It’s the classic small church dilemma. Kids won’t come to your church if you don’t have an organized and exciting program, but you cant’ have an organized, exciting program without kids/
As a friend and I bemoaned the lack of children in our mutual congregations, she told me the district superintendent of her Methodist area reassured the congregation, “It’s not you. It’s everywhere.” Children’s ministry programs in churches across our country are facing the challenge of puny attendance . Yet, I believe to the bottom of my toes that children’s ministry is important, that it’s the church’s responsibility to ground the youngest generation in the principles and content of the Bible. So what is a church to do?
A church has several options:
1. Shame the kids into coming. This is the old works mentality that so many young people resisted in the ‘50’s and ‘60’s. Churches made you feel guilty if you weren’t there every time the doors were open. We were actively taught that church attendance was more important than ball games, vacations or anything else. I still remember being chewed out by a church elder because I went on a rescheduled March of Dimes Walk-a-thon on a Sunday morning instead of going to church. I made it for Sunday School but I should have been there for church too.
We recoil at this approach, but now that I’m on the other side of the generation gap, I can appreciate my elder’s frustration. How do we get our kids – and their parents – to choose God above the activities of our culture? I look back and realize that kids in my generation were far better grounded in our knowledge of Bible content and our memorization of Scripture. I know my Bible as well as I do because I was there practically every Sunday. Is there a softer approach instead of the wagging finger?
2. Make it fun. This is the other extreme of the shame game. Many children’s ministry workers believe we need to compete with our media driven society in order to make children’s ministry attractive. Otherwise, we will appear boring and lost in the 20th century. So we provide fast paced DVD programs, environment driven VBS programs, sensational outings, exciting games, bible related snacks and not-too-heavy content.
As a curriculum writer, I love the games and activities. I know that not every child learns through print media. So many kids struggle with reading skills that expecting them to read from the Bible becomes a futile activity. Yet I see something happening I’ve mentioned in this blog before. So much of the available curriculum is watered down in favor of the fun approach. The material I’m currently using does little to teach bible content and the application is shallow at best. How am I going to teach my kids character skills and heart changes? We need to go beyond “Jesus loves you.” We need to teach kids to love Jesus in return and what it means to love Jesus. We need to help them hide the word of God in their hearts while their brains are supple and can easily retain information.
Yet how many youth workers have you heard complain that they only seem to get a big crowd when there is food or fun? We’ve created our own monster. Then, we experience what happened to our youth intern last Sunday. She spent hours putting together a cool outdoor activity. Only three kids came; and two of those left after an hour to go to a graduation party of someone the kids hardly knew. So . . . .
3. If they won’t come to you, go to them. This is the approach the Salvation Army has taken in their Sonday’sCool program. Instead of using the traditional Sunday School model, they provide programs in people’s homes, after school outreach in day care centers and supper clubs to tired families with working parents. Remember the old Backyard Bible Clubs? Why not go to a playground with a card table and sack of supplies under your arm and set up an instant children’s ministry hour? Okay, I know there’s all kinds of fear and trepidation. Should you ask the parents’ permission? Will people think you are a predator trying to entice the children? Don’t dismiss this idea just because of the drawbacks. Work through them and find solutions. Remember, our goal is to teach children about Jesus, not have a consistent number on our attendance board at the church building.
If you have a lot of children busy with other activities, go to those activities. Attend their softball games. Go to their school plays. Pray before you go and ask God to give you divine opportunities to slip in words about Him. Moreover . . .
4. Go where God is leading you and do what you can with what you have. This is a principle I’ve learned from Henry Blackaby’s book, Experiencing God. We need to see where God is working and move in that direction. Yes, I think our church needs a thriving children’s ministry. Yes, I’m doing all I can to make it happen. But it’s not growing. So, each day I ask the Lord to direct me where He wants me to go, even if it doesn’t make sense to me, then I do what He calls me to do. Right now, God has called me to organize meals for a medically needy family once a week. I have no clue what heavenly value this obedience will have. But there are two teenagers in the house and only God knows the impact our church’s weekly meals will have on the memories of those two young people. Also . . .
