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Kids Ministry

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Encouragement, Kids Ministry, Leadership

5 Ways to Beat the Wintertime Blues

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It’s over.

That holiday you’ve been pouring yourself into for months is gone. The Christmas party that you planned for your leadership is over. The children’s Nativity Play where Mary and the Angel fought over holding Baby Jesus and the shepherds ran amuck onstage is now a hauntingly funny memory.  The dinner that took hours to cook was devoured in 20 minutes, as are those gifts that you so painstakingly chose and wrapped.

Now what?  

If you’re like a lot of people (me included), once the excitement of the holidays is gone, the wintertime blues are lurking in the shadows ready to pounce. Don’t let this happen to you. I speak from experience. It ain’t pretty.

Instead of just lingering in the gray of winter, choose to bask in this time gifted to you to slow down. Sometimes that means taking care of yourself and sometimes it means helping others survive the same thing you’re experiencing. Let me share some ideas with you that might help you personally, as well as in your ministry.

Personal

  • Eat chocolate!!! Dark is healthiest. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean brownies and cookies—it means small pieces. Oh well. It’s still good.
  • Plan VBS. Doesn’t that just warm you up all over? Think about the summer and all it brings. And the vacation you can take afterward!
  • Clean your office (or home). I do love down time when I can take care of things like decluttering my office or home. Listen to music or watch a movie while you work. You’ll feel better accomplishing something rather just staring at the mess around you and feeling guilty. (Remember—speaking from experience here. No judgment.)
  • Read a book. You can choose something on leadership skills, personal growth, or just enjoy one for fun!
  • Exercise. You know I had to include this. This is what everyone says we should do. I’ll let you know when I’ve tried it!

Ministry

In addition to focusing on you, look around and see how you can help families in your church survive the winter. Here are a few ideas to get the wheels rolling.

  • Board game night. Include child-friendly games as well as games for teens and adults. Invite your guests to bring their favorites as well as snacks to share.
  • Movie Night. Show a movie on the gym wall if you can. Be sure to get a site license to show your movie to a large group. Provide popcorn and soft drinks. Encourage guests to bring blankets or sports chairs to sit on. Invite the kids to wear their pajamas.
  • Summer Day Fun. Open the gym or another large room at your church. Include games and activities that would be enjoyed during the summer. Think fun and messy! You might consider providing this one for kids only to give the parents a break!
  • Open Gym Night. Sometimes kids just need to run off excess energy. Supply toys and equipment for everyone to enjoy. Depending on what you provide, you may need to separate your gym into areas for different ages or for different activities.
  • Leadership night. Have a night just for your kids ministry leadership. Hold a scavenger hunt in your classrooms with a list that will help clean up! Include things like: Find 25 dried-up markers; Find the most outdated curriculum; Find the biggest stack of construction paper in your cabinet; Find the most dried-up glue sticks … you get the picture. Set a time limit and have everyone gather to show their treasures. Give prizes! And then, of course, eat.

Because I do get the blues each and every year, I’ve been doing some research. There are tons of blog posts and articles written about this. Sometimes it can go beyond just feeling blue. Please let me encourage you that if you feel as though you’ve gone past the point you can handle it on your own, talk with someone. Don’t suffer in silence. It’s not a sign of weakness or lack of faith. Often it’s a chemical imbalance—even from just not having enough sunlight! Be sure to take care of you. Otherwise, you can’t take care of anyone else.

Catch you on the bright side! Blessings, my friends!

Klista Storts serves as a Content Editor for LifeWay Kids. Before coming to LifeWay, she served as the Weekday and Preschool Specialist at the Tennessee Baptist Convention and as Director of Preschool Ministries at churches in Oklahoma and Tennessee. Klista has a passion for equipping leaders to share the love of Christ and lay foundations for conversion in the lives of kids.

Crafts, Encouragement, Family Ministry, Kids Ministry, Ministry, Resources, Sunday School, Teaching Kids, Uncategorized, Volunteers
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Encouragement, Kids Ministry, Leadership

5 Ways to Help Volunteers Grow as Leaders

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Any Kids Ministry leader will testify nonstop that you can’t underestimate the importance of having a strong volunteer base.  

