A Faith Milestone is an intentional teaching and practice of various holy habits for a robust faith in Jesus. Faith Milestones include shared language and the same developmentally appropriate interactive elements of the saints who have gone before us. As new families join our church family, it is very important for us to make space for teaching how holy habits are shared and practiced within THIS church family offering historical teaching and a way to reduce the risk of anxiety and uncertainty when the opportunity arises to participate in corporate worship.
Bread & Juice Class is one of my favorites. Kindergarten and 1st grade littles with their bigs learn and practice the historical and current ways we intentionally remember Jesus with bread and juice.
We start with a discussion about how food and visual decorations help us celebrate important events like birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. Then we move around, chat through, and experience the following in ….
Why do we do this? Jesus said for his friends to “Eat this and remember me,” and “Drink this and remember me,” and “Do this and remember me,” because we forget
Bread (yum) – flat bread vs puffy bread; yeast; remembering how God’s people had to hurry up and get away from the meaners so they didn’t have time for the bread to rise with yeast (The Passover); when we eat we use all five senses
Juice (yum) – deep purple grape juice; Welch’s in a cup
Story of Mr. Welch (making a way for littles to participate)
Read a book (cultural references)
Worship placemats (this holy habit/practice is part of our worship table)
Craft of cutting and gluing a challis and a round wafer with Jesus stickers since Holy Communion is all about Jesus (interactive)
Intinction, wafer, smaller celebration cups (juice w/wafer) and all the new vocabulary
We come to receive communion with our hands folded in the shape of a cross to receive Holy Communion (we don’t TAKE communion, but rather RECEIVE it)
We say AMEN when we receive it because AMEN means “Yes!” and “Let it be so” (sacred vocabulary)
Returning the unused bread and juice back to the earth (a favorite to break up bread and toss on the ground)
Holy=set apart; super-duper-awesome-special (use American sign language)
Communion=in community where there’s always a place for little people and those who love them at all the tables (use American sign language)
A certificate of completion because it’s a Faith Milestone (take home item) along with a small communion cup gifted to each child from a Holy Land pilgrim made of olive wood who loves them in their church (connecting to the saints still here)
Davinci’s Last Supper (historic religious art)
Even the bigs learn something new or are reminded of what they’ve forgotten about this sacred meal, historical faith practice, and important faith milestone we practice in community as friends and family of Jesus.
Learn more about Faith Milestones at MilestonesMinistry.org for living and passing on faith.
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” Philippians 4:4
A plan for Faith Milestones lets families in on specific faith formation practices for their children. Though every mainline church offers the sacrament of Holy Communion, each church practices the sacrament specific to their own house traditions: intinction, kneeling, prayers before AND after, altar rail, in the seat, in the aisle, stations, pita bread, wafers, cups, chalice, etc. With Kindergartners attending the sanctuary during Holy Communion, we want our little people and their families to know the logistics and the why we do what we do as the local church and as a denomination.
Bread and Juice Class invitations printed from vistaprint.com are sent to any K5 and first grader who has passed our doors. A Facebook event is set up so we can share it on social media which reads: Kindergartners and first graders are invited to a Bread & Juice Class to learn about Holy Communion on Wednesday 11/7 5:45-6:30pm in the Children’s Welcome Center. Parents are invited to stay as they are able. For more information and to RSVP, please contact DeDe Reilly at dreilly@mceachernumc.org or call 404-493-1683.
We gather around tables while the students hold the Fellowship cups and I introduce the items on the table. The Fellowship cups give the students something to hold while we teach and read the account of Jesus sharing with his friends from the Bible. We constantly share “Jesus said, ‘Eat this and remember me.;” or “Jesus said, ‘Drink this and remember me.'”
We eat the different breads. We drink different juices. We tell the story of Mr. Welch coming up with non-alcoholic juice for Holy Communion.
Moving to the craft table, the children cut out circles (we primarily use wafers in our church) and glue them to a piece of card stock above an already cut-out chalice. Then add the Jesus sticker where ever the student wishes because it’s all about remembering Jesus. (Students are better focused when they can move around a room).
We then head back to open the Fellowship cups for a different ‘taste’ while I share a bit about the liturgy of getting our hearts ready to receive communion.
The 45-minute class ends with a story-time of Come, Taste the Bread: A Storybook About the Lord’s Supper and let the students fill in the blanks as a review of what we just shared. We then give out certificates and the students are dismissed. (Upon arrival, parents are invited to write their child’s name on the certificate which is one more way parents participate in the milestone AND the spelling will always be correct).
