• About

DeDeBullReilly

~ Just another WordPress.com site

DeDeBullReilly

Monthly Archives: January 2021

Family Discipleship Coaching

26 Tuesday Jan 2021

Posted by DeDe Bull Reilly in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

It is the call on every Christian to be Jesus-disciple-makers. Parents and grandparents are on the frontline of Jesus-disciple-making, yet where do they start? How do they fit in one more thing among laundry, grocery-shopping, school, extracurricular, and dentist appointments? This is where we come in, the local church family ministry champions, to lock elbows, share prayer space, and resource families to bring Jesus into what they are already doing.

There wasn’t near as much out there to help Christian families navigate discipling their families in the 1990s. As a young mom I recall four books which, partnered with the Bible and my local church, helped me most along my way:
Tim Keller’s Little House on the Freeway: Help for the Hurried Home
Lisa Whelchel’s Creative Correction
Kevin Leman’s Making Children Mind Without Losing Yours
Mom, You’re Incredible (white book with teal MOM on the cover and have no idea who wrote it, but it was a game-changer!) Do you sense a theme?

Today there are so many options and not near enough time for parents to curate the best, the most practical to help them as they are in the trenches of everyday. Let’s face it, there is just too much information at the end of our fingertips to go deep into anything so they are overwhelmed and just too tired. Again, this is where we come in.

I just finished the best 163 pages I’ve read this year for equipping those devoted to discipling their own families. Matt Chandler and Adam Griffin of The Village Church offer in Family Discipleship: Leading Your Home Through Time, Moments, & Milestones a practical framework of bringing Jesus into what most families are already doing in all seasons of a child’s life.

Published in August 2020, this resource provides today’s family leaders with the sigh of relief that not all family discipleship practices are enjoyed; some are endured. But, ‘our role is to plant seeds of truth, water them, and pray that God will give them life and growth as we trust in his goodness and mercy over all our shortcomings.’ (pg 21)

“You cannot be a Christian family if you are not a disciple-making family, because your family can’t truly follow Christ if you are not doing what Christ commanded – trying to become more and more like him and leading others to do the same.” (pg 30)

In the community of family, we learn best to prepare meals, serve one another, establish rules for living, protect ourselves from dangers, celebrate, and practice academic and social skills. We also learn to become more like Jesus in this community together through time (thinking about, talking about, and living out the good news of Jesus in holy habits), moments (leveraging those daily moments of life which are developmentally appropriate), and milestones (marking and making the remarkable moments of life wrapped in God’s presence and faithfulness to His people.) Each chapter offers the author’s experiences and time plans for those of us who like lists and boxes to fill in.

Time: Rather than thinking everything should be a Broadway production, lower your expectations and think about the positive, cumulative effect of holy habits over time such as Bible reading, devotional time, scripture memory, meals, prayer, worship, and service and how modeling that behavior in the adult’s life is the best teacher.
“A child disciple of Jesus Christ is a child who loves God, loves people, and imparts what God has revealed to them to others. You love what you know.” (pg 43)

Moments: Being attentive and alert to opportunities to talk about the attributes of God, foundational truths about who God is and who they are, and how God’s word is a treasure to explore and discover. As a teacher and family discipleship coach, my favorite pages were pages 122-130…so rich in practicality and narrowing down the spiritual building blocks for living as an exile in today’s culture.

Milestones: Acknowledging God’s work and faithful presence in the remarkable moments of life like births, death, losses, disappointments, driver’s licenses, graduations, starts and ends of school years, heirlooms, new homes, etc. It is in the milestones where there is a ‘tremendous opportunity to extend the discipleship process to your child’s extended family, friends, neighbors, and biblical community’ (pg 136). There are pages of examples at the end of this chapter to simply make events that are already happening spiritually memorable.

As leaders for ministry with families in the local church, we are neither event planners nor community center coordinators. We are family discipleship coaches! D6 Family Ministry shared in a December meme for the local church champions in ministry with children and families: “Good equippers do it like Jesus did it; recruit twelve, graduate eleven, and focus on three.” So glad I have a new calendar with all that white space.

“I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father.” 2 John 4

Listen to this blog on the In The Trenches Podcast with DeDe Reilly here.

Volunteers or Something Else?

19 Tuesday Jan 2021

Posted by DeDe Bull Reilly in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Ephesians 4:11-12 calls the local church to ‘equip His people for works of service, SO THAT (emphasis mine) the body of Christ may be built up.’ Ministry leads do not manage volunteers; we equip the saints for good works of service. We have the privilege of inviting God’s people into His call on every believer’s life: to share the gospel and use their gifts and skills to share that gospel.