Strong volunteers don’t just show up regularly and help make sure things go smoothly on a Sunday morning, they lead. How do we help volunteers grow as leaders? Here are 5 ways:

  1. Give volunteers meaningful ways to lead.  When you give volunteers the chance to do things that matter and lead in the church, they will grow as leaders and lead better. Fight the temptation to just ask volunteers to do the busywork.
  2. Empower volunteers to solve problems. If something isn’t happening the right way, instead of fixing it yourself help volunteers know how to fix it. It will take more effort in the short run, but it will pay off over time.
  3. Share constructive feedback with volunteers. Too many times we don’t let volunteers know how they can improve because we’ll hurt their feelings and they may stop volunteering. Giving feedback is actually one of the most caring things a leader can do because it gives someone the opportunity to grow.
  4. Listen to ideas volunteers share. It’s likely that the people who know what will work in your ministry are the same people who serve in it.  When a volunteer shares a new idea, stop and really listen to what they have to say. If you end up implementing it, that person’s investment in the ministry will only increase.
  5. Allow volunteers to share ministry results. Taking time to celebrate victories isn’t just exciting, it also helps remind us why we do kids ministry. Giving volunteers a time to share what God is doing can encourage everyone and increase motivation to come back and do it all again.

When we help volunteers grow as leaders, our ministries will be more impactful in the lives of kids we serve.  What other ways have you found that you can help volunteers grow as leaders?

Logan Meek leads the Student Life for Kids team. Logan joined the Student Life For Kids team in 2014 after spending two years as a Sixth Grade teacher with Teach For America. He believes in the importance of strong kids ministry to help kids build strong spiritual foundations.

Encouragement, Kids Ministry, Leadership

The “No Phone” Zone

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I think a lot of ministry leaders today are “phonies.” This reality may be a problem in your ministry, and I think it must be acknowledged and dealt with expeditiously. We are all familiar with the term ‘selfie.’ Selfies are those personal taken-at-arm’s-length self-portrait phone photos that people post to their social media accounts. Although it is not always the case, for many the term ‘selfie’ connotes a sense of self-absorption and narcissism that suggests that habitual selfie posters might be more aware of themselves than those around them. I have no stones to throw at selfie-takers. I confess that I myself have indulged in more than a few selfie-centered snapshots. I would, rather, like to use this relatively new term that we all know to introduce a new one: the “phonie.” No, not a ‘phony’ in the sense of being a disingenuous ‘faker,’ ‘poser’ or ‘pretender.” A phonie is a person who is distracted, often compulsively, by his or her phone to the extent that other people that they are with are ignored or neglected. Are your teachers, leaders, and volunteers phonies? Are you?

We live in a culture within which millions of people have developed a compulsion to carry (and constantly consult) our smartphones. Many of us exhibit unhealthy addictive behavior in our relationships with our phones. We cannot NOT check our messages, and no place or time seems to be exempt. (Distracted driving anyone?) We carry our phones everywhere, panic when we cannot get a signal, and respond with Pavlovian predictability everytime our ringer rings, email dings, or new text bings. We all know that smartphones have become a distraction around dinner tables. Some have suggested setting phones aside in a stack when dining out with friends; the first one who touches his or her phone pays.

While we may be quick to excuse ourselves or justify our frequent phone-checking, we need to be aware of the message that our phone-centric behavior has on others who we may be with physically. Too often we are not fully present when face-to-face with others because our phones draw us to interact with others who are not present. This is a particular, and I would suggest a very serious, problem when 1) interacting with children and 2) in ministry settings.

As leaders of kids and teachers of God’s Word, we need to practice being fully present during ministry times. We cannot afford to have our adult leaders (or teen helpers) staring at their smartphones when they should be interacting with the children in the room. Discipleship happens in relationship. Kids already compete with phones for the attention of adults and older siblings at home, let’s not let that be the case at church.

In light of this reality, let me suggest that it may be time to evaluate your kids ministry policies and procedures in regard to phone use. We would do well to set the expectation that classrooms and ministry spaces are ‘no phone zones’ for both adults and kids. Ask most adults serving in your spaces to turn their ringers off, and to leave their phones in their purses, pockets, or backpacks during service times. — If your church uses cell phones as a way of communicating in emergency situations you may permit certain leaders to keep them turned on and close by, but do this with wisdom and discernment.

We need to teach our teachers and helpers to put down their phones during ministry times, so they can actively connect with the children that are in front of them. When kids look at our faces may they see the joy of the Lord, not the glow of our phones.

Chuck Peters is Director of Operations for LifeWay Kids. A graduate of Columbia Bible College, Chuck has served vocationally & voluntarily in Student and Children’s Ministry for many years.

Encouragement, Kids Ministry, Leadership

Leaving a Legacy: Lessons I learned from my Children’s Minister.

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In kids ministry, many times much energy and time goes into planning and executing big events. While those events are important, recently I was reminded of the significance of day-to-day ministry. Miss Libby Reynolds was the Director of the Primary Division (what we would call a Children’s Minister today) at my home church for over four decades. With her recent passing, I began to reflect on how her commitment to the day-to-day ministry impacted my life and lessons I learned from her ministry.