As United Methodists I share why many UM churches have the tradition of Holy Communion once a month and the UM table is open to everyone who wants to know about Jesus. We are intentional to teach that we ‘receive’ Holy Communion and never ‘take it.’ We also teach the littles how to hold their hands (in the shape of a cross), how to dip the wafer into the juice, and how to get it to their mouths without dropping juice and even what to say in response.
Many of our parents share afterwards how they didn’t know a lot of what was shared with the littles and the class is a helpful reminder of the how and why we share in this sacred moment.
Several new families also attended with older students (I personally invited any new 3rd-5th graders to come as ‘helpers’) so they could also learn.
“And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” Luke 22:19
Nothing like a few days at the beach and a new book to give me a new thing to try and practice with my families and others looking for new platforms to love folks to Jesus. The new book by John Roberto, Lifelong Faith: Formation for All Ages and Generations, had me reading from the middle of the book, watching YouTube videos from LifelongFaith.com, and diving into search engines like a treasure hunter about playlists.
Playlists are curated menus and plans to dive deeper into a topic, a church season, or even a book of the Bible. According to Kathy Pittenger who provides the video teaching at LifeLongFaith.com and additional resources within the book, a playlist is a digital space for curating content for multiple intelligences and various learning styles. A playlist provides a sequence of activities and resources for self-led, on-demand instruction.
The first thing Jesus provided to His disciples after He called them to follow Him was teaching. Teaching is included in our marching orders with the Great Commission. Adapting to how our families learn today mean we can add to our toolbox multiple platforms for teaching in addition to the in-person class.
What does ‘teaching’ look like today? I’ll be the first one to admit I’ve watched many a YouTube video to learn how to fix a leaky faucet, what to wear with a white blazer, and how to make bread with only three ingredients. Curating the best information in one place about a topic, ritual, or holy habit is exactly what a playlist provides with actionable links to learn more.
Where to start? If you’ve used a bitmoji classroom over the last few years, you already have a familiar platform to use and start with. Playlists can hold articles, music, blogs, sermons, podcasts, stories, books, videos, photos, wondering/huddle questions, discussion prompts, etc. depending on your audience.
The first Sunday in October my local church will celebrate World Communion Sunday. What is it? How do we celebrate? Why do we celebrate? Is it important? What makes this holy communion different? What makes this holy communion the same?
Our ministry offers a Bread & Juice Class to teach littles and a big-who-loves-them about holy communion each fall. Read more about that here. But what about everyone else? What about all the stuff we’ve forgotten?
I can now ‘set this table’ on social media and self-guided learning can take place well in preparation for this Sunday’s rituals.
Other info about playlists can be found at https://www.lifelongfaith.com/playlists.html and are well worth the time. Then choose a topic or season or ritual to begin providing your families with playlists they can use at home or as they go at their convenience. The building of playlists can happen on your own or in collaboration with others who serve a similar audience as you do. I’ll be using a closed Facebook group to do some collaborative curation because we’re better together and we share a familiar audience.
My next playlist? Advent with more of a menu look to include a few to-do items like reading a chapter of the Gospel of Luke each day through the month of December leading all the way to Christmas Eve. Our 2022 Advent theme is The Songs of Christmas. I’m already building a staff Spotify playlist of favorites to make the Advent playlist more personal to our home church.
“Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still; teach the righteous and they will add to their learning.” Proverbs 9:9
Sharing the account of the Resurrection of Jesus is the basis for our Christian faith. The miracle and power of our triune God can be taught to littles in developmentally appropriate ways that are sticky, celebratory, and filled with truth. We use the word ‘Easter’ because that is what the ‘season’ is known as and we insert the word ‘Resurrection’ every chance we get.
Here are a few ways we walked right into the story.
Jumbo Eggs – This is preschool chapel. Jumbo eggs, purchased after Easter Sunday at deep discounts, are filled with…
Plush donkey with fake palm branch – Jesus came to town for the annual Passover celebration and the children were part of the parade. Ex: Palm Sunday vs Donkey Sunday
Goblet & plastic coins – Jesus had dinner with his friends. Jesus told his friends to ‘do this and remember me.’ But there was one friend who was not a real friend and he took money to tell the meaners where Jesus was so they could catch him and make him stop doing such amazing things.
Flower bunch – Jesus had a big dinner with his friends then went to a favorite place to pray where meaners came to take Jesus away.
Crown of thorns – Have you ever had a splinter? The meaners took Jesus away. The meaners called Jesus names, hurt him, and made fun of him. They put a crown of thorns on his head.
White fabric – After Jesus died on the cross, his friends and his mama’s friends wrapped Him up and buried him in a cave/tomb. They were so sad.
