The Rock Solid 5th Grade Retreat offers developmentally appropriate teaching and practice for students completing elementary school to build a rock solid faith through the holy habits of worship, prayer, study, and play as they prepare to move into middle and high school. I was a co-leader for the prayer station. My partner used yoga mats and body prayers. I offered self-directed stations with a short debrief at the conclusion.

Introductory teaching: Prayer is communicating with God. The best way for God to communicate with us is through the Bible. The way we best communicate with God is through prayer. God gave us five gifts to help us experience the world He created and to keep us safe. These were the stations using those five gifts based on Colossians 4:2 “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”

Sight – Glow stick bracelets

Say a blessing prayer for someone by name, then give them a bracelet. Be willing to receive prayer from someone else only responding, “Thank you.”

Jesus asked his friends, “Watch and pray.” Matthew 26:41; Mark 14:38; Luke 21:36

Smell – Silence/deep breaths

Just be with God, light an LED candle, sit on (or near) the towel, and stay until you are tapped on the shoulder to move on.

I added  a healthy sprinkle of peppermint essential oils to the towel often to have the scent as part of the space.

God’s favorite smell is our prayers. Psalm 141:2 “May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.”   

Touch – Ask forgiveness for your wrongs, your hurts, your expectations, your words.

Recite the CONFESSION AND PARDON.

Merciful God,
I confess that I have not loved you with my whole heart.
I have failed to be an obedient church.
I have not done your will,
I have broken your law,
I have rebelled against your love,
I have not loved my neighbors,
and I have not heard the cry of the needy.
Forgive me, I pray.
Free me for joyful obedience,
through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.

Tie a ribbon onto the frame as a remembrance that Jesus took the punishment for our sins. If you confess (agree with God) your sins, God is faithful and just (fair) and will forgive you.

God does not remember our repented sins, but we do so that we repent/turn away from them to love God with our whole heart for our whole lives.

“If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just (fair) and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

Hear – Pray the 23^rd Psalm from bookmark  aloud while walking a track around 2 orange cones

“And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Think beyond the moment, but the future. God and you can use anything and everything you face to help someone else.

Don’t despair. Ex: Judas…if he’d just waited one more day! Pray aloud even when you don’t feel it….it’ll remind you until you do.

In the debrief I share they will hear this scripture at various remarkable moments of Christian lives like funerals, births, prayer nights, help, etc. The bookmark I found was a King James Version so I shared that it was the first Bible financed by King James in the year 1611 to be mass produced through the printing press and explained the old English words which were appropriate at that time.

Taste – Dumdum lollipop

Read a proverb each day for the day of the month. Today is the 17^th, so read Proverbs 17 from your own Bible.

Proverbs are wise sayings, not truths, but can help you along your way…will help you live like Jesus growing “in wisdom, stature, and in favor with God and man.” Luke 2:52

In debrief, I shared testimony of students who read a proverb every night before they go to bed or each when they rise each morning while in middle school/high school.

Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him. Psalm 34:8

Debrief

• God has equipped you with 5 senses: tools to stay safe & enjoy the world He created. When we don’t know what or how to pray/communicate with Him, we can use our five senses.
• Go with what you know and not with how you feel. This is what you know: YOU are a beloved child of God, created by God, for Jesus, to bring good into the world.
• Sing an echo benediction: “Do not be afraid, God is with you, Everywhere you go, God is there.” (Thank you, Mark Burrows). Do not be afraid/fear not …. 366 times…one for every day of the year.

I’ve had a great number of conversations about open staff positions in local churches for children’s ministry over the last month. More than typical. Everything from half-time, ¾ time and full-time. Due to the little to no movement of church staffing over the last year, we can anticipate a good bit in the next 12-18 months. People are relocating, retiring, and making career moves. The Holy Spirit is moving!

I’ve had some experience in moving on. I started as a super volunteer in kidmin and on staff in weekday ministry at my home church. Due to a season of paralyzed vocal cords I could no longer serve in the weekday classroom, so I took on the Director of Weekday ministry at another local church while still serving as a servant leader at my home church. I was not called to seminary, but I was called to professional Christian education which was affirmed as I moved to two other local churches in part time roles until I heard clearly, “Get ready” which provided the opening to serve full-time in ministry with children and families at the local church I now serve. That’s five local churches, all within driving distance, in one district, from part-time to full-time, over the course of 25 years. Before that, I served in Christian education roles on staff in New England and Louisiana.

Through it all I was diligent to (1) ‘be faithful with little’, and (2) do whatever it took so that ‘surely goodness and mercy would follow me all the days of my life’. 