5. Reach the parents. If the parents are convinced that church is where they need to be, the kids will be there. This is is the long term approach that might take years. You need to start by building friendships, being there for the parents when they have crises, holding bible studies or supper clubs in your home, taking time to talk over the fence, letting your light shine for Jesus and living in such a godly way that parents will want what you have. When they come, their children will come too. Finally . . .
5. Pray. Some of us plant, others water, but only God brings the growth. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers into the harvest fields. Ask the Lord to bring children into your life that you can influence for Him. And ask Him to give you courage to step in the direction He invites you to take no matter how uncomfortable or strange that direction might feel.
May the Lord add the little ones to His Kingdom!
Showing posts with label Sunday School. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sunday School. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Building Relationships With Your Students
At a recent conference, I became convicted of my need to build relationships with my students. Teaching Inside the Classroom is more than lecturing and pouring information into students’ heads. As teachers, we need to connect with our students, earn their trust, show we are interested in their lives and in them as people. How can they know that Jesus loves them if we aren’t willing to demonstrate that love to them?
I’m a great one for preparing my lessons. I study a lot beforehand. I spend hours on my unorthodox teaching activities and my interesting lesson presentations. My weak point has been the relational aspect. Usually, by Sunday, I’m so hurried and frazzled to get everything together, that who has time to stop and ask kids about their week? As I said, I became convicted that I have put the cart before the horse and this was an area I need to work on. So I started to work on my student/teacher relationships.
“Hi Blanton, how are you?”
Grunt.
“How was school this week?”
“Bad.”
“What’s your favorite subject?”
“None of them.”
Okay, this was going nowhere fast. But I wasn’t going to give up. After all, I’m a firm believer in the adage, “God calls us to be faithful, not successful.” I was going to reach out to Blanton regardless of how monosyllabic his responses were. It took a couple months, but I noticed a gradual change in his responses.
“Hi Blanton, how are you?”
“Good.”
“Did you go swimming this week?”
“Yeah.”
“How was that?”
“Good.”
My heart soared the week he initiated conversation with me to tell me about somewhere he had gone. But last week was the clincher. I had had to correct him about taking bottled water from the church kitchen without asking and for assuming that it was his to take. While he needed the discipline, I felt badly. I so wanted to earn this boy’s trust. As he slunk out the door with his aunt, I called, “Hey Blanton, have a good week.”
He stopped and looked at me. Without the typical Eeyore inflection in his voice, he said, “Thank you! You have a good week too.”
Once again, the children Inside my Classroom are teaching me. Relationship building takes time. And persistence. Inside the Classroom is no place for personal insecurity. We keep loving our students no matter what their outward response might be. Someday, the love of Jesus we share just might shine through their cracking façade.
I’m a great one for preparing my lessons. I study a lot beforehand. I spend hours on my unorthodox teaching activities and my interesting lesson presentations. My weak point has been the relational aspect. Usually, by Sunday, I’m so hurried and frazzled to get everything together, that who has time to stop and ask kids about their week? As I said, I became convicted that I have put the cart before the horse and this was an area I need to work on. So I started to work on my student/teacher relationships.
“Hi Blanton, how are you?”
Grunt.
“How was school this week?”
“Bad.”
“What’s your favorite subject?”
“None of them.”
Okay, this was going nowhere fast. But I wasn’t going to give up. After all, I’m a firm believer in the adage, “God calls us to be faithful, not successful.” I was going to reach out to Blanton regardless of how monosyllabic his responses were. It took a couple months, but I noticed a gradual change in his responses.
“Hi Blanton, how are you?”
“Good.”
“Did you go swimming this week?”
“Yeah.”
“How was that?”
“Good.”