Stone – After Jesus was placed in the cave/tomb, a stone door was placed to close the cave/tomb.
Empty egg – After 3 days (count to 3), the friends came to the tomb and discovered Jesus was not there. The stone was rolled away (rolling arms). He had risen (hands raised), just as He said He would.
White pillow filler – Jesus walked and greeted his friends and more than 500 people including his family then went UP into heaven (that’s how we know where heaven is – UP) to send the Holy Spirit to all those who believe and follow Jesus. The bestest news? Jesus is coming back to make a new Heaven and a new earth.
Easter Story Walk – Based on the book, ‘Twas the Morning of Easter’ a partnering church shared the book signs they prepared with approval from the author and publisher. There was a deep discounted price for bulk purchases of the book several months back. Her church used the yard signs for part of a Hunt For Easter event with live actors and interactive elements a few weeks’ prior. I used her yard signs around our parking lot prayer labyrinth on Palm Sunday morning and again on Maundy Thursday evening. At the page where Mary prayed, the children walked in and out of the labyrinth before moving on to our ‘hunt’ for Easter. Each family received a copy of the book while supplies lasted. This is when sharing resources between churches is at its best. Thank you Kate Morris and Wesley UMC in Evans, Georgia. Our weekday preschool also set the yard signs in the field where they held their egg hunt for the parents to walk through with their children.
Hunt for Easter – 10 stations had signs #1 – #10 with buckets filled with eggs to tell the story of Easter. Students were led by their Sunday school teachers to each station to pick up an egg for each part of the story. At the end of the story walk, the students returned to their classrooms to open their eggs and debrief/tell the story again. This event was pricey, but using it twice means we reach more people (Palm Sunday AM and Maundy Thursday PM drop-in) and the stations can be edited to be less in number.
#1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem, He grew up going to church. It was His family’s custom. He listened to His teachers and obeyed His parents. (Jesus)
#2 When it was God’s time, Jesus rode a donkey into the town of Jerusalem like King David did so many years before. Jesus was 33 years old. We remember this day as Palm Sunday. (Donkey)
#3 Up to this time, to be forgiven for sin (the things we think and do that are not God’s best for us) lambs were sacrificed as payment. Jesus came to replace the lamb sacrifices once and for all. His friends John and Peter call Jesus ‘the lamb of God’ in their Bible writings. (Lamb)
#4 Jesus called His friends to a last supper to share a meal with bread and juice. Jesus told His friends, “Do this and remember me.” We call this Holy Communion. (Whistle)
#5 Jesus and His friends went to one of their favorite gardens to pray. It was late at night. The meaners came to get Jesus. They punished Jesus and made fun of Him. The meaners made a crown of thorns and placed it on His head. (Crown of thorns)
#6 Jesus died on the cross. His friends came to bury Him. On the third day His friends came to pray and discovered He was gone. He had risen from the dead! Only the miracle power of God can do that. (Empty)
#7 We know this really happened because Jesus appeared with the nail scars in His hands to more than 500 people and His brother John over the next 40 days. (Bracelet)
#8 After 40 days, Jesus went UP into the clouds. So, when we believe in Jesus and choose to be His follower, He promises His believers a helper, The Holy Spirit! That’s how we know where heaven is: UP. (Bubbles)
#9 Jesus is coming back one day the same way He left: the clouds. We share His story of saving us with our friends and family and everybody, like bouncing a ball back and forth until He comes back or calls us to Heaven. (Ball)
#10 This really happened. It’s an historical fact with eye witnesses and ancient writings of those who were there and not just in the Bible. We tell this story so that others will know and believe and follow Jesus. We call this re-telling of the Easter story “The Great Commission.” Who will you tell about Jesus? (Jelly Bean Bracelet)
The Story Walk and Hunt For Easter were set up outside the church entrance for a drop-in on Maundy Thursday 4-6:30pm for families and anyone else with children’s books/Bibles opened to those pieces of the account. Placing literature to accompany the storytelling involves multiple levels of learning styles remembering that children’s literature should provide both a mirror and a window to children’s worlds. I was stationed at the start of the walk to share (1) this account is true, we have historical and archeological evidence to support what they are about to see/hear, and (2) we are called to tell the story every year and remember what Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit did for us like all other special annual family celebrations. Jesus is alive!
“It gave me great joy when some believers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it.” 3 John 1:3
The gold-framed Guardian Angel picture followed my maternal grandparents to every home they lived in. They moved from the coal mines of West Virginia to Virginia to Florida then back to Virginia. They also kept a huge, white family Bible on the coffee table. These are the images I recall from my childhood related to their faith.
