cross" scripture to illustrate and then hopefully, we'll get to display them in order during Holy Week.

Pentecost

2007-03-23T21:41:00.000-05:00

We're (adult ed and CFM) planning an intergenerational (well at least semi-intergenerational--the youth tend to do their own thing) SS event for Pentecost which will involve the telling of the story and then a bunch of different stations for activities including the following:

windsocks
kites
bubbles
candles
cupcake decorating (bday of the church)
pinwheels

Then, after they make their crafts, we're going outside and flying the kites and such (provided the weather is good). It sounds kind of boring on here because I just hit the highlights, but I think it will be a nice event, and it's cool that adult ed approached me about planning something together! Maybe we'll start breaking down some of the silos after all.

CW2,3

2007-03-23T19:36:00.000-05:00

The last two Sundays of the CW pilot have been amazing. Our numbers were a little small last week due to spring break, but I was glad to see several visitors coming back.

What was interesting to me was comments from parents whom I haven't met before who brought their kids back because the kid "really liked it." Let me explain. These kids don't come to Sunday School, which is rotation and supposedly fun filled and action packed. [Personally, though I like rotation SS much better than popsicle stick Jesus SS, I think it lacks something, but that's an issue I can't tackle right now, and I try to supplement the lessons as much as possible.] But they come to the Children's Worship pilot--no curriculum, no "action," no puppets (puppets give me the heeby jeebies anyway), no flashy lights and mesmerization--just pure adoration and worship of God. It's simple, heartfelt, and real, and these kids want to come back for it. I'm amazed and overwhelmingly happy by that. They aren't coming back to CLPC because of what we're giving them. They're coming back because they enjoy worshiping God, and that is just...well, I don't have words for it...indescribable.

The other interesting comment I've heard is from the workers who all say that the kids are more focused and involved than they've ever seen before. Again, so cool bc it's just pure God and not a bunch of smoke and mirrors.

We've done the worship with our hearts and strength, and this weekend is soul, which I'm particularly jazzed about because a group of kids are doing an interpretive dance as the message. They choreographed much of it themselves based upon the music and lyrics, and it is enough to bring you to your knees. And we're even going to have a dance station where they can just freely dance to music. I'm a dancer, though, so it's cool to me. We tried to vary the messages for the pilot: drama, video, discussion circles, and now dance, just to give them a flavor for the many ways to praise God. And we've varied the prayer station, too, last week being rocks that the kids could write their prayers on. Note to CM workers: that was a hit. They really got into that and put them in their gardens or special places when they got home.

We're putting out a survey for the kids and parents this week, so I'll be interested in seeing what they have to say about it.

Think God!

2007-03-09T10:59:00.000-06:00

Worship Pilot week 1 went well. The theme was "Think God! Worshiping God with your Mind." We had a few technical difficulties at the beginning, but they were soon resolved.

From my perspective, it seemed that the kids were very engaged, particularly because we kept them moving with sign language and movements for many of the creeds and songs. Plus, the more emergent part of the service was very well received. The message for the day was in the form of a drama, and Exalt (the kids' worship team) presented it beautifully.

One of the adult helpers shared her thoughts:

"I was in the break out prayer room with the children. I told the children to write a letter to Jesus either thanking him for everything or telling him a problem or concern they have or anything they want to tell Jesus.

I wasn't trying to read theirs but a couple of the children shared with me. They were so touching I almost cried. One little first grader was writing her letter and wrote to Jesus that she wanted him to take care of her cousin in heaven that had died. Then below that she drew a picture of a tomb with a little boy inside with Jesus holding the little boy and above it was the cross and below the tomb was grass and flowers. But the cross was very large and prominent over the little boy's grave.

Another little girl wrote a long note to Jesus very detailed but I did not read it but below it she drew a large cross and in it she drew Jesus with his hands and feet nailed to the cross and above it she wrote. He died for Me! Then around the cross was a couple of angels. Anyways she spent a long time with lots of detail and I thought it was such a great picture and depicted what Christ did for her and us."

We also had a station with heaps of different types of Bibles from comic book style to a standard NIV. Here's what a volunteer had to say:

"What I liked about Sunday was the reading room. I went in there to see how the kids were doing, and several of them asked me to read a story out of the Bible. They would be looking at all the different versions and pick a story and then I would read it. They would all sit around me (almost cuddle up to me) while I read. It was really nice. And, it was several of them, not just a few and not just my son (I don't even think he asked me to)."

All in all, it didn't go exactly as I had in my head-- a seamless, polished service. I had different plans for music (songs with visual images of nature and unbelievable crosses that the executive assistant put together), but the music department had plans for a large chunk of kids being gone to sing in the main service so to compromise, we had the kids come worship and then sing in our service. The music was very choral/ecclesiastical, but it worked, and it showed another form of leadership through singing in a choir. And that's when I was reminded: this was His service--let go. And I did, and it was amazing.

Ash Wednesday

2007-02-27T22:23:00.000-06:00

One more little blurb:

As I mentioned earlier, we did a dry run the week before Ash Wednesday to allow kids to ask questions about Lent, about the service, about the ashes, about the sanctuary--everything! As always, they kept me on my toes with astute questions.

We also talked about the importance of a holy, sacred space, and I encouraged them to find something sacred to them to focus on before they even walked in the sanctuary, to remind them of the holiness (akin to taking shoes off before standing on holy ground). At the service itself many of us sat together (although some kids preferred to sit with their parents), and the kids received ashes. I was moved by their solemnity and the energy they put toward looking up the scripture passages and writing out their sins on the flash paper (later dropped in the urn at the altar).

After it was over, several of the kids came up to me and said, "Ms. Kim, it said on the bulletin to enter in silence, but some of the adults were talking. Don't they know it is a holy place?"

In SS, we've been discussing Jesus calling the children, so I reminded them that Jesus called children examples of the Kingdom of God. What examples they were that night!

Pilot starts March 4

2007-02-27T19:45:00.000-06:00

It's almost here, the Children's Worship Pilot. We're doing 4 weeks and studying how to worship God with your heart, soul, strength, and mind. We've also got a technology group to put together multimedia presentations.

Also, we've got a children's worship leadership group called Exalt who meet once a week to plan leading worship. They will lead during the pilot and will also lead alongside adults in all three regular Palm Sunday Services.

Ok, more on this later. It's 10:30 and I just got out of Session meeting! I'm probably repeating earlier posts, so forgive me!

APCE and Vday

2007-02-12T23:35:00.000-06:00

The conference was jam packed with activity. I don't have much to share from the seminars--at least not anything I haven't learned in past workshops. The plenaries were outstanding, though--Frances Taylor Gench.

Valentine's dinner was spectacular. We reached capacity and had a nice mix of ages. The older adults and other non-parents were so complimentary of the kids, and it was nice for them to get to see how hard the kids work in this church and to see how much they love serving. And the kids had fun! It was awesome bc they would come up to me and ask if it was ok to do this and that, and their ideas were amazing! Truly it was a success.

