Six years ago this week, I accepted a full-time staff position in ministry with children kindergarten through fifth-grade at a local church. The church was new to me on the ‘day to day’, but I had long known their generosity, their heart for service, and their spirit of YES for more than 15 years from those who served within the Walk to Emmaus community there. Good people, indeed!

The senior pastor asked me this very question the first time I met with him and a representative from the Staff Parish Relations Committee. One of our challenges as local church staff is to guard and prepare for ourselves that which we encourage for the congregation we serve. We have to creatively prepare for opportunities to engage in worship, corporate worship, in community. As followers of Christ, we, too, are called to follow the directive by the author of Hebrews to ‘not forsake gathering together.’

“Then I (the apostle John) looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand (THAT’s community!). They encircled the throne and the living creature and the elders (serving a God of order.) In a loud voice they sang (singing is still part): Worthy is the Lamb (Jesus) who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” Revelation 5:11-12 NIV

This was revealed to the apostle John of how Jesus will be worshiped in Heaven. I am SO visual, it gives me a great picture of what it means to worship our great God here on earth.

How can we worship Him today in power? With power over my emotions, my disposition, and setting my own priorities. I have the power to set aside one day a week as my Sabbath. Fridays are my Sabbath. My Sabbath is set apart for me to gather with other Christians who remind me that God is good, and I am His.

How can I worship Him today in wealth? With my money. Returning to Him which was His in the first place is an act of trust and obedience. Giving is the act of returning a tithe (10% of my increase). Since I am no longer in services when the plate is passed, I have it up for my bank to issue and mail the tithe.

How can I worship Him today in wisdom? With my mind. Romans 12:2 reads, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Jesus understood that any authentic transformation will happen for all of us in our minds first. When I am regularly in The Word, learning the language and vocabulary of God, in Bible study in community, transformation takes place. This one is seriously on me. If I claim I am not hearing from God…If I state that ‘I don’t get fed at church’… If I hold on to the idea that my personal preferences for Sunday morning worship determines if I worship or not… I am SO out of sync with what God intended worship to be.

How can I worship Him today in strength? With my body. I KNOW my triggers. Peanut M&Ms are my Judas sin…you know, that sin that comes at you looking like a friend, kissing you on the cheek, then turning on you. I may not be able to scale a 10 foot wall, but taking care of my body is worship. Thank you, Lose It! app and a personal health coach, for the accountability.

How can I worship Him today in honor? With my deeds. I honor our great God when I bake and deliver a cake, write a note, make a phone call, send an encouraging text, share a casserole (this is how we really share love in the south, right?), bring a flower, go above and beyond in my work, drop off a 24-pack of toilet paper when my neighbor has house guests due to a funeral or a wedding. How and when I serve should bring Him honor.

How can I worship Him today in glory? With expressions of hope, encouragement, and forgiving well.  Glory has a weight to it, a leaning-in quality. Ephesians 4:32 reads, “Be ye kind, one to another, tenderhearted, and forgiving one another, just as in Christ God forgave you.” So I give Him glory when I extend the same forgiveness and grace He gives me. This is when worship doesn’t come easy. Yet He invites us to ‘lean in’ through power in prayer.

How can I worship Him today in praise? With my words and my speech. My words can heal or hurt, my countenance when sharing those words can help or hinder. My heart is heard by my words and how they are shared. A critical spirit does nothing for my testimony. I will praise Him through my simple storms drawing on the praise raised by others who have tread and persevered through more than I. My discomfort, disappointment, and storms are put in perspective when I regularly study the lives of the saints and missionaries who have gone before us.

Worship is not where I go or the type of songs sung, it is how sold-out Christians are to live. Not once a week, but every single day. I can listen to sermons by podcast, sing to my favorite worship songs on my cellphone at the top of my lungs and in sign, attend other worship services which take place other than on Sunday mornings, and give online to the local church I serve. I can take bible study in small group, share life and accept accountability in an Emmaus Reunion Group, and have my personal ‘quiet time’ (which is sometimes FAR from quiet) with the LORD each morning. Oh, and in my new position, I sing and dance before the LORD with little people every Sunday morning. How wonderful that our Great God has offered us the tools to serve AND the tools to worship the One and Only whose abundant love has ruined me for the typical, the ordinary, the mediocre.

“Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” Psalm 100:2

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There were several favorite faith formation events which were set aside to focus on Campfire Christmas (a family worship experience NOT on Christmas Eve, but rather Christmas Adam) and a Live Nativity to welcome the West Cobb county community to a Bethlehem experience. Both events happened the week before Christmas and after school let out. Those were the priorities of last December in addition to Sunday mornings, and were the best investments of people and resources successfully meeting their goals.

Yet our littles were disappointed we weren’t able to Christmas carol our church saints. Our littles really enjoy any multi-generational opportunity to serve those who have gone before them. 

This was the inspiration for Christmas in July.

We scheduled a Christmas carolling event to sing three songs at each location. Phone calls to the church saints were made and church buses reserved. A generous family hosted us mid-event for a pizza dinner, water and potty break. With a new senior pastor and his wife having just moved into the parsonage, they graciously agreed to be our last stop and it was fabulously over-the-top with a Christmas tree, displayed nativities, garland hanging from the railings, and inflatable table trees. A Christmas in July porch party! Inflatable pink flamingos with water were gifted at each stop. Jingle bell bracelets made with beads, bells, and pipe cleaners added so much to the songs sung. 

The best parts of Christmas caroling in July: daylight until 9pm, short-sleeves and flip flops, inflatable flamingos, and watermelon!

The typical Tall Small Paint Party will be of Christmas trees. Lots of green paint has been ordered with a devotion to be shared about how Christians are Christmas and Easter people.

A photo station with snowmen, Christmas trees, and flamingos was prepared and the giggles from the senior saints’ Sunday school classes who meet in our hallway were worth every bit of deep diving into the holiday storage closet.

National Ice Cream Day is celebrated on the third Sunday each July, so an ice cream truck arrived to give free ice cream treats to all who attended worship services. Each ministry lead was given different colored carnival tickets to hand over in exchange for an ice cream treat. I pay the total bill at the end with a tip (God’s people are generous) then prorate the expense to each area based on their number of colored tickets used for payment. We paused our regular Sunday morning programming to use Deeper Kidmin’s special event which was perfect.

Sunday morning programming include Christmas songs in large group and various Christmas visuals placed here and there to keep the theme rolling. Even the Children’s Moment is Christmas in July themed with ‘we serve a God of celebration’ from Deuteronomy, singing Joy to the World (songs remind bigs of Jesus’ story and teach littles the truth of our faith); singing Go Tell It On The Mountain (shepherds were the first to go tell/our marching orders today); and Christmas foods help us remember to ‘Taste and see that the Lord is good,’ (Psalm 34:8) which coincides with National Ice Cream Day.

Celebrating Christmas in July has been a surprise and delight for many in our church, unexpected, joyful, and smiles are all around. We’ll definitely do this again.

In the words of our new Senior Pastor’s lovely wife, “Jesus is the reason for every season!”

“Go tell it on the mountain. Over the hill and every where. Go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born.”

The Study Talk is one of fifteen talks shared on a Walk to Emmaus. The Walk to Emmaus is a three-day event for church leaders who have already committed their lives to following Jesus. The Study Talk is presented by a lay person with experiences in the holy habit of study.

One of the suggestions for study by a faithful Christian living a life of grace is to study church history. I’m fascinated by the colorful history of Christianity.

Last year I took Brandi Diamond’s online class entitled Off With Their Heads. I was glued to my screen every single week learning about the start of the Anglican church, the revolt of King Henry VIII against the Catholic Church, and the bloodied history which led to the very first amendment to our U.S. Constitution prohibiting the government from establishing a religion. The goal was to keep the government out of the church, not the church out of the government. Now I have an idea why.

Another suggestion is to study the gospel. Have you ever studied the gospel?

If the marching orders of a Christian is to make disciples of Jesus Christ, we must know the gospel.

Every five years I study the gospel. I need the reminder, the refresher, because I can get bogged down in the minutia of church staff life and forget the WHY of it all.

The first year I studied and practiced sharing the good news of God’s salvation with The Wordless Book offered through Child Evangelism Fellowship.

This year I came across a great resource which I’ve used to study the gospel: The Gospel Course and Brand New, both by Brian Clark and available from Amazon.