In Family Driven Faith: Doing What It Takes To Raise Sons and Daughters Who Walk With God, Voddie Baucham, Jr. speaks of marking the home as God’s territory. He shares the memory of his Buddhist mother. Her regular practice of that belief system involved all five senses: a black lacquer box in the corner of their dining room, a statue of Buddha, a scroll of strange writing, incense, fruit, beads, and a small gong or bell. Those images remain with him to this day even though she became a Christian within six months of his conversion.
“Imagine the impact that Moses’ teaching had on the children of Israel in the Promised Land.” God’s people were entering a new land with new smells, sights, sounds, tastes, yet were expected to retain their distinction as followers of the one true God. How? Marking their doorposts, celebrating annual feasts with bitter herbs, unleavened bread, and the stories. Oh, the stories, the stones, the Sabbath practices, the music, and so much more.
My BFF-in-the-Lord just set up her new office space with bright yellow chairs and throw rugs to cover floor stains. She has stuffed animals (you know, the holy stuffed animals like sheep, donkey, lamb, plush Jesus which are staples for family faith experiences) on shelves and filled a wall with pictures of remarkable moments with the people of God she has served alongside. Visual reminders of creative, innovative, hard, hilarious moments in time where she served her families in ministry with great zeal and joy. She has marked her space as the Lord’s.
How can we regularly and intentionally mark our spaces and places for the Lord? At home? At church? At work? Sticky faith formation experiences engaging all five senses.
Engaging Eyes “There was a period in history when anyone who wanted to be considered a serious painter, a grand master, painted biblical themes.” At this week’s Faith Milestone: Bread & Juice Class, we’ll pull out the jumbo framed picture of Da Vinci’s Last Supper for our kindergarten and first grade students to stand behind for their class photo.
Engaging Ears “Music is an incredible medium. With a few notes we can be transported to another time and place.” Preparing for this week’s S’more Jesus Late Night with our 3rd-5th graders, we prepared a Spotify playlist with camp songs. Sent it out ahead of time to the leaders and the children. Dr. Richard Hunter offered a sermon based on his daughter’s favorite song, at the time, Tim McGraw’s Live Like You Were Dying at my home church. There are some messages super sticky because of a song.
Engaging Taste “There is no such thing as Christian food.” Well, I beg to differ. I recall a young pastor at my home church who prepared a summer sermon series based on breakfast cereals. I’ll never be able to look at a box of Frosted Flakes the same again. Goldfish? Cheerios? S’mores prayers? Bread and juice?
Engaging Smells “I could almost smell the Sunday dinner as he described in great detail his vivid memory of every aspect…” Dr. Doug Thrasher gave a sermon at my home church about Sunday dinner with biscuits and gravy on a communion Sunday. I’ll never forget the intentionality of a mama setting the Sunday table for her family and the planning involved.
Engaging Touch “Have you ever walked into a home with one of those enormous family Bibles? I mean the kind you have to open with two hands.” When a local UMC church was closing in our district, one of my moms went to the garage sale the church was having. It was her home church. She asked about the Chrismons which were a sticky faith formation experience of her now art-teacher-of-the-year faith journey. They pulled them out and gave them to her! Even before this, she had led our 3rd graders in October and November for the last four years in a rite of passage to make and learn about Chrismons. She leads those students to decorate the children’s large group space each year for Advent: Hanging of the Greens. Lots of gold beads, lots of white styrofoam, lots of conversation, LOTS of stick pins. The Chrismons of her home church are now enjoyed and shared with her students at her son’s home church. The Chrismons of both churches hang together in our children’s spaces.
In my weekday preschool days, we displayed an apple when we studied apples. We ate apple stuff, counted apples, played with apples, used apple-scented shampoo in the water table, read apple books, painted with apples, and did everything we could possibly think of with apples.
“It all comes down to a simple question: Why are we here?” If our local church, and our family, exists to know Jesus and make Him known, how are we intentionally marking our lives for Him in the stickiest ways possible, through our five senses? At home. At church. At work.
“You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:9
Christian educators are everywhere and it thrills me to spend time face-to-face and across the table with folks from other parts of the country. I was invited to Minnesota to share ideas to get some creative conversations to take place. Totally in my element and among friends, I walked through our discipleship plan for K5-5th graders of Meat, Milestones, Mountaintop, and Marvelous Moments. Each of these four Ms are laced with Bible reading, generosity, and serving elements. Why? Because of all the spiritual disciplines we practice as followers of Jesus, research tells us that these are the three that cause us to make strides in spiritual maturity. (Ken Willard, “STRIDE”) I want to be about making strides and moving beyond baby steps in building the faith of little people. Oh we include other spiritual disciplines in our teachings, but these three take priority in our filter for what makes a true partnership with families.