Helping kids work through grief

2007-01-29T10:09:00.000-06:00

I recently went to a 2 day seminar on helping children cope with grief and trauma at Bo's place . It's a fantastic facility doing amazing work, and they gave me permission to highlight some of the seminar's events online, since they are only local to Houston.

The first part of the seminar was understanding the grief response and mainly comes from J. William Worden.

Then they began to focus solely on kids, breaking the grief cycle up by ages and giving the following general advice (keeping in mind the age of the child):

Answer questions honestly and openly--Avoid euphemisms bc the young child will view them concretely, and the older child will view you as inauthentic
Allow child's own time table-don't push or lead the child into a certain direction
Reflect back feelings (validate), and reassure concerns for safety
Allow for repetition in discussion; each time a child repeats a story or part of a story, he/she is allowing himself/herself to feel and process the emotions associated with it a little bit more.
encourage physical activity
help child to connect with a support system
be mindful of anniversaries
encouraging kids to get the emotions out; if they are reticent, tell them to cry in the shower bc you're alone there and wet anyway

Much of the other general advice they give is what we give to all children--building trust, etc.

Activites and resources:

Bring in an item of clothing from the family member who died and let the kids make a giant pillow out of it
Monster Stomp
Bring in concrete images for preschoolers (e.g. a dead leaf and a live plant)
When Dinosaurs Die
Write a letter to the person who died
Anything from here
Tear Soup
Tibetan Prayer Flags--write on them things that you wish to tell the person who died, and then hang them outside (wind takes the prayer to God is the visual image)
journaling
make a grief garden (paper flowers attached to tongue depressors that you put in a flower pot with rocks in it--write on the flowers things that you appreciate or have learned from the grief)
Journey Map--what landmarks or geographical things would you see on a map of your grief journey
quilt squares
Tri fold paper (past, present, future--how you feel)
Fire in my heart Ice in my veins

There was much more, but it's tough to condense it into a blog post. Hope you can use some of it (and actually some of the activities could be tweaked for things other than grief).

Conferences and seminars

2007-01-19T11:56:00.000-06:00

Lots of seminars coming up:

Good Grief for Kids
APCE--this one I'm attending more for networking and because a church member is receiving a lifetime achievement award
Promiseland--having recently moved from Chicago, I'm not a huge fan of Willow Creek personally (megachurches just aren't my personal style, and frankly, Barrington has always struck me as a monoethnic suburban nightmare), but they do have great leadership conferences.

Anyone attending any of these?

Upcoming happenings

2007-01-19T11:35:00.000-06:00

This has been a week of nonstop meetings and planning (what else is new?), but there are wonderful things happening:

Weekend in the Word: adult lecture series, but the kids will also have a series which will be a multisensory look at parables
Valentine's day dinner--an intergenerational event where the kids will actually be working the event.
New children's worship pilot program to start in Lent (I can't express adequately on this blog how excited I am to see this one coming together).

Big Meetings

2007-01-14T22:15:00.000-06:00

Ok, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. The past few months have been filled with, well, Advent and Christmas, and then significant reading, researching, planning, praying, pulling my hair out, praying again...you get the picture. Blogging has been the last thing on my mind.

I've emerged not necessarily refreshed (I need a good vacation, really) but stoked and incredibly nervous at the same time for the exciting changes to come. This week is filled with meetings. Tuesday, we're planning Lent and Easter as a staff, which leads me into my next meeting--new Children's Worship!

For many months now, I've felt guided to change the children's worship at the church. As it stands now, children come in for the first 20 min of worship, have a "aw, look at the cuteypies" children's sermon, and then file out for less than 20 min of busy activities. Well, I take that back. That's what they used to do. Now we have a much better curriculum, but it still only lasts 20 minutes and is really more similar to Sunday School than to worship. There's no real worship going on. It's been nagging me for awhile, and now, we're planning something different.

We're starting with a pilot for Lent. We're pulling the kids out of the main worship service for the full time period (hear me out before you start groaning). The idea is to give them more of an emergent service, different from the traditional and even contemporary services now. Think of everything you know about emergent services (multisensory, visual, etc)--it mostly applies. Furthermore, we're comprising a group from our preteen ministry and teaching them about worship and about how to lead in worship, thus forming a worship team of these kids for drama, dance, music, prayer, etc. This team will actually start earlier than Lent, obviously. Then, on Palm Sunday, the kids (all kids) will join the adults, side by side, in leading worship. Emphasis will be placed on teaching the adults that the kids are not there for the "AW" factor but because they are members of the body of Christ and will lead side by side with the adults in the congregation.

The hope, then, is that if the pilot is well received (or mostly well), then in the Fall (summer is very slow in this community--many vacationers), the kids will spend 3 weeks out of each month in this type of worship, and then will lead and worship with adults on the 4th week. It will be a hybrid of sorts to begin with, with room to blossom into something more.

This is the vision; the meetings are Tuesday and Wednesday, so we will see what happens.

Also on the agenda is an intergenerational event, a Valentine's dinner. The kids will decorate, plan, and serve a catered meal to the adults who reserve a place. The older adults and many single adults and families are responding well to it, and the kids are excited about the opportunity to serve (well 90% of them, anyway). Some of the kids plan to serenade diners with piano, violin, and even recorder music. That meeting is Tuesday afternoon.

Much on the plate, and now I must sleep!

Quote of the day

2007-01-09T15:41:00.000-06:00

"I grew up in church and still love God. I am one of the survivors. Many are not so fortunate."--Kathleen Chapman

Alive and well

2007-01-07T22:05:00.000-06:00

I'm still here, but I've got a lot going on. Will post soon.

Hope everyone had a wonderful new year!

January goals

2006-12-21T17:05:00.000-06:00

Getting own site and learning wordpress, which will have some nice privacy controls among other things.

Teaching children to lead in worship, despite controversy.

Strong focus on making sure that kids make connections with what they are learning and retain it.

Revamp website and other uses of technology in CFM.

Intense prayer for the incoming pastor and pastor nominating committee--that they have strong commitment to children and to seeing them as part of the body of Christ RIGHT NOW, not merely as decoration or entertainment.

That's a good start.

Seeking ideas

2006-12-05T11:48:00.000-06:00

Any ideas for the following?

All church retreats? (ideas, activities, unique ways to include kids in worship?)
curriculum or other creative ideas for teaching the Parables? (we're doing a weekend series for adults, and I'd like to have a kid component)
starting a kids' worship team (ideas, suggestions, etc.)
ideas for teaching kids about how to be leaders in all areas of worship
ideas for incorporating more technology--we use computers in SS as teaching tools, but I'm thinking more along the lines of having something they can log into from home (e.g. a Sunday School blog or message board; a component of the website that's interactive, etc.).
parents--getting parents more involved at church AND at home, reinforcing what's learned in SS

How's that for a list?

