Dedicated to helping Kids Ministry leaders in their mission of making disciples
Hey Kids Ministry friends!
We’re excited to announce that for a very limited time, you can receive $54 off the normal price of KMC registration!
Don’t miss out!
On the registration page, be sure to enter the code: KMCEARLYBIRD
To register for KMC 2013, click here and enter the code KMCEARLYBIRD
Happy Friday, friends! What are your plans for this weekend?
If you aren’t following our VBS blog, you are missing out on some MAJOR fun! Each day this week, we’ve been releasing an Impossible Clue video to help tip you off to the 2014 VBS theme. If you’ve missed them, check ’em out!
Be sure to watch the four clues that have been released so far.
Impossible Clue #1
Impossible Clue #2
Impossible Clue #3
Impossible Clue #4
There are still two more Impossible Clues coming your way on Saturday and Sunday! Be sure to look for them at 8 AM CST.
We’ll be officially releasing the 2014 VBS Theme at 1 PM CST on Monday, June 3rd. Be sure to bookmark this page and set a reminder!
Oh, how could I forget? Enter your VBS theme guess below for a chance to win $3000 worth of VBS 2014 materials for your church. Winner will be announced during the official release!*
*Winner will be chosen at random and need not be present to win.
This Sunday is Mother’s Day. I know – not a newsflash. But I want to talk about another big event that often takes place on this important day — Baby Dedication. Or, as I really like to call it – Parent-Child Dedication.
I prefer that title because this service can be so much more than an opportunity to announce the birth of a child! I worry sometimes that parents participate in a dedication service because they get caught up in the excitement of showing off their new little one. What my hope for that young family is that this will be a celebration of life but also a time of solemn commitment where the parents pledge to be and do all they can to raise that child and help her to be all God wants her to be.
This day can also be a great reminder to your church congregation of their responsibility of surrounding that new family. A time, where we as church members realize that we’re to come alongside and mentor, support, and advise when we can and assist in teaching and guiding their children.
There are so many great ways to celebrate this commitment. I’ve seen:
Here are four resources from pastors who have unique ways that their churches have performed this service.
If you have a special way you celebrate this service in your ministry, please share a comment with us! Although it may be too late for this year’s Mother’s Day, you might give someone a great idea for a future date!
Blessings, friends!
https://www.lifeway.com/Article/pastors-baby-dedication-resources
We have all heard the statement, “children learn best when they are actively involved in the process.” Many times we talk about mission opportunities. We challenge
children to tell their friends and family members about Jesus. We encourage them to invite their friends to church. We may even challenge them to pray for and give to
support missions. When was the last time you allowed your children to participate in actual mission opportunities?
Here’s several ways to include children in missions and mission education:
As you plan mission opportunities, guide the children to understand missions is not just something that happens around the world. Missions can happen on their own streets, in their own schools, and sometime in their own homes.
Got other ways to include children in missions? Share your ideas with all of us.
Ever heard of the “lazy, crazy” days of summer? This is a fun, fun saying, but, in reality, days of summer in the local church are anything but lazy!
Wise kids leaders understand the importance of “peppering” a few crazy, fun days throughout the summer to continue relationship building with the kids in their ministry. With each activity will also come the opportunity for a “Bible study” connection to encourage and disciple kids. Consider these options:
Stay cool! Be cool with some of these fun suggestions!
Well, deposits are in and kids are beginning to get excited about Camp and now the reality hits, “How do you pay for camp?”
Traditionally, we’ve done one of two things… take the check or raise the funds. Here are a few fundraising ideas that might help offset the cost for families:
This involves the bakers in your church. Enlist the finest chefs to bake their best desserts and auction them off either at a dessert fellowship or through a silent auction that allows the “winner” to take the dessert home or to a special occasion. I’ve also had bakers in the church agree to bake their specialty “at cost” as often as there is demand and give the profits toward camp.
What’s not to like about a Saturday morning car wash? This tried and true method involves the kids, encourages a donation, and plays out quiet well at the end of a nasty weather week!
There’s not a cheaper meal than spaghetti. Add some Texas toast, a bag of salad and you’ve got a fund raiser for after Sunday morning worship. (This would be a great place to also have your dessert auction).
Walk, Run, Ride a Bike, or Rock in a Rocking Chair… it’s all the same. Kids get pledges from willing friends and family to complete a task for a certain amount of time and then receive the pledged amount once the task is completed.