My heart soared the week he initiated conversation with me to tell me about somewhere he had gone. But last week was the clincher. I had had to correct him about taking bottled water from the church kitchen without asking and for assuming that it was his to take. While he needed the discipline, I felt badly. I so wanted to earn this boy’s trust. As he slunk out the door with his aunt, I called, “Hey Blanton, have a good week.”
He stopped and looked at me. Without the typical Eeyore inflection in his voice, he said, “Thank you! You have a good week too.”
Once again, the children Inside my Classroom are teaching me. Relationship building takes time. And persistence. Inside the Classroom is no place for personal insecurity. We keep loving our students no matter what their outward response might be. Someday, the love of Jesus we share just might shine through their cracking façade.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Building Sunday School Attendance
I’d love to tell you that we had a mob of visitors at our church yesterday, that our Children’s department was overflowing with children. The truth is, our attendance was zero. There were no children in the preschool class. There were no children in the elementary age class. There were no children for Wee Worship or Junior Worship either.
We could account for most of the missing children. One child spends the summer with his dad in Florida. Another three were at a family reunion. Other children on the roster are infrequent at best and this just wasn’t their Sunday to be there. Yet I was discouraged and I saw discouragement etched on my teachers’ faces.
Yet two events came out of this that encouraged me. As our wee worship teacher told me of the lack of kids, I said to her, “We need to pray more fervently that the Lord will send children to us.” Her face brightened and she responded with a heartfelt, “Oh yes, exactly.” I was encouraged by her enthusiastic response to my suggestion. I want to follow up on that. I want to gather my teachers together for a prayer meeting where we will pray for the children in our congregation. If we had had children, I wouldn’t have thought of this idea – something that we need to be doing more anyway.
Second, a ten-year-old girl did come with her mother yesterday to church. She came because the mother was meeting with our elders to ask for benevolence. The elders asked me and my eighteen-year-old daughter to stay with the ten-year-old while they met with the mother. We had a fantastic visit with her. No we didn’t have an impromptu bible lesson. I didn’t read a bible story to her. We talked sudoku puzzles with her. We asked her about her. We built relationship with her and her mother. There’s a good chance the two of them will come back to church. There’s one student.
It reminded me that teaching happens outside as well as inside the classroom. It also reminded me that teaching is living the example of Jesus as much as it is talking about Jesus. We were teaching this girl that God cares about her family, that God’s spirit has been placed in people so they are able to be kind and generous like Jesus. We taught her that she is valuable and other people think she has unique gifts that God has given her.
I realized that I need to be ready to teach at any moment. I could have been in a bad mood all morning because we had no kids. Instead, the Lord taught me to look for the opportunities He has planned that may or may not be Inside the Classroom. I hope I did all that He called me to do and I pray He takes what I did do and magnifies it bring this girl and her mom closer to Himself.
We could account for most of the missing children. One child spends the summer with his dad in Florida. Another three were at a family reunion. Other children on the roster are infrequent at best and this just wasn’t their Sunday to be there. Yet I was discouraged and I saw discouragement etched on my teachers’ faces.
Yet two events came out of this that encouraged me. As our wee worship teacher told me of the lack of kids, I said to her, “We need to pray more fervently that the Lord will send children to us.” Her face brightened and she responded with a heartfelt, “Oh yes, exactly.” I was encouraged by her enthusiastic response to my suggestion. I want to follow up on that. I want to gather my teachers together for a prayer meeting where we will pray for the children in our congregation. If we had had children, I wouldn’t have thought of this idea – something that we need to be doing more anyway.
Second, a ten-year-old girl did come with her mother yesterday to church. She came because the mother was meeting with our elders to ask for benevolence. The elders asked me and my eighteen-year-old daughter to stay with the ten-year-old while they met with the mother. We had a fantastic visit with her. No we didn’t have an impromptu bible lesson. I didn’t read a bible story to her. We talked sudoku puzzles with her. We asked her about her. We built relationship with her and her mother. There’s a good chance the two of them will come back to church. There’s one student.