Evening of Advent

2006-12-02T09:49:00.000-06:00

The evening of Advent was a success. First of all, a "cold snap" came in (literally, it was 70 degrees one minute and then clouds flew over and it was 35). That was a good and bad thing. It certainly got me in the mood for Christmas, as well as the other people who were there, but it did deter a large group of folks from coming. Texans don't like cold. ;o)

That said, numbers weren't spectacular, but WHO CARES??? What I saw as I walked around last night was that new families to the church were involved! They were gathered at tables with other new and long time families, making wreaths and discussing plans for the holidays. Also, TONS of the OAKS (older adults keeping spiritual) were there, visiting with families and helping out the kids with their crafts. I, for one, chatted with people I've never had the chance to visit with before (because their kids are grown). Another plus: usually Grinchy members of the congregation were wearing holly bow ties and SMILING!!! Choir members were caroling through the halls. I was immediately cured of any bah humbug feelings (and there is certainly a lot of bah humbugging going on nowadays) and brought back to my youth, to days spent at my home church with my church family decorating the church with greenery and drinking wassail and hot chocolate.

My hope is that the Christmas spirit has spilled over contagiously to the worship services this weekend and into our greeting of visitors. We have the welcome mugs all ready, but I'm hoping our spirit is what embraces people, not a decorative mug.

Speaking of Christmas spirit, my cats have it for sure because I just spied one dragging HER present out from under the tree (she won't touch others). Gotta run before she opens it!

Young Disciples of Christ seeking Involved Parents...

2006-11-29T23:02:00.000-06:00

How do you get parents more involved in children's ministry?

How do you respond to a person who drops their child off in the nursery and then goes HOME, not to worship but HOME????

How do you get parents to volunteer in SS when adult SS is going on at the same time, even if they only need to volunteer once or twice a semester?

How do you get parents to stay occasionally on Wednesday nights to help out at a Midweek program instead of saying, "yeah, but this is the only time I can get things done"?

How do we show well meaning people that CM is important for more reasons than just because they raise adult numbers in worship and because they are the "future" (nevermind the present)?

Maybe I'm too idealistic. Maybe it's because my parents were children's ministers and PTA members and youth group helpers and roomparents and choir parents and..." I dunno.

I'm blessed with a load of great volunteers who come every week and who juggle hundreds of volunteer responsibilities from teaching, leading childrens' choirs, handbells, shepherding, decorating and even baking cookies! But those people are the parents of a handful of kids. Where are the other 85%?

ADVENTures

2006-11-29T12:07:00.000-06:00

Big discussion at our church:

Advent wreath litany--hope, peace, joy, love or prophets, shepherds, magi, angels?

Which do you use?

Ivy Beckwith talks about the importance of traditions in building community. What Advent traditions do you cherish, both with family and in ministry?

A little downtime--thinking "outloud"

2006-11-21T13:33:00.000-06:00

Last week was pretty crazy. KidsInCers worked on their service project, the mugs for the visitors during the holiday season. I got the idea from a back issue of CM magazine, but I couldn't remember which one. Seriously, it was from several years ago. The kids enjoyed it, though, and we ended the session with a devotion about serving others. It always amazes me: the kids were a little rowdy during the actual project (always are right before a holiday from school), but when we sat down for the devotion, they were silent and attentive.

I'm going off on a tangent here, surprise, but I was once a public high school teacher, and I remember that when I would actually sit in front of the class and read from a book, they immediately focused. They LOVE being read to, and I wonder if, in this busy world of bussing kids to soccer, dance, and band practice, if we ever take the time to read to our kids. Hmmm...just a thought.

Anyway, KidsInC is off for 2 weeks, so in December we'll make Advent calendars and trim the tree. We'll also make the gifts for the teachers as I said, although I think that I'm going to switch from cookie fixings to making hot chocolate mix to allow for more time.

The Santa movie went...well, it went. It was just one of the organizers and me. I think that with all the hubub and changing the date, it just went kaplooey. Oh well. In other news, the Thanksgiving Feast for the Day School was precious, and consequently, I learned about a new cookie craft: a shortbread cookie (keebler) turned chocolate side up, a marshmallow coated in chocolate and stuck to the cookie and then yellow icing piped to look like a buckle. It makes a pilgrim's hat. Plus it was yummy.

Now I've got a 1/2 week and have a little downtime. We're decorating for Xmas this week and wrapping up the Thanksgiving unit.

Next week, though, starts the Advent rush. Here we go...

On the Evils of Santa and PG movies

2006-11-15T10:24:00.000-06:00

Ok folks, here's another time when you get to hear Kim (that's me) say: "COME ON!!! GET A LIFE!"

Once a month we have a Church Family Play Date, an intergenerational fellowship event. I've tried to keep it pretty low key so that our department has at least one event that doesn't involve months of planning. So far we've gone bowling and have carved pumpkins together (some controversy there). The event for November is a movie--seems simple enough, but it has been the toughest thing we've planned yet.

Play Date is usually on the first Friday of the month, but that was my bday weekend, and others were out of town, so we changed it to the following Friday; however, I made the decision to change it to that Friday on the cell phone AT MY BIRTHDAY DINNER with no calendar in front of me and thus forgot that it was on the same day as a smaller event at the church. This prompted hurt feelings that needed to be smoothed over.

So we had to change it again to this weekend, which means that the original movie that we wanted to see is not playing anymore. Now, I figure that there are a lot of great movies out now (and keep in mind that this is intergenerational), but parents were complaining about my pick of PG movies, so we picked the only G movie around: Santa Clause 3.

Now I didn't like SC 1 and certainly didn't see 2, mainly because that sort of Tim the Toolman humor just doesn't appeal to me, but it's a harmless movie, it's holiday related, and it's rated G is my thinking. OH THE BACKLASH! It's Santa! Santa is evil. They start going after Santa like illiterate villagers after Frankenstein's monster. So I say, Ok, there are the PG movies I offered: Flicka, Flushed Away, Open Season, blah blah blah... The response: "Oh no, I can't have my child watch a PG movie! That's worse than Santa."

K, now here's my take on this. Um...PG means what? Parental Guidance, which means...gasp...you are supposed to watch the movie with your child and hopefully have a dialogue with them about anything you find objectionable. Point 2, again why is Santa evil, and why are we teaching kids that Santa is evil??? Good lord, if they tell their friends (who love Santa) that Santa's evil, can you imagine what that would be like?

You know what I hate about Santa? Nothing, but I hate the devisiveness his image brings about--from Christians! More and more I feel that Christians are turning into this frightening caricature from a Bradbury novel, damning imagination and promoting the Thought Police. It's really starting to freak me out. What was supposed to be a calm, fun activity, has turned into a nightmare.

Ok, ok, I'm done. Tonight is KidsInC, which is my favorite part of the week (I count the days until Wednesday), so I'll have a wonderful report to post about after tonight.

But for now...HUMBUG!

I'm back

2006-11-09T12:08:00.000-06:00

Wow. I haven't posted in awhile, so I guess I should catch up on things.

Fear Not Festival went really well. We actually had enough time to let the parents rotate through the storytelling stations, and that was a big hit. Parents were glad to have experienced exactly what their kids experienced, and it made for great family conversation that evening--exactly what you want out of a church festival.