Keep the focus on Jesus. Miss Libby was a servant who reflected Christ in everything she did. Her relationship with Christ and following His will was most important in her life. As a result, she pointed everyone she met to Him. She saw the importance of providing a biblical and spiritual foundation for kids. Jesus was the focus of every ministry and event.

Make time for People. Miss Libby cared about people. She knew their names. She deeply loved them. She took time to visit with each and every person. 

Miss Libby visited families in their time of need. 

Additionally, she made a priority to visit with each child after he or she became a Christian.

When I was in third grade, I invited Miss Libby to a party I was having for kids in my neighborhood (the day before Easter.) Miss Libby came and even brought a beautiful cake for all of us to enjoy. 

Now as an adult and a children’s ministry leader, I realize the sacrifice she made to minister to me and my friends on one of the most important and busiest weekends of the year. She understood the importance of relationships in ministry.

Be a leader worth following. People loved to serve under Miss Libby’s leadership. She saw the potential in teachers and saw the importance of developing leaders. She was organized and continually reminded them of the vision. Teachers not only knew the how but understood the why. She invested, appreciated, and empowered leaders.

I am confident the Lord used Miss Libby to help develop His call in my life, just as He is using you to develop His call in children’s lives. Future children’s ministers, pastors, parents, missionaries, and other church leaders are in your ministry. What legacy are you leaving for the children under your leadership?

Delanee Williams serves as a Ministry Specialist with LifeWay Kids. She is a graduate of Baylor University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.  Delanee has served in kids ministry for over twenty years and is passionate about developing, equipping and encouraging leaders.

Encouragement, Kids Ministry, Leadership

Dealing with Difficult People

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People are flawed. And because people are people, and because ministry is to, for, with, and by people, you’re probably dealing with some people you consider to be flawed and difficult. And the truth is, there are likely other people who consider you to be part of their “difficult” people group.

The first thing we need to realize is that there’s not much you can do to change anyone. You aren’t able to make those “difficult” people act any less difficult. The only person you can change is you. We can’t control how people respond, but we can control how we respond to others.

Let’s call on scripture to help us know what we can do to work more effectively with the difficult people in our lives. Let’s see what James 1 says:

TAKE A DEEP BREATH (verse 2-4):

“Consider it a great joy my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.”

What? Consider these difficult people GREAT JOY? Yep, that’s what it says. Maybe, just maybe, this difficult person has been placed in your life to mature and grow you. See the situation as an opportunity, not a punishment.

PRAY (verse 5):

“Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God — who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly — and it will be given to him.”

Pray and ask for wisdom. Seek wisdom on how to deal with the difficult situation, person, and behavior. Pray for the person with whom you are struggling. Ask God to show you the way He sees them.

2 Corinthians 5:16 tells us, “From now on, then, we do not know anyone in a purely human way.”

So, when you look at difficult people around you, don’t see them in a human way; see them as Jesus would see them. Think of people how Jesus thinks of people. Learn to see what Jesus sees in people.

  • Man saw a lunatic; God saw a righteous man — Noah.
  • Man saw a possible attempted murderer; God saw a father of a nation in Abraham.
  • His brothers saw an arrogant brat; In Joseph, God saw a way for His people to survive.
  • Man may have seen a murdering bush-talker; God saw a leader for deliverance named Moses.
  • Man saw a stuck-up elitist; God saw a missionary named Jonah.
  • Man saw a lying, cheating, tax collector; Jesus saw a forgiven man named Zacchaeus.
  • Man saw a homeless, radical troublemaker; God saw the Savior of the world —  Jesus.

HANG IN THERE (verse 12):

“Blessed is the one who endures trials, because when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life He has promised to those who love him.”

If you’re angry, find a healthy way to diffuse your anger. Endure the trial. Know that there’s a reward coming!

CONSIDER THE SOURCE OF THE DIFFICULTY (verse 13-14):

“No one undergoing a trial should say, ‘I am being tempted by God’ … But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desires.”

To be clear, God does not use sin to tempt you. Be careful not to look past the mirror to explain the difficult situation. You may be looking at the problem in the eyes.

TAKE A THREE-STEP APPROACH (verse 19)

“My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, for human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness.”

#1 – Be quick to listen. #2 – Be slow to speak. #3 – Be slow to anger! Very good advice. We have two ears and one mouth. Perhaps that’s God’s way of instructing us to speak half as much as we listen. Be careful as you deal with difficult people. Anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness.

