Archive for April, 2010

Collaborate Books Are Out!

By Lindsey | April 15, 2010 | Reviews | Comments Off

For those of you who pre-ordered your copy of the new Collaborate book, Michael Chanley’s collection of 34 authors writing about family and church, you should have received it by now! Mine showed up in the mail on Monday and I dove right in, eating up 50 pages before it was time to head to bed (I was a little tempted to stay up late and finish it, but since the baby doesn’t sleep in, I thought better of it!). I’m really liking the book so far, and I think it has some great ideas that I’d like to implement at our church over the next year (I’m trying not to do “too much too fast”). So far, I’m reached Chapter 12 and these are my favorite ideas (in order of appearance):

Parent Liaison Team (Chapter 2)

Milestones Method (Chapter 5)

Parent Fuel Packs (Chapter 7)

Child Dedication class (Chapter 12)

So far, a number of great sounding books have also been mentioned that I’ll be checking out. I like the fact that each chapter is “bite-size” — it’s something I can completely see accomplishing in my ministry. So often, I read ministry books and am amazed at the great ideas, but feel overwhelmed about where to actually start. This book has a great format — you could just take one chapter a month or one chapter a quarter (after you’ve gobbled up the whole thing first, of course) and begin to implement the idea found there. Well, I better get back to reading!

Baptism Service

By Lindsey | April 14, 2010 | Spiritual Milestones | 1 Comment

This week, our church had a baptism service. It’s been almost a year since our last one (we don’t have a baptismal at our church, so we have to go to another church for the service), so we had quite a back log of people (18!). It was especially exciting for me since five kids from our Children’s Ministry were getting baptized. Their testimonies were so touching — it’s no wonder Christ exhorted us to have faith like a child. One girl (age 8 ) shared the conviction she felt in church once about the bad things that she had done. She explained, “Then I said, ‘Dear Jesus, please forgive me and come into my heart’”. Her sister’s story was equally as simple. She read her testimony off her prepared notecard “I have asked Jesus into my heart and now I am saved”. Beautiful. Full of faith. It was so wonderful to see these kids following in obedience in baptism. It was so encouraging. Pastor stated it was a real testament to the families of these children and I agree! Keep up the good work parents — your children are listening!

I also loved the actions of our youth pastor and the handful of youth that attended the baptism. There was one girl from the youth group who was being baptized and as she came up out of the water, they all stood and cheered. It’s unity and support like such as this that keeps kids plugged into the church. Praise God!

Another Baptism Post

Check In Systems

By Lindsey | April 13, 2010 | Safety and Security | 2 Comments

Children’s Ministry Talk just put out a podcast on check-in systems (and budgets and first impressions). I emailed and asked at what point (numbers wise) do churches need a check in system, and here is their answer!

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Listen to full podcast

Other Security/Safety Posts:

Trying Out the Check In System

Parents Respond to Check In System

Nursery Labels: Security for Little Ones

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Our Home is Like a Little Church: Book Review

By Lindsey | April 12, 2010 | Parents, Reviews | 1 Comment

A new book has hit the market, a kid’s book, which can help families build a stronger faith. It’s called “Our Home is Like a Little Church” and it teaches both parents and kids (in an easy to understand way!) how the home is to resemble a church. In a home, the father is like the pastor, helping to lead the family to a stronger faith. The book gives simple ideas on how dads can lead the family in that way.

You can pick up a copy of Our Home is like a Little Church: Sojourn Community Church at Amazon.com for just $4.99!

Special thanks to Sojourn community church for writing and sharing this great resource!

Family Faith Talks: Getting Started

By Lindsey | April 7, 2010 | Parents | Comments Off

Building a Family Faith

Without a doubt, parents are the #1 influence in a child’s faith. Churches are always thrilled when parents chose to let us take part in your family’s faith journey, but we realize that much of the responsibility of raising a child who loves God still lies within the four walls of your home. That’s why we want to do all we can to give you the tools to raise “a child after God’s own heart”. A great place to start is family devotions. You can be begin these at any time, no matter what age your child may be. Even if they seem too young to understand, you are building a habit that will stick with them (hopefully for the rest of their life). So, what are family devotions all about? I’m glad you asked! There is a great resource on YouTube called “Family Worship: How to Get Started”. It’s a quick, two minute video that gives the basic elements of family devotions (link found below)

For you visual learners, here is a summary of the video:

Family Worship Consists of Three Basic Elements:
#1 Reading the Bible
#2 Prayer
#3 Singing

#1 Reading the Bible:

You can read a Children’s Bible (storybook format) or an adult Bible. If you’re using an adult Bible, pick a few verses or maybe a paragraph to share with the family.

#2 Prayer:

We can praise God, thank Him for things, ask Him for things, and share our concerns with Him

#3 Singing:

Pick some appropriate songs for your family. The songs could be up-beat or slow. Modern or Traditional. Kid’s song or hymn. It could be the same song for a few weeks or a new one everyday. Group Publishing has some great song downloads on their website that help teach kids memory verses (added bonus)! Also check out Seeds Family Worship and Yancy not Nancy.

Family devotions can be anywhere from 5 minutes to 15 minutes.

The important thing is not how much time you spend at first, but that you START! Enjoy!

Check In System: When Do We Need One?

By Lindsey | April 5, 2010 | Safety and Security | 3 Comments

What Do We Need?

Security is a huge issue for churches and parents alike. Parents want to know that their kids will be safe when they leave them for a service. Many churches are now requiring volunteers to have criminal and child abuse clearances before working with kids (a smart move). What other security systems are needed? What about check in systems? If you are a small church (one of those “everyone knows everyone”), is a check-in system really essential? Is it insulting to the members who are there every week? At what point do you institute a check in system? From the beginning (or from this point forward), every ministry should have some way to keep track of the kids that are coming through the doors each day (or night). So what’s first?

1) Keep attendance.

If you’re not already doing this, start. It’s easy to type all your kids’ names into a Word document table and leave four columns for the four weeks in the month. This way, you can simply print off a new copy for each month (after adding in any newbies).

2) Keep records.

It’s a good idea to keep track of addresses, phone numbers, etc so you can contact kids (and their parents) during the week (or during Kid’s Club if an emergeny arises). Also, keep track of birthdays (so you can send cards and group kids by ages). I’ve recently started a “Kid Notebook” that contains info sheets for all the kids that have come through our ministry. I try to attach a picture to each info sheet so I will recognize the kid by name when they return (a very powerful statement to kids and their parents). The info sheet can contain whatever you want from friends, favorite activities, spiritual history, events the kids have attended, etc. Also, make note of any allergies and who the child lives with.

3) Keep communication open.

Make sure you touch base with parents when they drop kids off (especially guests) about who can pick up the child. Having a “Guest Registration” form is a great idea. Parents can leave their contact information and any other important information including who is authorized to pick up.

4) Keep watch of the door.

Consider a daily (or nightly) Check in and Check out chart. Have columns for child’s name, who dropped off and who picked up. You could attach this to a clipboard along with a list of people who are authorized to pick kids up. Make sure the kids are only using one exit so you don’t miss anyone. Also, begin to make it part of the night’s routine for kids to check in and check out every week. After a few months, it will be second nature for both kids and their parents and everyone will have a stronger sense of security about your ministry.

This is a great place for small churches to start with the check-in process. Certainly when you only have ten or fifteen kids you don’t want to utilize a sterile computerized system with codes and passwords (not to mention the cost of such a system!) However, this system has the potential to grow with the ministry and when you do need a more extensive system, parents and kids will already be in the habit of checking in and out, making the transition much easier!