Halloween night, I was able to be home passing out candy to the kids. The numbers were low this year on trick or treating. I think they were all out at YMCA festivals and such. It kind of makes me sad, but in this crazy world, I can see why parents would want to take their kids somewhere safe. Still, what a sad tradition to lose.

After Halloween was my birthday. I took some much needed vacation time and went to Austin to meet up with some friends for a 5 day excursion. I wish I could say I rested, but when you haven't seen your friends in 2 years, not much sleep is going to happen! I came back to find that some little birthday fairies had decorated my office with signs, streamers, and much much much confetti. Brought such a smile to my face that when I was sitting in a very serious staff meeting, the interim pastor called me out for smiling: "Well, it looks like you are sitting over there with a post birthday smile. Why don't you tell us what you think about this serious issue we are discussing." It was like I was back in school again, and I just smiled and said, "Yep, looks like we've got a tough situation on our hands," and went back to my smiling. He wasn't happy.

Now, it's back to the grind again, planning for advent. I would've planned advent months ago, but for some reason, it hasn't been a high priority at the church. In fact, we still haven't had a full meeting about what we're doing.

This reminds me, does anyone have a cool preteen activity for advent? The church family is making wreaths together and having a "What is advent" night. In SS we've got thousands of things going on for advent, including a birthday party for Jesus where we're collecting diapers and formula, etc, for a local pregnancy center. The kids are also doing a Tree of Lights, where they can dedicate a light on a tree in honor or memory of someone. Each color costs a certain amount (1 penny, 1 nickel, 1 dime, 1 quarter and then an angel ornament is a dollar). The money goes to a charity that they vote upon.

But for the KidsInC program, I'm trying to think of something cool to do. We're having a tree trimming party and are making welcome mugs with hot chocolate and candy for visitors during the Christmas season at church. We're also making cookie jars for teachers and shepherds in SS--the cookie mix is layered in the mason jar so that the recipient only has to add eggs and oil.

But I want them to make a nativity scene for their own rooms or an advent calendar of their own--something that is theirs and connects them personally to Christ's birth. Any ideas?

Can't wait!

2006-10-26T22:44:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow is the FNF, and I am psyched. To the left is a picture of one of the sets--the empty tomb. Of course, tomorrow it will be dark and the tomb itself will be backlit, making the "rocks" appear more realistic.

I'm actually quite calm now, which is good. We've planned all we can, and I'm now at the excited phase. Can't wait to see what God has in store.

Yesterday, the KidsInCers trick or treated for canned goods for a local food pantry. We gathered 3 wagons full of food, but the most amazing part was how the kids were able to minister to a couple of the local residents. One woman began crying, telling us about how she had just lost her husband. One of the kids, a usually rambunctious 4th grader, asked if we could pray for her, and the kids gathered round and prayed with the woman. It was amazing to see how these kids were touched by meeting and by praying with this woman, and I was just stunned, and still am, to see God work in their lives. It just reiterates what a fantastic ministry we have, and how much these preteens have grown in only a short while. Wow! I'm still speechless, as you can probably tell by the fact that I can't write well today.

I'm glad God knows what's going on!

2006-10-19T19:04:00.000-05:00

So the Fear Not Festival was originally supposed to be an inhouse/invite your neighbors sort of thing. We planned for about 300. Everything was smooth. Everything was fine until...

word got out to the papers. The local churches (including the megachurch down the street) have quit doing festivals because they grow out of control. One medium sized church down the street had 1000 people. Now, I'm a bit worried.

I'm an organized person and a doer. If I see that something is not going well, I'll just jump in and do it. I have a vision, and I make it happen, whether I have hands to help or not. God's really been working on this with me and prompting me to delegate more, to equip his people to use their talents in service--to present the plan and stand back a little bit. I tried this and was pleased with the results. My team had great ideas. They were working together, making subteams and equipping other volunteers. Everything was perfect until...

word got out to the papers. Now that inner control freak in me is going a bit crazy. God keeps whispering, "Trust." And I'm trying, but how do I know if it will be 300 or 1000. What do I plan for?

Trust. Such a simple word and such a hard concept.

Like a tumblin' tumbleweed

2006-10-12T09:59:00.000-05:00

I'm reminded of an image from the beginning of The Big Lebowski as a tumbleweed rolls through LA picking up debris. That's what I've been like for the past few weeks. Just when I think I'll have time for blogging, a gust of wind comes by and I move on to something else, picking another item up on my to do list.

Whew! Life is coming together on the Fear Not Festival. Halloween is such an icky time. Kidology.org just sent out a newsletter talking about finding common ground within the two viewpoints. My view is that Evil has had enough fun with this holiday and it's time to take it back. If we, as Christians, avoided everything that has been twisted into evil, we'd all sit in a padded room singing Kum Ba Yah.

I am certainly not the majority on this issue. In a meeting yesterday, I even had a member of the team tell me, almost in tears, that she is only helping me on this festival because she loves and supports me, but she feels it is "all wrong." This pains me because the last thing I want to do is to go against someone's convictions.

But what is so wrong? If anything, these kids (not just ours but the community's kids) are getting to step into an interactive story--interactive BIBLE stories. They will sit in the belly of a whale with Jonah (complete with open cans of tuna for smell effect!), in the lion's den with Daniel, in the palace with Esther, and learn that people, no HEROES in the Bible were scared, too, and God helped them through it! Little ones will watch Where's God When I'm S-Scared?, and what better lesson is that? Kids will sling "stones" at Goliath (bean bag toss) and the best part--kids will enter a cemetery, witness a stone rolling away, and an Angel telling the women not to be afraid because Jesus Christ has risen! And the best part is that they will experience it, not just hear about it.

What is so wrong? Yes, it was a pagan holiday, but so was every holiday originally. We Christians just took the pagan time periods and attributed them to our purposes. Isn't the important thing that we are reaching out to these kids with the message of how awesome God is?

Back to the barre

2006-09-29T13:58:00.000-05:00

I love Cyberspace. I love that we, ministry professionals, can get together and support each other from miles away with the click of a mouse.

I'm a dancer. I used to be in a ballet/tap/jazz company in Chicago, but moved to Houston and haven't found one here that doesn't think I'm too "old." I still dance, though, and am in an Irish company, but I digress. My point in this, beyond rambling, is that I like the movie Center Stage. At some point in the movie, the dance instructor tells a struggling student that she needs to remember her "home" which is the ballet barre. Whenever she's stressed, she should just go back to the barre.

There is a point to this (I told you I'm nonlinear sometimes), and that is that when things are rough at work, I feel like I can always go back to my home in Cyberspace where I can read others' struggles and solutions and get support from my Crossroads friends or from people I've never met and know only by their blog names.