TAKE ACTION (verse 22-25)

“But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like someone looking at his own face in a mirror. For he looks at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what kind of person he was. But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works – this person will be blessed in what he does.”

Be a doer. Take action, not to react, but respond. And don’t forget to look in the mirror. We’re all sinners in need of forgiveness. Then, be blessed! Let it go. Give it to God and don’t take it back!

Dealing with difficult people can be difficult. I’m working hard at not being difficult as I deal with those I perceive to be difficult. I’m trying to see these people differently. Not as difficult, but as a blessing. That changes everything.

Bill Emeott serves as Lead Ministry Specialist for LifeWay Kids. He is a graduate of Mercer University and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Bill has served in Kids Ministry for almost 30 years and currently teaches 3rd Grade Bible study at his home church in Nashville, TN.

Encouragement, Kids Ministry, Leadership

When Church Work is Hard

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It was one of those Sundays. Actually, it was one of a series of those Sundays. You know what I’m talking about. You arrived at church extra early, and you stayed late. While everyone else was eating pancakes for breakfast or ordering lunch at a restaurant, you were setting up or cleaning up so their preschoolers and elementary kids could have a positive experience at church. However, the experience didn’t feel positive to you. In fact, you dragged your weary self out to your car in the empty church parking lot, thinking that all your work was for naught. But, was it?

Well, that depends. Whose work was it and why did you do it? If your Sunday toiling is your work and you do it out of extrinsic or selfish motivation (guilt, pride, ego, etc.), then maybe it is for naught. However, if you show up every week because of what Jesus did for you on the cross and because the work is not yours but God’s, then you do not labor in vain.

I have been part of kids ministry all my adult life as either a volunteer, a paid church staff member, or the spouse of a staff member. In each of those roles, I have found church work to be challenging and downright hard. There are days I want to quit. As a volunteer sometimes I’m tempted to say, “I’m just a volunteer; why do I put up with this mess?”   

Sure, the 10-year-old girl hurt your feelings or the 3-year-old boy punched you in the face, and some kids didn’t show up because their parents had “something better” to do; however, Jesus experienced far worse. And, Christians all over the world are persecuted every day for their faith. I say that not to induce guilt, but to remind you to place your misery in perspective.

Satan wants you to quit. The more you show love to children in Jesus’ name and point them to our Heavenly Father, the more Satan tries to tempt you to quit with thoughts of despair. What do those thoughts do? They distract you from focusing on Jesus and the kids He loves, and they cause you to doubt your Kingdom effectiveness.

What should you do when your body, mind, and spirit are exhausted and screaming for you to give up? Scripture is quite clear. “Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith.” (Galatians 6:9-10)

Church work is hard. Kids ministry is hard. We are living in a fallen world inhabited by sinful people, including you and me. By God’s grace, we can get out of bed before daylight on Sunday morning and stay until the last child is out the door. And maybe, just maybe, we can go home, take a nap, and start all over the next week.

Landry Holmes is the Manager of LifeWay Kids Ministry Publishing, Nashville, TN. A graduate of Howard Payne University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Landry served on church staffs before coming to LifeWay. He is a church leader, writer, workshop facilitator, and publisher.  Landry also teaches children at his church in Middle Tennessee. He and his wife Janetta are the grandparents of two adorable grandbabies.

Encouragement, Kids Ministry, Leadership

Unintentional Influence

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Do you think of yourself as an influencer? Leadership expert John C. Maxwell explains, “Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another.” As kids ministry leaders, we have influence. As believers, we have influence.

Many times, we intentionally try to exercise influence through meetings, training sessions, one-on-one conversations, emails, and social media. However, you may be surprised at how many times you influence people without realizing you are doing so.

If you don’t believe me, think about people who have unintentionally influenced you. The neighbor who uses organic-only lawn care products. The friend who reads a genre of books you haven’t thought about reading. The co-worker who brings her lunch to the office in order to save money.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about people whom I may have influenced in ways unbeknownst to me. For example, a few years ago I was invited by a colleague to meet with a young man who wanted to know more about the work of LifeWay’s Kids Ministry Publishing and how he might engage with us. He was attending college, majoring in graphic design. I explained that, at the time,  there might be more future employment opportunities in the editorial field than in design. He returned to the university and added a second major in English. Now is he is on the team I lead as a versatile graphic designer.

Almost 20 years ago, my wife and I taught a preschooler in Sunday School who clung to her mother’s leg almost every Sunday morning. As a teenager, she helped us teach preschoolers in VBS, and as a college student, she is a full-fledged Sunday School teacher. She even changed her major to early childhood development.

