Probably my least favorite part of spring the expectation that I would take some time to clean my home from top to bottom. Yuck! I like a clean house, but I don\’t like to clean my house.
As a children’s minister I felt the same way about deep cleaning our ministry area. Did it need it, yes… do I like to do it… NO! Must it be done… definitely. It’s not the day to day cleaning (that gets done), it’s the deep get on your hands and knees or up on a latter cleaning that I so dread.
This past Saturday at the church I attend the Children’s Minister organized a "spring clean-up" day. It was just a few hours during the morning, child care was offered, and lunch was provided. The results, a really nice and clean space for the kids on Sunday morning.
One of the keys to effectively reaching unchurched families is our demonstrating the importance kids have in our fellowship. Nothing says "this is important to us" more than clean space. Think about it… when you walk into a room that looks unkept or smells a little fowl what do you think? Most of us think, "I don\’t want to be here and I\’m certainly not going to leave my kids here!" On the other hand… you walk into a room and it’s freshly painted, the carpets are clean, and the room is kept… we all want to be there, right?
The other day I walked in to my house, did a couple things around the kitchen and started up the steps to put in a load of laundry. On the way up the steps I found myself dodging a book I had left there over a month ago. I have a plan for that book… I want to give it to a coworker… but somehow I had let that book sit there for over a month. Quite frankly, I had forgotten it was there, yet everytime I traveled those steps I had to dodge it!
The same thing happens at church. Some of our classrooms are cluttered, dirty, and smelly and we don\’t even know it. Some of our teaching space is offensive and un-kept and we don\’t even see it.
Make a decision now that you’re going to clean up a little this spring. Take a fresh look at your space or have a friend who’s not in there every week take a look and tell you what she sees… then do something about it! You don\’t need an official "spring clean up" day… you just need to decide it’s time and you need to get in there and do it.
I have the opportunity to see a lot of kids ministry space… some better than others. Below are a couple pictures of resource centers (usually the #1 place spring cleaning could start) that I recently took while in Texas. I like both spaces for different reasons. I like both reasons mostly because they were clean!
SHARE YOUR PICTURES: We all love to see other folks ministry space. I\’d love to share on this blog some picures that you might send to me. Email the photos to bill.emeott@lifeway.com and we\’ll get some pictures/ideas heading your way. If the picture needs explaination, explain away. I look forward to hearing from many of you in the near future.
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