It reminded me that teaching happens outside as well as inside the classroom. It also reminded me that teaching is living the example of Jesus as much as it is talking about Jesus. We were teaching this girl that God cares about her family, that God’s spirit has been placed in people so they are able to be kind and generous like Jesus. We taught her that she is valuable and other people think she has unique gifts that God has given her.
I realized that I need to be ready to teach at any moment. I could have been in a bad mood all morning because we had no kids. Instead, the Lord taught me to look for the opportunities He has planned that may or may not be Inside the Classroom. I hope I did all that He called me to do and I pray He takes what I did do and magnifies it bring this girl and her mom closer to Himself.
Saturday, July 07, 2007
The Creative Classroom
In my last post, I talked about the importance of preparation. My family is much happier if I am not running around Sunday morning, frantically trying to gather supplies. My husband is especially happy since arriving 29 minutes before Sunday School begins is late in his book.
So I try to have all my books and supplies gathered in one place in a plastic tub on Saturday. Today, all my supplies are sitting on a table in our sun porch. As one daughter came through the sun porch this evening, she asked, “What’s that bottle with yellow liquid on the table?” “It’s ammonia,” I said. “What’s ammonia doing on the table?’ she asked. “It’s for my junior church lesson.” It’s scary when a teenager doesn’t say anything but simply walks away from you.
Five minutes later, the next daughter came through the sun porch. “What’s my Jenga blocks doing on the sun porch?” she asked. “They’re for my junior church lesson,” I explained. “O-kay,” she intoned. I hastened to explained, “Well, you know what I always say . . .” “I know,” she interrupted me. “Don’t be surprised by anything.”
I strongly believe that it’s important to maintain a routine and structure in your class that kids can count on, that they know what to expect before they walk in the door. In today’s chaotic world, kids need order. They need to be able to anticipate. Maintaining an order in your class will help you maintain order.
Yet I believe just as strongly in having that element of surprise. Always have something different about your lesson that makes the kids ask, “What is she going to do different this time?’ This philosophy has led me to make my family wonder about my sanity. Well, to be an effective teacher, you do have to lose a bit of your sanity. You need to lose your inhibition, think outside the box and be willing to draw outside the lines. It may be in the form of putting on a bathrobe to play the role of the Apostle Paul, putting baby powder in your hair so you can portray the elderly widow, Naomi, or demonstrating how to play hopscotch so you can teach a memory verse a different way even if your foot hurts for two days afterwards because you haven’t played hopscotch for twenty years. When you are willing to add the element of creative surprise, your kids will notice. Those will be the lessons they will remember because you dared to do something different.
As you teeter on the edge of insane creativity, I suppose it is possible to go over the edge. I still wonder if that new group of three or four kids never came back after their first visit because that was the week I fed my class horseradish.
So I try to have all my books and supplies gathered in one place in a plastic tub on Saturday. Today, all my supplies are sitting on a table in our sun porch. As one daughter came through the sun porch this evening, she asked, “What’s that bottle with yellow liquid on the table?” “It’s ammonia,” I said. “What’s ammonia doing on the table?’ she asked. “It’s for my junior church lesson.” It’s scary when a teenager doesn’t say anything but simply walks away from you.
Five minutes later, the next daughter came through the sun porch. “What’s my Jenga blocks doing on the sun porch?” she asked. “They’re for my junior church lesson,” I explained. “O-kay,” she intoned. I hastened to explained, “Well, you know what I always say . . .” “I know,” she interrupted me. “Don’t be surprised by anything.”
I strongly believe that it’s important to maintain a routine and structure in your class that kids can count on, that they know what to expect before they walk in the door. In today’s chaotic world, kids need order. They need to be able to anticipate. Maintaining an order in your class will help you maintain order.