These are a few things to consider if a move might be in your future:

1. Without ordination, we serve at the whim and pleasure of the senior pastor. Know you will learn a little or a lot from each one. This will build your trust muscle like nothing else. We must trust the appointment process and we must submit to the authority over us or make plans to graciously move on if we can’t do either one. Do not be the face of disunity. This close to the appointment change date, it’s prudent to wait so that the one hiring you is not moving on in your first year. It’s in your first year you get your legs under you, you build trust currency in your families’ minds, and you understand the leadership culture for a season. Be a Joseph!
2. Talk with other kidmin leaders a lot. Build your network of those in the trenches. The average life expectancy of kidmin leads is 3.5 years UNLESS you connect with others outside of your own house/local church. Their shared experiences can only make you better and can offer help and hope in areas you don’t even know about until you’re in it up to your neck. They’ll encourage you, pray with you, and share their stories of what is healthy and hopeful. They’ll help you persevere, learn, and affirm your gifts and calling. Be an Esther!
3. When you move on, you will no longer be looked at as the super volunteer you started as, but the professional Christian educator you’ve sought to become. Learn your craft and hone your skills. What are you learning today to help you move the next church to the next level? Constantly be upping your skill set so you are ready when invited to take on the next big thing. Know this: Women typically wait until they are 100% ready to make a move. Men typically wait until they are 50% ready to make a move. (She Leads Church, 2021). Be a constant, ready learner, and you don’t have to wait until you’re 100% ready. Be a Nehemiah!
4. Deep dive into God’s Word in preparation to hear His voice. Waiting is a time of intentional preparation. It is unrealistic to expect to clearly hear the Lord’s voice if you are not in His Word learning His vocabulary. God has a perfect design for His people. He directs His own in the midst of uncertainty with courage and joy. Only in His Word can we fully discern that every open door may not be for you. Be a Paul!
5. Some will. Some won’t. Everybody can. Be an Abigail!

If you are considering a move or wish to move from part-time to full-time, let’s chat. I’d love to help you be filled with health and hope as you fulfill God’s call on your life as a professional Christian educator. You were created for such a time as this! For this I know: We are better together.

“However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.” Acts 20:24

“I just used all my skills,” with a shoulder shrug was the charming reply of my 5-year-old grandson when asked about his accomplishment. I love claiming that saying when considering my own successes. As a Children’s Ministry Director for over 15 years, it was always my goal to create compelling faith experiences for children and their families. I learned early that I needed to rely on all MY skills and so much more.

My top 5:

1. Cast a vision and share it with  your team and our families. They can’t buy in unless they can see it. Always important but especially now with a shrinking base of volunteers and what many are calling a rebuilding time.
2. Invite. Children and parents and grandparents; neighbors and seniors. Help them see their place in faith formation of children> Recruit others to invite. Find ways to reach outside your circle. Get personal!
3. Make engaging lessons accessible for teachers and students. Equip your teachers to cater to different, creative learning styles. Build in adaptations for age, time, and space.
4. Listen to your people and other influencers in ministry. Build on the successes of others. (One great reason that I faithfully read this blog!) Brainstorm. Collaborate. Network.
5. “Do all the good you can” — in this case, maximize every effort and every dollar to reach the most for Jesus!

I began serving in children’s ministry at a time when it was rather vanilla. Many great parents routinely taught using pamphlets and coloring sheets and a great Bible story. Fortunately, my mentor encouraged me to step it up a few notches and adopt the Workshop Rotation Sunday School method.

Talk about a facelift in many ways! Sunday mornings went from simple to spectacular. Our lessons began to fully engage kids by addressing all learning styles through workshops employing art, cooking, movies, media, drama and more. Teaching teams were easy to build. Kids and parents loved it and everyone learned while they were loving it. On Sunday mornings, there was excitement in the air. Best part: relationships were built with Jesus AND among our community.

Fast forward to today. Many of today’s leaders are tasked with rebuilding or energizing a ministry. I encourage everyone to look at Rotation.org. If you feel like a change is in order, there is every resource there to help you see how to get started.

However, if you are most interested in “upping your game” within a traditional Sunday school model, there you will find lessons and support with engaging lessons built upon creative learning styles. There are also very complete background materials which equip new or experienced teachers. Adaptations for our new normal are being added weekly.

I serve at Rotation.org with a team of experienced volunteers who are eager to help you find the answers you need via online collaboration. And finally, it is very accessible at a rate of $45 per year. Our one goal is to equip leaders to “Do all the good you can” for Jesus. We want to help you “use all your skills!”

Robin Stewart served the families on staff as the Children’s Ministry Director at Athens First United Methodist Church in Athens, Georgia until her recent retirement. She believes in Rotation.org so much, she continues to volunteer her time and energy to making their resources known and shared. Robin is a wife, mother, and grandmother. You can connect with Robin at robinafumc@bellsouth.net. 