It's tough being in ministry. I've worked for big corporations like Worldcom, but ministry has it's own set of problems, mainly because you don't expect Christians to behave the same way people do at Worldcom. I guess that's a perception problem on my part, but it is still frustrating. The constant backbiting, the control freaks, the patriarchal leaders who disregard women in ministry, the people who seem to want to completely sabotage children's ministry and the people who seem to forget that we even exist as they stomp all over us, trumping us out of meeting space or money and worse, head pastors who don't have the guts to stand up to the trumpers--all of these can wear you down and make you want to run away screaming. I'm at that point today, if you can't tell. But I know that I can always come back to the barre--back to people who struggle with the same problems and who remind me that I am called to a purpose high above human issues and to discard my tunnel vision, which gets wrapped up in the negatives.

I wish, that at some point, we could all meet up and have a retreat of sorts to get away, share ideas and notes, and support each other in person. Maybe we should.

Presentation

2006-09-26T15:28:00.000-05:00

I gave a presentation this weekend on Generation Mosaic, how to relate to them, and how to get them connected to Sunday School and to the church in general.

My research led me to a few conclusions about this generation (younger Y and Z): they are charitable and volunteer oriented (ideal missionaries), tech savvy, very sensory, well educated, and a little bit of everything. Problem arises between the generations because Ys and Zs aren't linear thinkers, as a whole. For example, when watching the CNN screen, Boomers will look at mainly the anchor talking and ignore the rest of the screen. Xers will selectively look at both, and Yers will see it all at once, taking it all in and not necessarily prioritizing one piece of news over another (do they need to, really? depends). Fast edit video and video games have contributed to this style of thinking, which is not a fault but a difference. The problem is that past generations, though different in thought and values, could still communicate those values effectively amongst each other, whereas the older generations are frustrated with Yers because they don't think in the same left brained, linear way.

How do we relate to them? through the 4 R's: being real, relational, relevant, and rigorous. Mosaics want adults to be authentic. Being real communicates integrity and helps foster trust, something they want to have with adults but don't readily have with them. They know adults don't have it all together, and they want to hear that. Gone is the 1950s Cleaver perfection.

Relational is what post moderns are searching for in churches anyway--a community. Mosaics are no different, except that they probably desire it more. My Space is booming with kids looking for community/relationships, and don't tell them that their "friends" list (known for a few weeks) isn't as important as someone mom and dad have known for years. Their friends are just as valued, even if they haven't met face to face, which is the beauty of Cyberspace really. So building on being real, establish relationships with these kids outside of SS.

Relevance--educational theory supports a need for kids to connect what is learned to real life. I know I'm preaching to the choir on this one, readers, but relevance helps those lessons stick.

Rigorous--this one is the hard one bc rigor has a negative connotation of stiffness and rigidity. By rigor, I mean persistance. Don't give up on these kids, and be rigorous about helping them iron out priorities. Helicopter parents have hovered so much that Mosaics can't make decisions on their own--they've lost their voice. Any coach or teacher is going to tell them that their sport/activity is #1 priority. Problem is, these kids are so overprogrammed and have let others prioritize for them for so long that they try to do EVERYTHING as #1, burning themselves out in the process.

Church, however, has become one of those things that parents put on the back burner bc God will forgive an absence but Coach won't. The rigor comes into play when we remind kids of the first 2 commandments when setting priorities and have them learn to make Biblically based decisions on their own through prayer and Biblical insight.

Also we need to be rigorous about making sure that they have internalized the Bible story/lesson. Workshop rotation is cool and exciting, but if they can't connect the science project to the Bible lesson, there was a breakdown somewhere (probably in linear vs nonlinear communication). Use KWL: find out what the kids already know, then what they want to know, and what they've learned at the end. Ask for clarification. Involve them in analysis throughout (What do you think is going to happen? Why did Jesus do that?). And, again, WR has its downfalls because of having a different teacher from week to week, but make sure you ask, "What did you do last week? And how does that relate to the 1o leper story?"

Anyway, a 4 hour workshop is hard to summarize in a blog posting, but the presentation went well, and I've been asked to give a modified version to a parent SS class soon. I'm on the cusp of X and Y, so I can see both sides and am sometimes linear and thinking and sometimes more right brained. I see neither as negative, but if we don't bridge the gap in communication, we're going to lose these kids.

Stream of Consciousness

2006-09-18T13:20:00.000-05:00

Went to the conference this weekend which was a bust, really. JCM was right--it's good for first timers and for getting craft/game ideas. I did get a few tidbits of good information, but networking was almost impossible, and really the whole thing felt like a giant resource fair. I felt like each seminar was just to advertise the products they had to sell on the back table. This is why I stopped going to conferences years ago.

I was, however, introduced to the God Rocks videos. They're reminiscent of Schoolhouse Rock but designed to help with memorization of Bible Verses. Why did I not see these before?

Planning 2 big events back to back (what was I thinking): Fear Not Festival Oct 27 and Art Auction on Nov 11. After much prayer and brainstorming, I figured out a way to make my team comfortable forming sub committees. Originally, I had them each taking up a section of an event and forming a subcommittee from that, but that was too daunting for many of them. So I now have groups of 4 forming subcomittees together, and they are just exploding with excitement. In fact, I may have to reel them in a little because they're treading on thin ice budgetwise (not a bad problem to overcome really).

Art Auction: I need to think of a name for it. We're not only having it set up like a gallery with a silent auction for the kids' art, but we're going to have music, a coffee bar, and poetry readings. It's more like an art celebration than just an auction. The theme is The Glory of God, and kids aged 2 to grade 5 can submit.

Lots of behind the scenes stuff going on. I've been involved in ministry all my life (my parents were CMs), but I'm always surprised by the amount of underhanded backstabbing and control issues that happen in the church.

Going to change the name (and possibly location) of this blog soon, so I'll let everyone know where the new site is.

Ok, it's Monday, my day off, so maybe I should get some things done around the house for once!

Conferences

2006-09-14T17:38:00.000-05:00

Headed to INCM's Children's Ministry Seminar in Fort Worth this weekend.

Anyone else know of any good conferences/worshops? I know there's an INCM children's pastor's conference. Is it a good one? How about Promiseland? APCE?

Others?

I need a retreat

2006-09-11T13:20:00.000-05:00

It's my day off, but really, I have so much to do at home that I can't find time to refresh. I need some time, though, because too much is happening all at once.

Something strange is happening at the church, and I can't tell if it is good or bad. I think it's the chaos before the good really. We have an interim pastor and a pretty young/new staff right now, so that always shakes things up, especially in a Presbyterian church.

I didn't grow up Presby and have always worked/worshipped in Methodist churches, so the culture is a little new to me, more new than I thought it would be. Plus, the area is pretty affluent, and I'm used to working with either inner city kids or less affluent suburban families. I mean, many of the issues are the same with all CM work or any work with volunteers really (apathy, lethargy, misuse of time, etc), but there's some spirit in this church that I can't quite put my finger on. All I know is that I have the strongest urge to fall down literally on my knees and pray for us without ceasing.