We are invited to provide an environment where people can practice their skills and gifts to share the gospel in their world. To do so, we build relationships of trust in the areas of…

Information
• God’s people should be able to trust the systems in place so they are each super successful. I ask myself, “Will my siblings in Christ have such a great experience with the systems in place, they will want to continue to grow in their service to God’s people”?
• They should be able to trust the resources and schedule will be provided in a timely manner for them to be successful.
• They should be able to trust the vocabulary used to communicate information will be consistent with the vocabulary of the local culture. The first thing Jesus did when he called his disciples was to teach them. 1 Timothy 4:6 reads, “Be trained in the words of the faith.” 

Connection
• Walt Disney said, “Everything we do tells a story.” I say that, “Everything our servant leaders do tells God’s story as part of their story.” Connections through relationship, not meetings, invite people to see God’s working in their lives.
• They should be able to trust in my leadership reputation: planner, honest, cheerleader, speak well of them, honor my family/spouse/children, even-tempered, joyful. Do they enjoy being around me, do I help them listen to their Holy Spirit and give them earned-freedoms in programming? Am I accessible/available/honorable/helpful/kind? Do I model a disciple of Jesus to the best of my ability? Am I a prayer warrior or an event planner?
• Co-lead a Bible study, be faithful to a small group of fellow disciples, growing in my own personal discipleship.

Inspiration
• Most ministry takes place not in programming, but in being present where the disciples are: worship services, other ministry special events, and asking, “Where can I help?” Oswald Chambers wrote, “A call is always preceded by a need.” Beth Moore wrote, “Until you know what you’re called to do, do what you are NEEDED to do.” (Entrusted). No, you can’t do everything, but you can do some things easily well, like be present where folks have access to you in Christian community.
• In Ministry Architects’ Sustainable Children’s Ministry leads do well in recruiting if they (1) pray, (2) start early, (3) identify matches (not just fill a hole set my me, but rather ask myself ‘what’s in my hands?’), (4) make a list, and (5) make contact. The best way to make contact is to be where people are (refer to the bullet point above).
• What if we tithed 10% of our time each week in growing our relationships with the people we are called to equip? We can do this by phone, ministry of presence, text, email, social media, etc. No ulterior motive, but by asking, “How can we share life so well as disciples of Jesus that we both are growing our faith together?”

Celebration
• Share in the remarkable moments of life, not just the spiritual milestones of what takes place inside the walls, but rather inside their hearts.
• There are five love languages, and four languages of appreciation in the workplace. When I taught weekday preschool I told the parents, “My first goal for the first week is to find out (1) What makes your child tick, and (2) What ticks them off.” Adults are like that, too. Be a student of your servant leaders, not just the manager.

The goal of leading a team of servant leaders is to equip God’s people for works of service. The whipped cream? To make their experience such a good experience that ‘surely goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our lives’ SO THAT WE ALL dwell in the house of the Lord … together … forever. Amen.

How can you provide a better experience in your environment to equip God’s people for works of service? 

“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ, Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.” Ephesians 2:10

Happy New Year! But Wait…

12 Tuesday Jan 2021

Posted by DeDe Bull Reilly in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Evaluation

Before we say, “Goodbye!” to a roller coaster of a year, it’s evaluation time. We can’t know where we’re headed until we can appreciate where we are and celebrate what’s been accomplished. Steep that pot of tea or pour that cup of fresh coffee and take thirty minutes to do two things:
1. Write down five major accomplishments and successes of the last year so you can toot the horn of God’s faithfulness to you and those you serve, and
2. Write down five lenses through which you’ll look into the new year resolving to make a priority/filter.

There were way more than five accomplishments, but which are the major five I’m going to be talking everyone’s head off about?

1. Digital discipleship – from online bulletin board to online ministry with congregational care, congregational growth, and Jesus reach. Social media was the tool to grow relationships, love on, reach, and care for God’s people. Family ministry small groups flourished online among six Facebook groups related to McEachern Kids of more than 1500 individuals.

2. 10 weeks of weekly drive-thru and 10 weeks of weekly drive-in services shifted ministry with children to ministry with families of all shapes, sizes, stages, and ages.

3. Reset typical Sunday school with an academy environment of life skills which engaged a faithful return and faithful weekly attendance of those we had not seen since spring. Already moving into a new session for January/February with new skills and Jesus-content.