Everybody needs to clean out something, right? Take advantage of the “one man’s junk is another man’s treasure” theory and sale that junk to a treasure collector. This can be an excellent way to involve the whole church and make some substantial cuts in how much each child will need to pay.
All of these are tried and true but, what about some less painful ways of financing camp? Perhaps you could consider one or two of these less-traditional ideas.
Sometimes it just makes it easier to set up a payment plan. $300 is easier for me to part with in $50 increments. This year at my church we have one family with three kids going to CentriKid. While their situation doesn’t prohibit them from attending, it sure does make it easier if we set up four installments over four months.
There are families who would be willing to anonymously sponsor a family by paying in full that child’s way to camp. Most of the time, we fail to make the need known. “We have not because we ask not” works well here. Place the opportunity in a church publication and just watch the generosity of your people.
Similar to the “One to One” sponsorship this one allows a class to pool their gifts together to sponsor a child in need. My senior adult classes always come through on this one.
In my last church we were blessed with several members who owed their own business and were often looking for tax write offs. While it’s not appropriate to give money directly to a individual through the church and receive a tax credit, it can be given to the “children’s camp fund” and distributed as needed. Check with your churches financial advisor to make sure, but it worked for us.
Don’t forget the obvious. Several church budgets have options for benevolence. Consider requesting a benevolent offering from the church budget for a needy family. In our church budget, the children’s ministry has a line item for camp. That line item was placed in to help offset the cost of camp for our church families. Don’t miss monies already ear marked for your needs.
Times are tough and while I hope we’re coming out of this latest recession, I know it’s still a big deal for many of our families to get their kids to camp. It might be that this year there are more struggling than we’re even aware of. Let’s be sensitive and helpful. Let’s consider some options. Let’s make sure every child has the opportunity to be at camp in 2013.
It’s holy week… Passion Week… the week that led to Christ’s arrest, trial, death and glorious resurrection. It’s a time of remembering and celebrating.
There are many ways families choose to celebrate this HOLY day we call Easter… and I’ve had all kinds of opinions over the years. I’ve thought it absolutely crazy to use abstract imagery with young, concrete thinking kids. I’ve thought “they don’t get it” and “it’s just confusing” and “why would you even bother.”
You know, I do think that very young kids don’t always get everything we share with them. And I do think that we should be very careful at church to not lie or offer imagery that undermines the Truth we are teaching… but I also think if we practice better the use of what I think is the #1 teaching method, CONVERSATION (talking with a child that includes listening and honestly answering questions)… we can take some abstract concepts to meaningful, literal understanding.
Most of what I remember from my childhood (especially very young childhood) is surrounded by feelings… not facts. I don’t remember learning specific facts about the Bible stories we heard, I remember that my Sunday School teachers loved me and loved the Bible she was teaching from. I don’t remember specific Bible verses we learned, but I remember that my Bible Drill teacher was a lot of fun and loved teaching us how to use our Bible. The fondest memories I have are wrapped up in warm, loving, and healthy feelings that eventually “connected” and the abstractness of the fun became reality and eternally meaningful.
That being said, I want to share a fun and ABSTRACT activity I’ve used with my young friends (AT HOME) that I think it created wonderful, loving, and meaningful memories.
RESURRECTION COOKIES
Ingredients:
STEP 1: Preheat oven to 300.
STEP 2: Place pecans (or mini-chocolate chips) in a zipper bag (you might want to “double bag” to make sure you don’t have a big mess) and let kids beat them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested, the Roman soldiers beat him. (Read John 19:1-3)
STEP 3: Let the kids smell the vinegar and even taste it. Add the vinegar it into a mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross, He was given vinegar to drink. (Read John 19:28-30)
STEP 4: Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life. (Read John 10:10-11)
STEP 5: Sprinkle a little salt into each child’s hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus’ followers. (Read Luke 23:27)
STEP 6: Add sugar. Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know Him. (Read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16)
STEP 7: Using an electric mixer, beat egg white mixture on high speed until stiff peaks are formed (12-15 minutes). Explain that the color white represents the purity and cleaning of our sins because of what Jesus did for us. (Read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3)
STEP 8: Fold in broken nut or mini-chocolate chips and drop by teaspoonfuls onto a cookie sheet covered with wax paper. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus’ body was laid. (Read Matthew 27:57-60)
STEP 9: Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven off. (The cookies will bake in the pre-heated oven overnight if you DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DOOR). Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door. Explain that Jesus’ tomb was sealed. (Read Matthew 27:65-66)
STEP 10: Go to bed and explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus’ followers felt despair when the tomb was sealed too. (Read John 16:20-22)
STEP 11: On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first Easter, Jesus’ followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty. Celebrate that Jesus is risen! He is risen indeed! (Read Matthew 28:1-9)
So… there you have it… a fun, meaningful, and ABSTRACT way to learn about the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ in a hands-on, memorable way.