Yet I believe just as strongly in having that element of surprise. Always have something different about your lesson that makes the kids ask, “What is she going to do different this time?’ This philosophy has led me to make my family wonder about my sanity. Well, to be an effective teacher, you do have to lose a bit of your sanity. You need to lose your inhibition, think outside the box and be willing to draw outside the lines. It may be in the form of putting on a bathrobe to play the role of the Apostle Paul, putting baby powder in your hair so you can portray the elderly widow, Naomi, or demonstrating how to play hopscotch so you can teach a memory verse a different way even if your foot hurts for two days afterwards because you haven’t played hopscotch for twenty years. When you are willing to add the element of creative surprise, your kids will notice. Those will be the lessons they will remember because you dared to do something different.
As you teeter on the edge of insane creativity, I suppose it is possible to go over the edge. I still wonder if that new group of three or four kids never came back after their first visit because that was the week I fed my class horseradish.
Monday, July 02, 2007
Double Duty Teaching
This next month, I will be teaching both the high school Sunday School class and the Children’s Church group, grades 1-6, for my small (100 attendance) church. Now, many wonder how I do this, and frankly, I don’t recommend that a teacher teach twice on a Sunday, especially to two such diverse groups. But, in a small church, sometimes you do what you gotta do.
How do I keep everything straight? Well, I admit, I don’t. It’s not easy even for an experienced teacher. But I have learned some tips that make teaching two completely different groups back to back a bit easier.
1. Start preparations early. Sometimes we can get away with working on a Sunday School lesson last thing Saturday night. Not now! Read through both lessons, at different times, early in the week. Make a list of the supplies you need and try not to wait till Saturday to purchase or gather supplies.
2. Work the Bible Study portion of your lesson into your own quiet time. Since you won’t be able to hear preaching or teaching for yourself, you need to be responsible to be self fed. This is the one time your quiet time becomes even more necessary than usual. If you are going to give out, you have to take in.
3. Do final preparations Saturday. I gather all my supplies in a Rubbermaid tub. I go over to the church to lay out papers and set up games. I purposely get up early Sautrday morning to study and prepare while the rest of the family is asleep. This way, I’ll have uninterrupted time to study and prepare activities.
4. Write out your plans. I use a legal sized note pad to write out an outline of each lesson – the activities I’m going to use and the key talking points I want to make about each activity. I can’t rely on my brain to remember two completely different lessons and it’s hard to look at my teacher’s book during the lesson, especially when I have altered the lesson or when the book gives me more activity options than I’m going to use. You also could use a highlighter to highlight the activities and talking points in your lesson book.
4. Get help. There are a lot of people in congregations who don’t want to be in charge, but they are glad to be a helper. Ask an adult who isn’t teaching the first session to be in the classroom fifteen minutes before the second session begins, giving you time to wrap up your first session, go to the bathroom and grab last minute, forgotten or extra supplies for a larger than expected class. If your groups are large, get helpers. This will keep the entire responsibility from being on you. Yes, you can handle it, but you won’t be so utterly spent afterwards if you have help.
5. Ease off on the rest of life. This is not the time to invite guests over for Sunday dinner! While eating out with church friends sounds inviting, my preacher husband and I sometimes feel that we are so tired after a full morning of responsibilities that we’re not fit for social consumption. Keep plans light. Go home and take a nap. Part of our Sunday worship should be Sabbath rest.
6. Pray. Yesterday (Sunday), I woke up early which was fine with me because I didn’t quite feel ready for my high school Sunday School class. I wanted to study a bit more. As I tried to study, I kept thinking of kids and I started praying. I didn’t get my studying done; instead I prayed for both my classes. Yesterday was one of the smoothest two session days I’ve ever had. In addition to that, two families came that I had prayed for and who haven’t come in a long time. So, try to find time Sunday morning to pray that the Lord who teaches all of us will partner with you throughout the morning.
Jesus recognized that His kingdom lacks workers when He said to His disciples, “the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few (Luke 10:2).” So add to your prayer to pray along Jesus’ command to “ask the Lord of the harvest therefore to send out workers into his harvest field (Matthew 9:38).”