These two small less than 25-page paperback books keep the main thing, the main thing. The premise for The Gospel Course is that Christians may know the gospel, but are typically unable to articulate the gospel confidently. “The Gospel Course was written as a tool to help you walk someone through the saving message of the gospel in a way that is clear, complete and compelling.” Clark uses the parable of the Prodigal Son and plenty of scripture to show the greatness of God.

Brand New is the followup to The Gospel Course. The goal of Brand New is to “see from scripture that new life in Christ is meant to be full of joy, excitement, and purpose, not just a list of tasks to check off.” This small book packs a big punch regarding the perspective of learning how to enjoy our great God. Clark embraces a righteous life to jumping in with both feet to enjoy our Savior, like the cake and not the broccoli. Like marriage, this relationship is exclusive. Like running a race, this relationship requires discipline and training. Like putting the puzzle of a righteous life together by completely starting over rather than making pieces fit that belong to other puzzles no longer meant for a Christian. This little book blessed my socks off, but would have meant nothing had I not studied the The Gospel Course.

How do you study the gospel?

“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.” 1 Peter 3:15-16

It’s time to prepare the upcoming school year calendar to be shared by mid July with the families I serve. As much as I’d love to fill the calendar with lots of great and holy things, a reasonable rhythm of WHAT and WHY is the filter for the big picture. A reasonable rhythm requires consideration of the community schedule of families we serve, the leadership who chooses a kidmin director’s ‘time’, and the staff we serve alongside who set the priorities of spaces available.

When I was hired full time, it was much easier to just throw myself into all that we could offer: typical Sunday and midweek programming and special events just about every month, sometimes every other week. Trying new things happened often.  But a part-time position in ministry requires a rhythm.

When church leadership decides a position as Sunday only, 1/4 time, 1/2 time, or 3/4 time, there are some expectations they have determined.  One reasonable expectation being that this part time staff person can not do everything the larger church down the street can do.  Setting priorities offers a reasonable rhythm.

Balance is an elusive target because balance is based on a subjective perspective: whoever you are asking. But a rhythm, being measurable, is much more manageable when the goal is healthy Children’s Ministry.

If we use the five pillars of a healthy Children’s Ministry, worship-grow-belong-service-tell, and the entire calendar year as the canvas, finding a rhythm works to develop a reasonable rhythm.

For excellent regular programming, it takes an average of 2.5 hours for every 1 hour of programming. Any special event or peak moment requires a whole lot more. Think VBS: 4-5 months+whole lot of lay servants+$$=10 – 15 hours of programming.  That may explain why so many churches are stepping away from offering a week of VBS and looking for more bang for their buck.  Perhaps offering a summer VBS program over a summer of Sundays (or Thursdays) and promoting the daylights out of it.

Even part time (half-time = 20 hour) KidMin Directors can effectively and realistically take on weekly Sunday am, Sunday pm OR Wednesday/Midweek pm, and 4-5 peak moments through the year, if you include Christmas and Easter in the 4-5 peak moments. Then you are working on one peak moment quarterly and that is much more manageable and a reasonable expectation.

Periodically our Children’s Council (those who make up the hands and feet of the ministry) writes on individual index cards everything involving ministry with children over the course of the year.  All traditions and even new things: Trunk-or-Treat, Sunday School, CLUB345, Children’s Christmas program, etc.  As a team, they then determine what four items are the most important: asking, “If we did nothing but these 4 things next year, what would they be?”  Once they haggle…er, decide which 4 (which takes a bit of time), they then choose 2 more (which takes no time, because the discussions have already taken place.)  As a Council, we have now chosen what we will throw ourselves into.  Where and when will we be ‘all in’, for the next year.  Of course, other special events take place over the course of the year, but there must be two champions for those special events where I can serve as the resource, cheerleader, and/or promoter for those things.  But me ‘taking the point’ on them has now been decided by the Children’s Council to not be a priority for me this next year.

So where will you throw your resources, your servants, your finances, your space, your over-the-top-best? Break out a clean calendar for the next 12-18 months because a reasonable rhythm takes into consideration the big picture for a true discipleship pathway for both littles and bigs.

“Everything is permissible” – but not everything is beneficial.  Everything is permissible – but not everything is constructive.” – 1 Corinthians 10:23

Edited from the original post of March 2014. Don’t miss any new weekly posts by subscribing above.