For the past few weeks, I've had several somewhat negative encounters. They aren't negative outright but in a way that I can't put my finger on. They just feel negative. I know I sound like a nutjob, but there's something just weird. There's much much much miscommunication, and I am usually the queen of communication (English major, afterall), but I'm having trouble getting people to correctly hear what I have to say. Also, there's intense division happening. The different services are divided against each other. People with different backgrounds are dividing against each other. Parents divide against each other into little cliques--parents of preschoolers don't mingle with parents of elementary or parents of jr high, etc., and they all vehemently fight for their group without regard for another.

Sunday school groups are fighting to steal people (to be the popular group), and small groups aren't open to receive others. It's like rush week at college. I hated rush week, and I hate seeing that culture permeate a church, the success driven culture.

Another weird thing: The school district is the new church. School activities trump any church activities, and man, let me tell you, these people have themselves stacked with school activities. And if their kids are homeschooled, they are stacked with park district activities, particularly sports. The swim team forces parents to attend and work every meet, and they do so without questioning (well, I have to do it or little Suzee will get kicked off the team and won't get scholarships, and I know that she's only 6, but you've got to plan ahead for her future), but they won't volunteer at a church event. Again a focus on success, whatever that means.

Where is the future? Is the future in little Suzee's college years, when empty nest mom and dad have no idea what to do now that they aren't micromanaging her life? According to an article in Psychology Today and further discussed on A Nation of Wimps, with cell phones, they will continue to micromanage. Suzee needs them to.

Or is the future much farther ahead (or closer than we think)? What about her future with God? What about her present with God?

I'm not articulating my thoughts well because I can't even get a grasp on them, but I just feel like weeping or praying or both for the church, and though I think that we are headed for something great, the "right now" is very troubling.

Recruitment Ideas and weekend recap

2006-09-05T11:26:00.000-05:00

Saw this article in Christianity Today. Most of it is pretty much a nobrainer, but it does have some good ideas like parent day and bring a friend to volunteer day.

Back to work after a weekend away on vacation. Our numbers only dropped by 10, which was good for a holiday weekend. My 5th grade shepherd is doing a fabulous job of connecting with the kids offsite (Away from SS). She put a stack of little notes in my box for me to mail out for visitors and nonvisitors alike.

Friday was the Church Family Play Date. We met at a bowling alley and had great fun. Watching the kids was precious, especially watching the youth play with the kids. I loved the mix of family types (youth, elem, preschool). The Older Adults would've joined us, making it an intergenerational event, but they had an event scheduled already. Next month is pumpkin carving.

My vacation went well. Celebrated my friend's 30th at a South American restaurant in Austin. So much good food. I think I ate my weight in plantains. It was good to get away. My brain feels much more rested.

Roger's 19

2006-08-30T08:47:00.000-05:00

While I'm not sure about his FAT style of recruiting, I do like his 19 Simple Rules about CM .

Some of my favorites and why:

The facilities/maintenance supervisor will not be permitted to give the Children’s Pastor mean looks in the hallway.--Oh, man do I have this problem, especially since I painted chalkboard paint on the wall in one of the rooms. The Building and Grounds committee could not (even after full explanation) understand why I painted the wall instead of installing a chalkboard. It raised such controversy that they brought it to Session and approved a new policy of approval for paint selection. Good thing I painted the orange and lime green room before the policy came out.
No matter how disruptive children’s church becomes during the adult service, ushers are not permitted to enter children’s church and “shush” while kids are singing.--Had this happen last Sunday when the kids were so excited about receiving their Bibles and were asking a multitude of questions. The usher actually came in and told them to be quiet, as they were disturbing the worshippers. Stuffy church!
The names of children’s ministry workers who fail to show up without notifying the department director will be printed in the church bulletin the following week. Second offenses will result in a public reprimand by the Senior Pastor during the adult service on the following Sunday morning.--Ha! In my dreams.

FAT Ministry

2006-08-30T08:40:00.000-05:00

An article I recently read was "How to Recruit a FAT Ministry Team" by Roger Fields. It basically talks about shedding the old begging routine with ministry and making it appear like an almost elitist position to serve. Note his thoughts:

"Put out the word that working in the children's ministry is by invitation only; no volunteers will be accepted. You can ue the bulletin for this announcement. Make it known that from now on working in the children's ministry is an honor. People who are truly called to this ministry will let you know."

I believe that we shouldn't just recruit willy nilly, but should we actually put those words in the bulletin? If I were new to a church and saw that working in CM was by invite only, I'd not only tell them to stuff it, but I would leave and find a new church.

Time for a Breather

2006-08-28T10:59:00.000-05:00

BTSW--check
Tea--check
start of SS--check
restructure SS for more kids--check
3rd grade Bible presentation--check

Now I can rest for a little bit.

Cool thing from this weekend, though. We had 7 kids RSVP for their Bibles, but 30 kids came up to the front. Thank God I had enough Bibles up there. Several of those kids were visitors and had never had a Bible before and didn't know how to use it. In SS, now that we have broken up into smaller groups, the teachers were able to focus on teaching those kids about their Bibles, and I think they are going to come back. One of the things I've found in my ministry at this church and at others is that if you give them Bibles, they will come (to play off a phrase). Seriously though, at our preteen ministry on Wed nights, we give free Bibles to anyone to take home, and those kids come back. It is the coolest thing to see them treasure a Bible and come back for a Bible, not an mp3 player or some other freebie. It's very powerful.

Plus, in the 3rd grade group for SS, we had a teacher mixup, so there wasn't a teacher available. Before the shepherds and I could even scramble to think of what to do, one of the kids said, "Can we do what we did in KidsInC last week since we got our new Bibles?" What we had done was make bookmarks out of 4 different colored ribbons (Learning to Use My Bible--Cokesbury) for them to mark the Table of Contents, the OT, Psalms, and the NT. I was nervous because I ran out of ribbon, but we pulled out a bucket of yarn, and the kids were braiding it together. Kids were teaching the new kids and helping them find the sections. We didn't even miss not having a teacher.

Such a cool weekend! I left that day and on the way to lunch I just screamed out, "I love my job!" It's so cool to see that even if things have "failed" on a physical plane, God knows exactly what He is doing! It gets hard sometimes, especially when everyday someone has to complain or question a decision that I've made, but when I stop and see that the Lord's hand is in every bit of it, even the "mistakes," I can just smile and tell those people that God knows what He's doing. It stops them dead in their tracks and preserves my joy!

Education

2006-08-23T08:17:00.000-05:00

So some of the people in the church are encouraging me to get my MACE (MA in Christian Education) from Union PSCE. I, however, have one masters already (albeit in literature, but that's no matter), so I'd prefer to go straight for a doctorate in education. One of the pastors suggested that the doctorate in education would serve as a more well rounded degree and would serve me better in the future. The MACE, of course, is distance learning and is easy to obtain (much easier to embark upon while working full time). Things that are easy, though, tend not to be as well received in the world, so I don't know what to do. Deadlines are approaching. Any suggestions?

The Wild Ride has begun

2006-08-20T18:29:00.000-05:00

The teacher tea was yesterday and was a big hit with the ladies and the gentlemen teachers. The theme was A Little Taste of Children's Ministry, and we did a tea tasting with 5 different teas, finger sandwiches, and desserts. My committee decorated beautifully with purple, sage green, and ivy, and the breakout training sessions were very helpful, according to both new and veteran teachers. It was a nice way to start off the year, and everyone was pleased with the changes I made for the fall, which was a relief to me.

