Church As a Service or Church As a Community?

There are two basic methods for doing church. We either operate the church as a service or attempt to build the church as a community. Both methods seem to lead to success. Cell group churches, some of which have grown MONSTROUS, live and die by the premise that church equals community. On the flip side, churches that provide "spiritual services" to those who attend can experience just as much growth.

So does this relate to how I do children's ministry?

My answer is yes. At my last ministry assignment I followed a "kids church as a service" model almost exclusively. Small groups and group discussions happened rarely. Most often we focused on large group, leader driven activities. We were effective.

However, at this ministry assignment I'm finding that putting on a good large group program is not as effective. I'm beginning to operate more an more in a community driven format. Small groups, discussions, and kid driven activities seem to leave lasting impressions. It seems to be working.

At the end of the day, creating a feeling of "being part of something" is essential to kids ministry. If the kids embrace the program it's an effective program.

So here's my question: Does a leader driven "church as a service" or "community driven" model work better for the kids you minister to?

A New Bible

My old, tired, much used, and well loved NIV Study Bible given me by my grandfather is being retired. It's an old friend, and one I'd like to keep in one piece as it represents many wonderful memories.

Now it's on to a leather bound beauty I got for free when working at a coffee shop. Someone left it and never came looking. The manager gave it to me. Amplified niceness!

The pages are all clean, and begging for notes and highlighting. Yahoo!

Thanksgiving

Kim and I just had my brother up from NYC for thanksgiving. It was really good to reconnect with him. It was also really good to reconnect with green-bean casserole.
Hope you all had a great holiday.

Oldie but Goodie

Here's a scripture I've not read in awhile. The truth of it struck me again. It was watching a movie on DVD and remembering why you liked it so much in the theater. Here it is.

I said ot the Lord, "Your are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing." Psalm 16:2

Sure it's not new information, but it is profound. Take a second to mull it over and see if you have any good stuff outside of what God's given you. I didn't find anything. Puts one in the right mood for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday (for us Americans at least).

Post Drought

I apologize to all my loyal and semi-loyal readers for the long post drought of late. It's due in no small part to our internet non-connection for the past week. Our network has been a bit funny here at the church, which is irritating to say the least.

So here's an update on my life. I'm almost in my permanent housing. I'm reading Mark for my devotions (good stuff). And lastly, I'm gearing up for some really fun holiday events with our kids ministry. All in all things are going good and I'm adjusting well to my new surroundings. Vermonters are a quirky bunch, but in the most endearing way. I've fallen in love with this area and it's people.

More to come soon.

Dry Policy and Living Vision

Writing policy is about as much fun as writing non-fiction about mold. For the most part policy for children's ministry centers around abuse, legal backside covering, and basically every other unpleasant subject concerning children.

I'm getting to do it!

OK, so it's not that much fun... OK, so it's no fun... OK, so it's like a trip to the dentist after a 5 month chocolate binge. There is one part I like. I can set vision. So I'd like to get some thoughts from you my faithful readers (all 4 of you). This is the vision statement I've come up with for my ministry.

AG Kids connects kids with Jesus.

I know it's simple, but I don't want to get caught up in the buzz word circus. Let me know your thoughts.

Icon Buffet

BTW, if you are looking for some kewl ways to spruce up publications etc. go here. If you participate in the community forums, you can get lots of neat little icons.

It's also a bit of a picture of a healthy Christian community. The philosophy of the forums is "pay it forward". You give to someone looking for an icon set you have, and ask for what you need. If you don't need anything, you give anyhow. It is a breath of fresh air from many other online forums.

Howto: 4 Cures for BLAH

I've been accosted with a bit of BLAH lately. You know exactly what it is... a lack of passion and a drained feeling brought on by doing to stinking much. It's not burnout, it's not massive emotional failure, it's just a state of "BLAH". Here's my little list of cures:

1. Stop looking in: You aren't the point. Review who you are reaching and why. If you don't know the answer to that question... time to do some vision casting.
2. Restart Your Bible: Half the time I'm out of sync because I've let my Bible reading and study become impersonal or solely ministry focused. Remember that the Bible was written by God for us to know Him, not for us to tell others about Him. You own a Bible for YOU first, then for others.
3. Shut your mouth: If you've been complaining, it effects your mood. I've found that things go wrong no matter what... plans in place, people trained, prep done, it matters not a bit. It's attitude that makes things work, even if they don't work just how you planned them.
4. Quit working for a second: If you're overworked, stop working. Durring a special event, you have to work super hard. After those are done or when you've just been working a bunch, TAKE A BREAK. If your work piles up so fast you can't take a break for a second, you need to do some unloading of responsiblity.
   

These are all just "pull your head out of your... hands" kinda stuff. If you are burnt out, washed out, or knocked out, these won't be a cure. For that you need a divine intervention. That being said, these do work as a good preventative cure.

Where the Trees Turn to Flowers

After just a month and a half in Vermont I've been treated to one of natures grand displays. The trees here are breath-taking reds, oranges, and yellows. It is quite something to look in the distance and see a mountain side full of this fiery foliage. I'll try and post a picture soon.