*Rotation.org is a nonprofit funded entirely by subscriptions with only one paid website manager.

 

I was being debriefed by a very knowledgeable facilitator a couple of weeks ago. As she introduced herself to me I discovered she was a clergy spouse, incredibly experienced  and accomplished in the hospitality field, and the church she served did not have a ministry with children. Hmmmm…

I hope I get to speak with her again, because the innovator in me just started jotting down ideas for how they could begin a ministry to the families and children in their community. 

If they have a parking lot, what if they secured some orange barrels or cones and offered driving lessons? Our home church had a large parking lot. When they realized parents were bringing their new drivers on campus for driving practice, they purchased a couple of tall orange cones and set them out in the parking lot. Those cones moved all over as helps for parallel parking and the like.

What if her church notified a local driving school and offered to do a blessing of the driver’s license twice a year? What if a part of a Sunday service was to bless driver’s licenses? What if they offered parking practice and even a vehicle to some single parents from 10am-12noon on the first Saturday of the month even if just in the parking lot? With the parking lot, what if they offered to the local businesses or schools a place for meeting, overflow parking, emergency evacuation?  

Because she is incredibly accomplished in hospitality, what if she offered a social class in interviewing, service, hospitality, courtesy, speech, writing, completing an application, meet & greet etiquette, etiquette, dressing for success? What if she contacted the local elementary, middle, or high school counselors to coordinate a space for hospitality skills or offered her ministry of presence on a career day? What if the church promoted a special 1.5 hour hospitality workshop with her as the headliner for parents and their students at a meet and greet with her and list her credentials in the hospitality industry? She’s a woman of faith and highly successful in her field. What a gift to share these skills with students preparing to make their way in the world through a filter of faith in Jesus!

She shared that her husband is a musician. What if he offered introductory music lessons as a group where he could share a Bible story or a simple reading from a children’s Bible of the many ways music is spoken of in the scriptures? 

There are so many opportunities for children and their families to be welcomed on a church campus besides Sunday morning to begin relationships and live out, “We are your good neighbor, we want to help you along your way.” 

We are not event planners nor are we event venues, so we must insist on intentional faith formation elements which are developmentally appropriate. We won’t miss the opportunity for faith formation when someone from the church family welcomes, hosts, and leads.  We can be good neighbors and give real testimony to the goodness of God by making our presence known and sharing the skills and gifts of our church family with our community. 

What if we became places where the community learns about Jesus as they learn to bake bread, budget, shop, change a tire, talk car parts, use power tools, how to be a grill master, and garden/grow stuff out of the dirt? A vegetable garden, a flower garden? What skills does your church family know and then make it a matter of prayer to be willing to share it? All of our church saints are incredibly skilled and experienced in various areas of vocation and accomplishment. What if we figured out what we have in our hands, then put it out there? It’s almost like giving your saints the chance to serve in the mission field without packing a suitcase and they can still sleep in their own beds.

Most church locations have the spaces and resources for these things. Did you know that the likelihood of a girl being taken advantage of goes down to a non-existent level once she learns how to use a power tool? Did you know that good manners can get a young person’s foot in the door faster than anything else? Did you know that the milestones of driving, cooking, budgeting are all elements of service which are not taught in the local schools and most parents don’t even know where to start but are extensions of Biblical hospitality? All of these could be one-and-dones or part of a series over the course of a couple of years. Have a couple, debrief, then edit the next two to excellence based on what you learn works and doesn’t. I’m not talking about a Broadway production, just a space and a Jesus guy/gal who shares their story and His story with a young person.

Rather than say, “We don’t have a ministry to children,” could we say, “We do!” because of God’s people, their skills, and experiences, out of a place of abundance and gratitude for what God has made available and are part of your local church family of faith? Ministry may not look like what we think and that’s what makes it innovative. Nothing needs to look like what we already have in our heads. Let’s invite the Holy Spirit to use what’s in our hands and watch Him show up and show off.

All this could be promoted on Facebook, social media, through the local school, or Eventbrite. Include a time of testimony of sharing the leader’s story of God’s faithfulness, God’s goodness, pray with the participants, and maybe wear a t-shirt with a Christian message or scripture. 

Fleshing out things like this is what we do at the Innovation Summit. The Innovation Summit is three hours of multiple ideas and real stories of moving beyond the sea of Nos to a place of YES, YOU CAN. You will leave with confidence to wonder, negotiate, push the boundaries, and advance the good news of Jesus where you are with what is in your hand. A Zoom option is not available because each Summit is filled with ideation specific to the participants present. 

The next Innovation Summit will be held at Tucker First United Methodist Church located in Tucker, Georgia on Saturday, May 1st 9am-12noon. Register today.