Last week, of course was the BTSW, which brought back 50 visiting families who had fallen out of touch with us and brought in 11 new families who are interested in joining the church. Plus, it really pumped up the kids and youth, who have told their parents that they are bringing friends to church from now on.

That known, I worked hard to make sure that all the last minute details were in place, ensuring that we had 2 shepherds for each group (1st graders, 2nd and 3rd, and 4th and 5th) and filling all but 2 off the teaching spots for the entire fall rotation. A little nervous, I kept consoling myself with the fact that everything was smooth sailing--that is, until today!

You know, I think that God waits for the exact moment that you become comfortable to do wonderous upside down twirls in your little rollercoaster of a ministry. I walked in confident and secure only to find that we TRIPLED our regular attendance, and I didn't have nearly enough adult volunteers to even out any sort of ratio of adult to kids. Kids brought 3 or 4 friends apiece. My volunteers literally stood there shellshocked, and even the most gentle of shepherds showed a little agitation.

Now, of course, this is a WONDERFUL problem to have in CM, and it was so great to see so many kids pumped up about being in SS. I mean, they were so full of vitality and energy that the building rocked. It was chaos, but we made it through with what we have, and if I can get my volunteers to come back next week (I kept coaxing them saying, "It will all be fixed next week"), we are going to have one heck of a ministry on our hands. Not only are we going to have to split into 5 groups (one for each grade level), but we may even have to split some grade levels into As and Bs. Children's Worship doubled in size, as well, and the coordinator for that was pretty stunned.

So, back to the drawing board it goes for me (and back to the lovely job of recruiting--ugh, I thought I was done with that). But where God opens a floodgate of little lambs, He surely has plans for shepherds to lead them, so onto my knees I go with nothing but faith and open ears.

Volunteering

2006-08-17T09:46:00.000-05:00

A little rant here:

My biggest problem is that I work in a church where everyone flocks to "volunteer," but then when it comes to actually signing up for a particular day and time, they waddle away backwards like frightened ducks. It almost feels like they just want to say, "Yeah, I volunteer at my church" but not really do it. Plus, it's a consumer church--they expect others to hand them things because they pay for it (in tithes).

Call me jaded , but I've just come to the point where I'm logging all the times when I don't have volunteers, and come spring, I'm disseminating that information and saying plainly that we're not running [insert program here] until people step up. I don't mean it out of animosity but out of pragmatism. The same core people cannot keep running something. It leads to burnout. It pains me to keep calling on my CFM team members all the time. They need a break.

The associate pastor (with the encouragement of the head pastor) actually cancelled the All Church Retreat because no one stepped up to be on the committee. People are outraged, but she quietly stated that they were welcome to be on next year's committee. I wholeheartedly support her; sometimes you have to wake people up. This is a church, not BK "have it your way" drive thru. We all work together as the body of Christ to glorify and worship Him. The arm can't be the only one working while the leg and head wait to play. Hmmm, maybe we need to read The Little Red Hen in the services.

Another thing we've prayed about at staff meetings is priortizing. Parents have their kids overscheduled in 55 different activities and can't find time to fit church in. One parent told me that she doesn't have a problem letting her kid stay up until 8 for baseball practice "because it's baseball, you know" but she can't see letting her kid stay up at church until 7:45: "He needs to have some night that he goes to bed at a decent hour."

Or they want Chuck E Church, so that it is so overstimulating that it trumps the other activities. Where has the simplicity gone?

KidsInC kickoff

2006-08-17T09:19:00.000-05:00

The kickoff went well. I'd say we had roughly 15-20 kids (good mix of boys and girls) . I have the exact numbers, but they are in a bag far away from my computer and my cheerios. All the people at the kickoff signed up to attend next week for the first real session, so I'm pleased. Also, there were a lot of new faces there and a lot of 4th graders, which means they'll be around next year.

It was a pool party, so the kids wore themselves out in the most beautiful pool (a member graciously donated her house to us). The parents seemed to get along, too, and offered to help.

BTSW a Sucess

2006-08-14T16:06:00.000-05:00

BTSW went really well. My team worked well together, and everything looked great. We had several new families express interest in our program, and the kids had a blast and made a gigantic mess, which was great to see.

Pictures to come. Now to finish the teacher tea plans, but first a staff outing to Minute Maid to see the Astros play the Cubs. This is a tough call for me, as I was born in Houston but "grew up" in Chicago. What to do...what to do?

The big weekend is here

2006-08-12T10:08:00.000-05:00

Well, after much planning and many nightmares of me waking up and forgetting that I was supposed to be at work and then running to work in my PJs while everyone is tearing all the decorations down (whew!), the weekend is here in exactly 7 hours. What am I doing to prep for it? I'm sitting in my PJs eating cheerios, reading blogs, drinking cherry coke, and talking to my cats. I'm trying to have a few moments of sanity before the chaos begins.

Tonight's the easy night: dinner and a movie. Tomorrow's a different story.

I've been thinking a lot about a post I read about Chuck E Cheese Church.
That's sort of what I feel like we're doing. The goal, in theory, of this BTSW is to minister to kids--to pray for them and to pray for their teachers before they go back to school, but I feel that goal has gotten lost somehow into this madness of trying to corral new members. All the meetings focus on getting visitors to come back, and while that is important, I feel like if we keep our focus on praying for the children, God will work on those families.

Don't get me wrong. We need to be an inviting church, but games and rides and tickets and flashing lights aren't in anyway as powerful as praying for a child or teacher who needs it.

This is what I've learned over cheerios and cherry coke, and I think that keeping my focus on what really matters will help me brush off any little things that go wrong this weekend. Who cares if one of the games is a dud, if we can send one child to school with the armor of God surrounding him/her?

BTSW is almost here

2006-08-10T22:21:00.000-05:00

2 more days until BTSW!

It's an all church event. Every ministry area has a booth with a kid activity, and there will be carnival type rides and a rock wall. They're planning for 1500+ people. Whew!

Fire and Brimstone

2006-08-08T18:57:00.000-05:00

Well, I decorated for BTSW this weekend, and put up fabric over the doors to look like mosquito nets and tents. Someone, without full information, wrote a detailed email to me and CCd to everyone in the world about how my cloth was a fire hazard.

This person has done this numerous times in the past and apparently has it in for the CM dept. His wife actually calls him a Pharisee, strangely enough. Anyway, he has been told that the fabric we use has been fire treated in the past, but he still wants to make issues out of it.

Because he CCd the world, this tiny issue which could've been resolved with one little email saying "it's fire treated" ended up being this gigantic legal matter, which still has not been resolved by the head pastor. My whole day was wasted dealing with this.

Art Auction

2006-07-27T15:50:00.000-05:00

In the spring (yes, I'm already planning the Spring--SOMEBODY STOP ME!) we're going to have an art auction. It's something I did at Friendship UMC, but this one is going to be on a grander scale due to the fantastic facilities of this church (e.g. rooms with great stained glass windows and coffee bars).