Yes, I come home tired. I ought to. Teaching is work. I figure if I don’t come home tired, after two sessions, I haven’t given it my all. Sometimes it’s tempting to wish there were other people to help do the job. I miss visiting with my friends because I’m stuck downstairs for two hours. It would be nice to come to church and just soak in the worship experience without having any responsibilities. But when I stop and think of the lives I’m influencing for Jesus, that I have the privilege to tell classrooms of kids the most important message in all of time and space, there’s no other place I want to be.
How do I keep everything straight? Well, I admit, I don’t. It’s not easy even for an experienced teacher. But I have learned some tips that make teaching two completely different groups back to back a bit easier.
1. Start preparations early. Sometimes we can get away with working on a Sunday School lesson last thing Saturday night. Not now! Read through both lessons, at different times, early in the week. Make a list of the supplies you need and try not to wait till Saturday to purchase or gather supplies.
2. Work the Bible Study portion of your lesson into your own quiet time. Since you won’t be able to hear preaching or teaching for yourself, you need to be responsible to be self fed. This is the one time your quiet time becomes even more necessary than usual. If you are going to give out, you have to take in.
3. Do final preparations Saturday. I gather all my supplies in a Rubbermaid tub. I go over to the church to lay out papers and set up games. I purposely get up early Sautrday morning to study and prepare while the rest of the family is asleep. This way, I’ll have uninterrupted time to study and prepare activities.
4. Write out your plans. I use a legal sized note pad to write out an outline of each lesson – the activities I’m going to use and the key talking points I want to make about each activity. I can’t rely on my brain to remember two completely different lessons and it’s hard to look at my teacher’s book during the lesson, especially when I have altered the lesson or when the book gives me more activity options than I’m going to use. You also could use a highlighter to highlight the activities and talking points in your lesson book.
4. Get help. There are a lot of people in congregations who don’t want to be in charge, but they are glad to be a helper. Ask an adult who isn’t teaching the first session to be in the classroom fifteen minutes before the second session begins, giving you time to wrap up your first session, go to the bathroom and grab last minute, forgotten or extra supplies for a larger than expected class. If your groups are large, get helpers. This will keep the entire responsibility from being on you. Yes, you can handle it, but you won’t be so utterly spent afterwards if you have help.
5. Ease off on the rest of life. This is not the time to invite guests over for Sunday dinner! While eating out with church friends sounds inviting, my preacher husband and I sometimes feel that we are so tired after a full morning of responsibilities that we’re not fit for social consumption. Keep plans light. Go home and take a nap. Part of our Sunday worship should be Sabbath rest.
6. Pray. Yesterday (Sunday), I woke up early which was fine with me because I didn’t quite feel ready for my high school Sunday School class. I wanted to study a bit more. As I tried to study, I kept thinking of kids and I started praying. I didn’t get my studying done; instead I prayed for both my classes. Yesterday was one of the smoothest two session days I’ve ever had. In addition to that, two families came that I had prayed for and who haven’t come in a long time. So, try to find time Sunday morning to pray that the Lord who teaches all of us will partner with you throughout the morning.
Jesus recognized that His kingdom lacks workers when He said to His disciples, “the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few (Luke 10:2).” So add to your prayer to pray along Jesus’ command to “ask the Lord of the harvest therefore to send out workers into his harvest field (Matthew 9:38).”
Yes, I come home tired. I ought to. Teaching is work. I figure if I don’t come home tired, after two sessions, I haven’t given it my all. Sometimes it’s tempting to wish there were other people to help do the job. I miss visiting with my friends because I’m stuck downstairs for two hours. It would be nice to come to church and just soak in the worship experience without having any responsibilities. But when I stop and think of the lives I’m influencing for Jesus, that I have the privilege to tell classrooms of kids the most important message in all of time and space, there’s no other place I want to be.
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