Bad Recruiting Practices (Part 2 of the "Bad Kids Ministry Ideas" series)

Look... just because you have to take what you can get for volunteers doesn't mean you can go to extremes...

Upscale Vermont

Yep... there is truely no accounting for taste, not even in Vermont.

Giving Your Kids Informed Answers

I don't know if you've ever hit this dilemma. You get asked an "interesting" question (meaning "theologically complex") that you, the children's pastor/director understand but don't know how to explain in simple terms. You might have tried a washed out platitude that leaves all but the most simple minded kid with the "OK, I'm not that dumb, but I'll play along" look on their face. You may also have tried throwing them the uncooked theological steak in the hope they would know what to do with it.

Or you changed the subject.

Well, I found this site on the Internet through my searching about. It seems pretty squared away and it gives intelligent and clearly stated answers to many of these questions. Check it out. You might even learn something yourself.

Teens: E-mail is for old people

So what's going to happen when kids from our children's ministries grow up... guess I'm going to have to retire my carrier pigeons.

Is e-mail only for the old? That's the contention of a string of articles published in the last four months, the most recent appearing today in the Chronicle of Higher Education. The Chronicle says that in a study last year, "teenagers preferred new technology, like instant messaging or text messaging, for talking to friends and use e-mail to communicate with 'old people.'" The Mercury News says, "For those of you who have just figured out how to zap spam or manage your inbox, prepare for the bad news: E-mail is, like, so yesterday..." (read more)

A Visual History of Who Has Controled Palestine

Check this out. It's certainly interesting.

Yep, Campaign Time is Here

Check this out. It's a short historical snapshot of how goofy political ads can get. Gotta love those campaign spots.

Funding Faux-Pas (Part 1 - "Bad Kids Ministry Ideas")

This is NOT the best way to fund a children's ministry.

Sorry...

This blog has gone neglected for far to long. I've been busy aclimating to my new assignment here in Vergennes Vermont. Things are going great and I'll soon have the time to post more often.

Try this little exercise

Here's my first crack at a chain-blog... letter... thing?

Anyway via Jeanette at PoMo Kidz blog and the Children's Ministry Blog here is the exercise…
1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog along with these instructions.
5. Don’t you dare dig for that “cool” or “intellectual” book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest.

Jethro didn't have to hire a consultant, form a committee, or do extensive research. He know instantly that there was a leadership problem. All leaders may not settle on a solution as quickly as Jethro did, but when they rely on their intuition, they become aware that a sitionation needs their attention.

I grabbed John Maxwell's "The 21 Minutes in a Leader's Day". Actually, I grabed "HTML Complete" first, but since I had to copy an entire table full of FTP commands, I opted to pick again.

For you Trekkies

Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Ensign Ricky are beaming down to the planet. Guess who's not coming back.

I got it from here.

Routine Shakeup

Hey, I saw these thoughts on worship from Evotional.com via the Children's Ministry Blog. Good thoughts!

http://www.evotional.com/2006/08/right-brain-leadership.html

My Daughter's Favorite Toy

It's not Barney. In spite of the fact that my daughter loves Barney to near obsessive levels, he isn't her favorite. She loves her toy food, her Care Bears, and a bunch of other toys. None of them hold a candle to her favorites: my wife and I.

That's right. My daughter's favorite toy is me (and my wife). She would rather play with a stick and us than the biggest stuffed Barney in America. She would rather spend time with us than spend time in a room full of wondrus toys. How do I know? She spends time in that very room at least once a week. It's called the church nursury. She's ok going in, she has fun while she's there, but she goes NUTS when we come back. It's an ego boost every time I pick her up.

I'm sure that as she grows older she'll find other things that capture her attention. That's part of growing up. However, it's up to me to keep myself among the list of her favorite toys. That requires only one thing... time. The four letter word that parents know kids need but seems so hard to give. I understand the struggle, so here are a few suggestions.

1. Set "appointments" for your kids. For example: "I will spend the half hour between the time I get home from work and dinner with my kids each day" or "Saturday morning belongs to my kids." Be realistic, don't reach for the stars, just for your kids.
   
2. Drop something. Ouch, ouch, ouch! But it's true. If you have little time for your kids, you need to drop something else your doing, perminently. It's worth the pain to be thier favorite toy. You'll have time for hobbies when they move out.
   
3. Learn what they like. This is simple. Learn what they like and do that with them. Then try and bring them into something you enjoy doing. I realise two year old's and golf courses don't mix, but buy them a play set and spend some time in the back yard.
4. Forget about past failures. Guilt time is not good time. If you've blown it in the past, leave it in the past and start fresh. If you have an older child, you may need to appologize for not spending time with them before you can truely have a clean slate. Once you've cleaned the slate, dive into the time with your child head first!