Usually, we have the kids make art in SS and then mat it, label it, and frame it. This year, we want to make it actually look like a gallery and add soft music (we have a piano) and coffee. Then I saw this cool blog about poetry readings. Wouldn't it be nice if we added poetry to the mix?

Whew!

2006-07-26T16:02:00.000-05:00

Trying to gear up for fall. So much to do. We've got the Back to School Weekend coming up. Then the teacher tea. Then we have the KidsInC kickoff (preteen ministry). Plus the start of SS--I think for the first weekend, we are just going to have the kids and teachers play games and get to know each other--no official lesson. That's it for August, but it's a significant amount. I still have all the little details to work out.

Well, I think I'm heading home for the day. Can brainstorm there. It's about to pour!

Testing

2006-07-13T17:59:00.000-05:00

Just testing to see if I can remotely publish to my blog.

Halloween Alternative

2006-07-12T12:54:00.000-05:00

I went to Family Bookstore last night, and they had the Heroes Unlimited Sample for me to look at. It’s a great program, but it’s set up as an outreach event (lots of work), and I think with BTSW and Joy of Sharing (A big Christmas outreach), we’ll spread ourselves too thin if we try to do it. Plus, it’s pretty costly if you want to do it right. It includes giving a special Bible to every kid visitor. They’re cool Bibles, but wow.

So as I went to sleep last night, I thought of another alternative that we could sort of do from scratch. Fear Not Festival. The younger kids would have a movie, like Rack, Shack, and Benny, and little party because I think it would be fun to gear this festival toward the schoolagers just in our church.

What I’m thinking is to have the kids come in and grab a sticker or name badge that has a particular color or character on it. Break them up into groups that way. Then each group “tricks or treats” together, led by a teen or something, going to each room where they see a person dressed as a Bible Character ready to tell them a story and give them treats/prizes. The rooms would be themed from different Bible stories where a Bible character faces a scary challenge and with the Lord’s help, overcomes the fear and the situation. Examples: Daniel, Joseph in the pit., Moses and the Red Sea, Esther, etc.

I picture the kids, for instance, walking into a room which is dimly lit decorated to look like the lion’s den. Daniel is there on a stool and tells the story from a first person point of view and then passes out little tokens of remembrance (prizes/candy) like Milky Way bars with a card that says: “Remember that God is bigger than the entire Milky Way. Fear Not!” or something.

With dimmed lights, the rooms can easily be transformed with paper. Then in Celebration hall, we can have games like use a slingshot to kill Goliath or something like that.

Is this feasible?

Preteen Fun

2006-07-11T21:36:00.000-05:00

Decorating ideas are in progress for the new preteen room: magnetic paint so that big foam pieces with magnetic backing can be moved around; rolls of butcher block paper hanging from the walls to make instant graffiti pads; a rock climbing wall.

AWESOME!

And Super Sloppy Saturdays are now a part of the ongoing curriculum for the preteens--last Saturday of every month.

So much planning right now. I can't even keep it all straight! Must get sleep. Nite nite!

Scheduling

2006-07-06T11:33:00.000-05:00

I hate last minute things, especially trying to find teachers at the last minute, so I've tried to plan through the beginning of October (really I'd like to plan through December) and plug in teachers. Problem is that the teachers say, "Oh, yeah, that time should work, but if something comes up, I'll just call you and cancel." So then I've got them on the schedule, and they cancel the day before.

For example, before I started, the prior director scheduled people for the summer so that I wouldn't have to worry about it. The only problem is that people are calling left and right and cancelling. Actually, no, that's not true. I am calling to remind them that they are teaching, and they cancel then.

The other weird thing is that I planned a teacher tea for August to honor them for commiting to teach, and they aren't even sure if they feel like going to that. What is with these people? REally, what is with the world. I feel like the world has no commitment to anything anymore.

Virtual Meetings

2006-07-05T21:41:00.000-05:00

Thinking about doing a blog for virtual meetings. Created one at www.cfmteam.blogspot.com. We'll see if it works.

Exhausted

2006-06-22T14:41:00.000-05:00

Today was a housekeeping day. I finally got around to rearranging my office. So far, it's been sort of a dumping ground, so I've had to go through and figure out what is mine. I'm halfway through, so that's good. Plus, I'm setting up an archive room and a preteen hang out room. Moving things around gets pretty tiring. I'm ready to go home and nap. Forget the gym tonight!

Rally Day

2006-06-20T19:36:00.000-05:00

Rally day has changed this year due to the interim pastor's new vision. We're doing a Back to School Weekend, where we pray for the kids, teachers, and other school staff/administrators in the community in each service. On Saturday night, we're also doing a "drive in" movie (indoors, though, because Texas is so hot and the state bird is the mosquito). Sunday is a festival type of thing with a moonwalk bouncy thing and booths representing every committee in the church (like a volunteer fair would have).

The theme is Exploring God's World Together, so we're having Treasure Maps to wind people through the building. I think in the CM area, we're going to have an archaeology dig (sandbox with toys buried) and a craft like putting jungle spots on bags (so that they can carry all of their prizes and a CM brochure). Any other ideas? I think we're all going to wear Safari hats, too.

Saturday is an exciting day, too, because we're having a brainstorming blitz for the whole year! Yea!

Sorry, I've been holding the dam together

2006-06-15T11:52:00.000-05:00

It seems that lots of people here have had their fingers plugged into little holes in the dam, and now that I'm here, they're ready to let go, only I don't have enough fingers!

Whew! What a first week. So many intangible little issues, that I couldn't begin to even explain them. Such a different dynamic from what I was used to at Friendship, which is good and not so good.

Well, off to the VBS mission trip. I'll be doing mambo dancing complete with maracas at a local special needs resident center. Should be pretty fun!

Also, I have to give a speech tonight about missions, so prayers please!

Well, here goes

2006-06-07T09:55:00.000-05:00

I started this blog to document what's going on in CM at our church. Last weekend, I went to a workshop in La Porte, and several people said that they wished there was some sort of networking available in the Houston area for people in CM. I figure that this is a first step.

For those of you new to blogging, you will need to know a few housekeeping rules. First of all, remember that anything posted on the blog is public knowledge, so monitor your responses accordingly. Secondly, you'll need to know how to comment. Basically, you'll just click on the comment link under any post (this is a post, btw) and then type in your comment. You'll then need to put in your blog information if you have one or just type in your name or click anonymous. Finally, you'll need to type in a word verification. This verification just keeps my blog from getting spammed, as there are a lot of horrible people out there who love to ruin good things. If you have a blog or want to start one, I suggest clicking on the word verification feature to save yourself much grief.

What is a blog? Well, it's short for weblog, an online journal basically. I plan to use this to keep track of everything I've done for the year for my own purposes and to bounce ideas off of people who live here in Houston and far far away (Hi, Lynn!). Think it's a good idea? Let me know. Comment!