4. Prepared for Children’s Christmas Eve service in early November to be online with excellence, so was ready to go when the decision to put all but one service online only two weeks out from Christmas Eve. Whew! Thank you, Lord!

5. We can transition everything outside or on the road, and we’re better for it!

Bonus: Starting and managing a Faith Grandparenting Facebook group invited the sharing of ways grandparents can intentionally live out Deuteronomy 4:9 and connect with their grandchildren when in quarantine and beyond which has grown to more than 70 members with daily engagement of almost 60.

The five areas of resolve as my responsibility in 2021?

1. Jesus every time, every day, all the time! Praying the gospel of Jesus will burn in my bones.

2. Edit to excellence the online discipleship of Faith Parenting and Faith Grandparenting to include faith-filled in-person experiences. Then, coordinating equipping content specifically for Dads with Daughters, and Moms with Sons. It’s a relevancy thing and I need to be on it.

3. Start a podcast for those in the trenches of leading kids to love Jesus with their whole hearts for their whole lives. It’s a communication thing and I need to be on it.

4. Co-lead Bible study with a young “Mary” in small groups. In full transparency, I may not be an “Anna”, but I’d better be stepping up to be “Elizabeth” every chance I get. It’s a legacy-of-faith thing and I need to be on it.

5. Stay the course to live into the healthy habits which gave me the tools to lose almost 100 pounds this year. It’s a testimony thing and I need to be on it.

Looking back to last year’s post of these ten items, I’m doing the happy dance in some areas and not-so-much in others. This I know: God’s faithfulness to equip the called is what He does and who He is. Step into the new year with biblical confidence that God is with you, everywhere you go, God is there. Don’t drag your feet. Step into the new year wearing combat boots, toting a tattered backpack filled with courage which comes from The Word, and join up with others who are doing stuff in the trenches to love kids to Jesus, because we are better together, stronger together, braver together, and iron sharpens iron.

2021, we’re coming for ya…together!

“For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:7

Digital Hospitality: A Connection Button

05 Tuesday Jan 2021

Posted by DeDe Bull Reilly in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

As we continue engaging families online, I’m not sure we’re answering the questions they need answered with the overwhelming amount of text and content that we put out. All good, just alot. I’ve been thinking of a pathway to get those first questions answered, initiate that first personal touch to a family, and make the children’s ministry page of our church website more inviting for non-church or new-to-church folks.

I’ve placed a connection button in the contact box on the children’s ministry page beginning January 1st. We set up a form within our church database where we typically take registrations to obtain (1) best contact information, and (2) a paragraph box for people to say and ask what they need answered.

As soon as the individual hits ‘submit’, I and someone else on children’s ministry team will get an automated email so we can immediately respond and make that first connection much more personal, more relevant, more specific to their immediate needs, and more timely.

Why? It offers a level of digital hospitality that feels personal. It also gives us insight as to what is NOT being answered with all the information already provided. All good, just alot. Sometimes people just need an answer and don’t want to have to dig for it. Or is that just me?

The heading on the connection form reads, “McEachern Kids partners with parents, grandparents, and caregivers of children to resource and cheer you on as you lead your littles to love the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love their neighbors as themselves. How can we connect with you, get your questions answered, and help you along your way?” We ask for their best basic contact information, and ‘How can we help?’ We put another button along the bottom of the page reading, “How can we help you along the way?” which feeds the same form.

The confirmation response reads, “Thank you for connecting with McEachern Kids. You can expect a response by email or phone call by a McEachern Kids team member within 24 hours. If you require immediate response, please contact the McEachern Kids Ministry Lead, DeDe Reilly, at dreilly@mceachernumc.org or call (insert my cell phone number).

This first connection can help us further connect the family more specifically with our online resources, the various closed Facebook small groups we offer, special events, and the best personal connections to others on staff and in our community.

We will monitor it for the first 90 days and report back to the lead staff our findings.

How are you offering digital hospitality to guests and family in your online house?

“And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” Hebrews 13:16 

Subscribe

  • Entries (RSS)
  • Comments (RSS)

Archives

  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010

Categories

  • Uncategorized

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in

Copyright Notice

Copyright 2016 by DeDe Bull Reilly - all rights reserved. This material may be freely copied and distributed subject to inclusion of this copyright notice and our World Wide Web URL http://www.dedebullreilly.wordpress.com

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • DeDeBullReilly
    • Join 100 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • DeDeBullReilly
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...