Let me know how you celebrate and make memories with your kids!
I love Easter Sunday. Celebrating the resurrection of our Savior with like minded folks is a highlight of my year. It’s so exciting… and very challenging!
Easter is one of those days (like Christmas Eve and Mother’s Day) when all the membership (and a lot of visitors) makes an effort to be in church. Those who have “perfect attendance” and those who “aren’t so perfect” all seem to collide on this important Sunday to participate in the celebration of the Risen Savior. That’s good… and that’s hard for us, Preschool and Children’s leadership.
The reason it’s hard is because we (Kids Ministers) are expected to provide worship care (particularly in preschool) for what sometimes is our highest attended Sunday and can sometime add 25 to 50% to our classrooms. While we rejoice that folks have decided to attend, we have to figure out how to be ready for this large group of kids.
Below are some ideas that I think might be helpful as you enlist and recruit for the upcoming Easter Sunday attendance:
God is in control. Pray! God wants your Easter Sunday to be a success! Start this enlistment process in prayer, asking God to lead you as you recruit and encourage your church to participate encourage volunteers to participate in ministering to young families on Easter.I think if you get hold of this impending attendance boost now, you’ll enjoy the Easter celebration even more then.
What have you found successful when it comes to enlisting seasonal volunteers in your church?
This Sunday is the first Sunday in March! Unbelievable! The promise of Spring. The newness of the world. The newness of LIFE! Just four weeks until Easter, one of my very favorite holidays of the year!
As you start preparations for that Big Sunday coming up, I want to remind you how special the Sunday before Easter can be in the lives of your church families – Palm Sunday. I’m afraid that sometimes we get all excited about Easte0r Sunday because of what WE get to do…new clothes, eggs, candy, etc., instead of what He did that day. So, one thing I love about Palm Sunday, is that we truly focus on praising Jesus Christ. Now, I’ll be honest, I don’t remember as a child ever having celebrated Palm Sunday at my church or in my home! I know! Right??? And therefore, as I started my own family, I didn’t know anything about passing down traditions that accompany this special day. So…today, I’m stopping that cycle!
I’ve been looking at one of my favorite sites (Pinterest!) to get some id
eas of what can be done to celebrate Palm Sunday. There are some great ideas on there, and I’ve shared a few on the Lifeway Kids Easter board on Pinterest.
Here are a couple of the ideas I pinned to our board. Tracing hands to make a “palm” leaf or guiding a child to make a road on construction
paper and then adding strips of fabric as “the cloaks” that were put down in front of Jesus as He entered Jerusalem.
There are tons of others out there! I hope you’ll take some time to gather ideas to use in your Sunday School class or maybe even in your home. If you’ve got some great ways your church celebrates Palm Sunday, please share!
Source: ourcraftsnthings.com via LifewayKids on Pinterest;
Today’s post is from guest blogger, Alan Wilson. Alan, a former Children’s Minister and Childhood Specialist with Lifeway, is now an Administrator at Longview Heights Baptist Church, in Olive Branch, MS. However, he still has a passion for sharing the Good News with kids, and always will!
Spring Breaks will be breaking out soon. Many times the kids are out of school with “nothing” to do. A children’s minister can take that “nothing” and make it into something. The kids will enjoy it – and the mammas will L-O-V-E you for giving the kids something to do! Here are some ideas for ministry during spring break.
Have a bike day. Cordoned off church parking lot. Kids with their bikes. Minimum investment for a huge return! Don’t forget your 10 speed from the 80’s!As you can see, there are a ton of ideas for Spring Break – these are just a few. Take time to pray over your Spring Break and start making plans for what God wants to do through you and your children’s ministry. Most of these will not cost you or your families any money, just time and organization. Let’s make this Spring Break different for God’s Kingdom.