More recently I taught a workshop related to kids ministry. Among those participating were a mother and her teenage son. As I often do when teaching leaders, I used the teen’s name as part of an illustration. Several days later, his mom sent me a thank-you note and mentioned the positive impact of my acknowledging him as a preschool teacher.

I did not set out to influence those three individuals, but I believe God places us in the right place at the right time to encourage and influence others for His glory. God used Paul in this way. In fact, Paul reminds the younger Timothy, “What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” (2 Timothy 2:2)

The enemy tries to convince us that we don’t provide positive influence, that what we do doesn’t matter or have a lasting impact. But we know better. When I get discouraged and wonder if what I’m doing in kids ministry is making a difference, I remember those whom I’ve influenced to “teach others also.”  Whom have you influenced? Thank God for the opportunity to influence others for His glory.

Landry Holmes is the Manager of LifeWay Kids Ministry Publishing, Nashville, TN. A graduate of Howard Payne University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Landry served on church staffs before coming to LifeWay. He is a church leader, writer, workshop facilitator, and publisher. Landry also teaches children at his church in Middle Tennessee. He and his wife Janetta are the grandparents of two adorable grandbabies.

Encouragement, Kids Ministry, Leadership

5 Tips to Becoming Less Technologically Distracted

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This morning I awoke early, spent time looking at my electronic tablet while getting ready, connected my smartphone to my vehicle’s audio system, drove to the airport and showed the parking attendant the reservation on my smartphone, checked my baggage using the boarding pass on my smartphone, went through the security checkpoint with my electronic boarding pass,  boarded the plane with a quick scan of my smartphone’s airline app, and read emails until time to switch my smartphone to airplane mode.

And I wonder why I’m tired, stressed, and distracted! Granted this is not a typical morning for me; however, almost every day begins with reaching for my tablet or phone and ends with putting them away before crawling into bed exhausted. Our world has become so connected and attached to powerful electronic devices that we are constantly technologically distracted everywhere we go. Even the security checkpoint officer was briefly distracted this morning  when she stole a quick glance at her smartphone.

What does this have to do with teaching preschoolers and elementary kids at church? Tony Reinke in his book 12 Ways Your Phone is Changing You says, “We check our smartphones about 81,500 times each year, or once every 4.3 minutes of our waking lives.” That could mean you’re checking your phone almost 14 times during the one hour you’re teaching kids at church.

So, what can you and I do to be less distracted by technology as we attempt to teach kids the Bible? Here are five steps that can apply not only to the classroom setting, but to work and home as well:

    1. Accept the reality and limits of technology. Technology is here to stay and will continue to be more invasive. However, it can never make us omnipresent. The sooner we learn that, the more engaged with real people in real time we will become. Smartphones and tablets will never take the place of one-on-one, biblical conversations with kids.
    2. Evaluate your personal tech usage. Free tools exist that can help you know if you are too connected digitally. Search online for the Internet Addiction Test (IAT), the Facebook Intensity Quiz, and other assessments. Make changes based on your evaluation.
    3. Establish “No Tech” zones. Place your smartphone out of reach in the classroom. Know where it is for emergencies, but otherwise “forget” where it is. Say to yourself and your co-teachers, “I don’t check my phone in the classroom.” Just making this statement reinforces your resolve.
    4. Use the “do not disturb” feature on your phone. If you don’t know how, ask a first grader to show you. Basically this feature allows calls and texts only from specific contacts, such as your spouse or children’s pastor.
    5. Enlist a tech accountability partner. This could be your co-teacher. Give her permission to give you “the look” or some other signal when you start pulling your phone out of your pocket. I teach every week with a Millennial, and she NEVER uses her smartphone in the classroom. I could learn from her example.

A few months ago I was sitting in the blocks area of a Bible study classroom, and a pre-kindergartener was trying to explain something to me. He felt compelled to say, “Hey!” to get my attention. I almost missed a Bible-teaching moment because I was looking at a text. That shameful incident helped me make some changes. What about you? What changes will you make this week?

Well, it’s time to put this blog post to bed and send to the editor. For the price of a fast-food meal I could connect to WiFi while flying 38,000 feet in the air and email what I just wrote, but I’m too frugal for that . . . or distracted.

Landry Holmes is the Manager of LifeWay Kids Ministry Publishing, Nashville, TN. A graduate of Howard Payne University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Landry served on church staffs before coming to LifeWay. He is a church leader, writer, workshop facilitator, and publisher.  Landry also teaches children at his church in Middle Tennessee. He and his wife Janetta are the grandparents of two adorable grandbabies.

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