I'm so excited! In less than an hour, we start our second-ever Large Church Conversation summit! We have 23 people from some of the most amazing churches in America here (it's by-invitation-only). We'll explore the top-four trends in CM today: Safety First, Family Ministry, Wired Ministry, Experience Required. And we'll talk about leading volunteers in a shifting volunteer culture.
Can't wait to hear and learn! I'll keep you posted!
So I'm driving to work today and listening to K-Love when I heard about a movement to get a Ten Commandments Holiday enacted. Looking online, I found that anyone who resists it is labeled as "liberal and atheistic."
So, at the risk of being labeled, I wondered, "What!?"
Is that our best foot forward as Christians? Why not a "grace and faith" holiday or a "Jesus loves me" holiday? Do we want to proclaim to the world that the essence of our faith is a list of rules that must be followed and obeyed to win God's favor? What!?
By the way, in my opinion, the Ten Commandments aren't the most important part of our faith. What's most important is that a broken humanity CANNOT keep these rules/commandments, so God in his amazing love and mercy came to earth to die for us and provide a way to be forgiven and live with him forever.
I'm afraid that movements like the Ten Commandments movement only serve to solidify a wrong perception of Christianity--it's not man's attempt to be good enough for God; it's a good God's attempt to draw us to himself.
So that's my rant for today.
Check out our poll on the childrensministry.com homepage. Will the Vanity Fair photo of Miley Cyrus have any impact on the kids in your ministry?
And check out this great article on how to talk to kids about it: http://www.pluggedinonline.com/read/read/a0004044.cfm
For the last 17 years, we've surveyed children's ministers to find out what they do with kids during "big church." Without fail, it seems that it's a 50/50 split. Half the churches create a separate "children's church" environment and half keep kids in with their parents.
So, now the half that's been splitting kids and families is starting to ask why. In terms of "reaping what we've sown," these churches recognize that not only is faith segregated at church by age, but it's segregated from the home. These churches desire to get families talking about faith at home (great goal!) The only problem is that they're not creating a common experience for families to talk about.
So, the entry of the "shared family experience"--where families worship together in a kid-friendly environment. It's very cool and very volunteer-intensive. For churches who can't pull it off, would it be enough to keep families together in big church? Could one side of the church learn from another side of the church?
Check out Mary Rose's May 4 post at http://catholicprodigaldaughter.blogspot.com/2008/05/kids-at-mass.html to see what we can learn. Is the answer standing right before us--and we're missing it?
Our Group leadership team just went away to the mountains for our spring Leader Retreat. It was so amazing!
We spent a lot of time looking at the barriers that we're facing in our work. We met in teams and brainstormed and shared and laughed and cried. (One of the purposes of the retreat is to grow together as friends so that facilitates trust in all our interactions. It works!)
The "aha" for me--and maybe all of us--was after we'd listed our barriers and itemized points underneath each one, our Brand Champion, Jeff White, spoke up. He said that we could transform each negative barrier into a positive statement that fit our five core values. And he was right. Our values are innovation, people-friendliness, authentic learning, quality, and servanthood.
It was brilliant. And it was a great (long) exercise to get to the realization that whenever we're experiencing barriers in our work, ministries, and life...perhaps we're not being true to our core values.
Maybe that insight will save you hours of processing. If you're blocked somehow, what core value do you need to get back to?
Ray and I are sitting at OHare, watching flights get cancelled and delayed...and people having meltdowns. Seriously, people? Is exclaiming Christ's name and obscenities appropriate in front of small children?
We've lost our way. As a culture.
But being at Conspire strengthened my conviction that the church--filled with the most amazing children's ministers who are visionary and committed and servant-hearted--has not lost its way.
Some at the conference say our teenagers are "graduating from God." Studies and statistics prove it, they say. And it just makes me wonder, 'What generation hasn't believed that our teenagers were going to hell in a handbasket'? Stats and studies actually differ on this issue.
A case in point: Check out this article "Busting the Drop-Out Myth" from Group Magazine: http://archive.youthministry.com/details.asp?ID=6107 It'll make you shudder the next time you hear stats and studies bandied around.
So, Chicken Little, is the sky falling? Are Christian families failing? Is the church failing Christian families? Is God no longer on his throne? Are we as pathetic and ineffective as the stats would say we are?
What do you think? Are you reaching families? Are kids coming regularly? Are faith discussions happening at least once a week at home? Are adults growing in their relationship with Christ--so they're more able to share their faith and model it for their children? Don't let the big bad wolf of statistics rob you of seeing what's in front of you. How is God using you to make a difference in this generation of children and families? That's the real truth you need to walk in.
Lest I only come across as pointing out what's wrong, I'd like to celebrate something wonderful I saw in a job posting at churchstaffing.com.
Here's what this church is looking for in a children's ministry director: Develop and lead an effective children's ministry that connects children and their families to Jesus, the church and to each other.
That's what I'm talking about!
I read a job description for a children's minister recently that said the primary responsibility of the job is to develop "biblical literacy and Christian character" in children.
Of course, that made me wonder what biblical literacy is. I'm sure it means different things to different people.
I love the Word of God...I've memorized it, read it, studied it, meditated on it, grappled with it, sought God through it! That needs to be established before I go on.
For this church, "biblical literacy and Christian character" never mentioned anything remotely close to knowing and loving God...or a personal, redemptive relationship with Jesus Christ...or an ongoing friendship with the Creator of the Universe. Nothing.
Is biblical literacy, then, the ability to find a verse in the Bible? Is it the ability to say all 66 books of the Bible in order?
It scares me when I see that the goal of a children's ministry is knowledge and not relationship....behavioral change and not relationship.
People today are longing for an experience with the living God! That needs to be the goal of children's ministry.
Larry Shallenberger is a brilliant author! And I'm thanking God for him today!
With Jennifer being out with her new baby, I'm getting to have more direct editing (rather than just a final look)...and I get the privilege of working with authors who are so easy to edit--like Larry! Yea!
Larry has penned an article for the July/August issue tentatively titled "The B-I-B-L-E: How to make sure it's the Bible for kids!"
Of course, I can't give you all the great stuff in the article, but he points out that with our burning desire to transmit our love of God's Word to children, we sometimes unwittingly pass on three things we don't want to.
For example, that the Bible is a book of trivia (God forbid--trivia means unimportant); that the Bible is a book of fables; and that the Bible is at odds with Science.
Very compelling info! You'll have to wait for the issue to come out. Way to go, Larry!
Jennifer Hooks, managing editor of Children's Ministry Magazine, delivered an 8-pound, 2-ounce baby boy on April 3. Jack Tucker Hooks joins Mom, Dad, and sister Adi! Congratulations, Jen! What a Sweetie!
Check out the photo--he's 8 hours old!