There is one more thing I have to say. It's the most important thing I could say about parenting in one sentance. KEEP YOUR PROMISES!!! There is no way to mend a broken promise. Get it out of your head that you can "make it up". You can't. If you have to break a promise to your kids, do it head on with a sincere appology. Own your failure. Avoid promise swaping ("I can't do this now, but we'll do that latter"). Don't ever make it sound like it's their fault.

The payback is you get to be a superhero, a favorite toy, and a trusted friend by the most important people in your life: your family. The never having to deal with the "time with family" regret isn't to bad either.

A Nation of Wimps

Here is an article from Psychology Today. I believe it's a topic christian parents need to deal with.

Click here to read the article. Post your comments.

Time Tables

For those of you who don't know, I'm in transition right now. Life change can be a bit disconcerting, but I'd like to say one thing. God's time tables are second to none. I've had a bit of fun (and apprehension) watching God time our transition from Texas to Vermont. We are just getting to the moving part, and already God's been good. Things have happened at just the right time every time.

So... if your getting discouraged with the way things are progressing, or you are frustrated that they are not progressing at all, trust your creator. I know God will work it out for you just as He has done for me.

Children of God

Not an easy thing to swallow, but we are children of God. Not just creations mind you, children. That has always been a "take it in faith" truth to me. I can't see any real reason why a God of infinity would care to have a bunch of misbehaving ants as kids. He obviously does, as 1 John 3:1 is in the Bible, black ink on white paper.

So what's my point? I don't know. I'm just glad that God loves a repeat offender like myself that much. I need that level of love. I need that kind of father. My flaws are obvious to me, all the more so as I draw closer to God. I could never "perform" my way into His heart. I'm just a black hearted heathen He remade into a child of God. This very fact makes me more and more grateful for God's patience and limitless love. It keeps me humble.

I might not have a point, but I do have a suggestion. Look at who God is, who you are, and see the distance between the two. You will realize that life as a Child of God is a treasure you'll never fully understand. That kind of catharsis leads you to a selfless sort of joy that isn't situational. Your level of peace is based on a God who knows you in and out, and loves you all the same.

It is always worth while fighting flaws in your character. I've spent quite a bit of time in introspection recently as I am in a ministry transition and have nothing to do but pack my house up and pray. That kind of activity level tends to put you into the world of introspection. I embraced this and found in my life several black spots on my personal character and holiness. The only response is to let the Holy Spirit guide me in correcting these flaws.

I highly recomend this form of personal improvement. It's painful, but you end up liking yourself better on the other side.

Focus Factor

I've found the worse things get, the harder it is to focus. Ironically, the worse things are, the more you need to focus. I personally found myself squinting at a todo list on voo2do.com and not getting anywhere. It was un-fun and a waste of time. So what is the solution? Well, simply to reduce stress.

I didn't say remove your stresses. That's impossible. I've got my share as do you. And escape only postpones our stresses anyhow. The solution is in a quiet place where stress can't come. It's found in our times alone with God.

Don't take this as a "pat answer". Time is our most valuable commodity. In many ways it's the most valuable gift we can give to God in a post-modern world. The gift you get back is the emotional pressure valve released.

Here's where I run into trouble. I get into my place of prayer... And stress to Jesus about all my troubles. Then I get to wondering why I come out of my prayer closet so irritated and wound up. I've just wasted God's and my own time by further embracing my stress instead of releasing it.

This is a suggestion Richard J. Foster gives in his excellent book "Celebration of Discipline". He calls it the "palms down, palms up" or "centering down" technique. I don't think the posture is all that important, as in all things it's the heart that matters. Here's how it goes. You first spend a few minutes putting all your stresses in God's hands ("palms down" for releasing). Then you spend some time receiving God's peace and power to deal with these issues ("palms up" for receiving). Last of all you spend a few minutes in silence. Don't talk, don't prioritize the day, just listen for the still small voice of God.

Some might find that kind of structured prayer a bit restrictive. I've found that in a place of stress, it helps give me focus in prayer. That focus in prayer just keeps going after you've prayed.... And that's what we need in times of stress!

So here's a cheesy anachronism for you. T.I.M.E.: Take Intimate Moments Everyday. Wow, that's a bit dorky, but if it helps you remember... dorky is ok.

Peace, love, and hair grease... mostly peace.

The Junk of Kids Ministry

Volunteers quit... people sign up to help, then never show up... the church goes through a pastoral transtion and most of the stuff of the church gets dumped on your lap... Yep. Ministry does that sometimes.

I am here to say this... don't forget the reason you are doing this. You are doing it for a BIG God, and the short people. Keep the focus on Jesus and children. The rest is just background noise in the light of eternity.

RSS Power

I'd just like to say how cool RSS feeds are. I've found some REALLY great resources from the top people in children's ministry. You can get some HUGE ideas from talented people you'd never be able to just call on the phone. Here are a few good blogs you can check up on.

Children's Ministry Musings
Children's Ministry Blog

There are many other great places as well. Post 'em if you find 'em.

Children & the Future

America needs something... it needs the next generation to grow up godly. Of course that's nothing new... every new generation is an unreached people group!

This blog is dedicated to that goal... reaching the young generation with the timeless gospel.