Partnering with families means we only offer what is excellent, not filling up the calendar, offering low-hanging fruit and easy wins for parents in the eyes of their kids, and Jesus in everything we do.
Meat elements – That which happens on Sundays. It’s our bread and butter. It’s what we’re known for. Sunday school, Childrens’ Church, CLUB345, Ambassadors, Parenting with a Purpose, and I’m currently working on Grandparenting with a Purpose. The average age of a new grandparent in the USA is 47 years old. This is a whole area and season of ministry that I’m deep-diving into right now.
Milestones – Those intentional teaching moments that are developmentally appropriate for specific ages/grades which are foundational to building a relationship with Jesus in the local church and at home. Holy Communion (Bread and Juice), Prayer (I Can Pray), Church language (I Love My Church), Wonderfully Made (faith and sexuality education), Moving On Up to Middle School, transitioning from nursery to children’s ministry.
Mountaintop – These are those full-on-sharing-the-gospel-experiences like VBS, retreats, and Ambassadors.
Marvelous Moments – These are the one-offs, the once-a-year or once-every-two-years specials which are invitational for next steps in discipleship including shared events like Faith Field Trips, Winter Ball Invitational, Splish Splash, Messy Church, Bible Ninja Warrior, etc.
Each local church has a culture and sustains a community, so how do you choose what might be a successful marvelous moment? (1) Dashboard research, and (2) lots of personal conversations.
Dashboard research requires a drive around the community at different hours of the day to find out what businesses are plentiful, what are the traffic patterns, how far will people drive to remain in the community, and find out what other ministries are already available by checking out online the closest churches to your church.
Engage in personal conversations asking questions of the connector folks in your church, but also the locals: grocery story clerk, the deli clerk, the coffee shop barista, the UPS store, the dry cleaners, librarian. Ask questions about what evening nothing is happening (when), when do the school buses run (start time), when do your kids have to go to bed on a school night (end time), what tv shows do you like (themes), where do you go out to eat (favorite foods), where do they go to church (tell me about your church), extracurricular activities (over scheduling is not partnering with parents, but rather burdening families), where does the local school need volunteers (outside service), and the possibility of fee-based ministry outside of Sundays and Wednesdays (recreation, fine arts, music, tutoring, relationship-building).
With the knowledge that people are always interested in new things and meeting new people, shoot some bullets before you shoot cannonballs. (Jim Collins from “Good to Great”) Try something based on your dashboard research AND your personal conversations with a specific goal in mind and JUST DO IT! Give yourself lots of grace and an understanding that you are in it for the long haul. Gather a partner or two to share in the labor because as we labor and serve together, there’s a lot of laughter. And we all need more laughter in ministry.
I woke on presentation day in Minnesota with the temperature of -11 degrees. Yeah…11 degrees below zero! But inside the home of my hostess and the church where I met these amazing Christian Educators, was the warmth of the Holy Spirit on fire for sharing Jesus with little people. Thank you Minnesota CEF for the lovely invite and your amazing hospitality.
“Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still; teach the righteous and they will add to their learning.” Proverbs 9:9
We get the first full week of the summer with Vacation Bible School AND the last week of the summer in our community at Ultimate Summer Camp. We are the only game in town that last week of the summer (or so we’re told) and we rock the event inhouse for 4 year olds through rising 6th graders. The directors of our Recreation Ministry and Youth Ministry take the lead for the 1st-5th graders. A fabulous Weekday Preschool teacher takes the point for the littles. We hire staff, we enlist volunteers, and we wear the kids out!
Each day was themed with a popular reality television show, began with free play, then to chapel with the day’s message which roped through the entire day. The week’s Bible theme: 1 Corinthians 10:31 “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” These are just a few of the highlights of each day:
Monday theme: Amazing Race
Chapel: Hebrews 12 – God had a race set out for Jesus; God has a race set out for each of us.
Activities: Races, scavenger hunts all over campus, Science Lady (fellow kidmin champion) came with race and motion activities, staff spoke of their many nationalities from around the globe, Gaga ball, Dodge ball.
Tuesday theme: Top Chef
Chapel: Luke 22 – Just as we take individual, ordinary items in a recipe to make something amazing, Jesus did the same with bread and juice.
Activities: Decorated ice cream sundaes (littles) and baby cakes (bigs), outdoor waterslide, made edible playdoh, taste test skills.
Wednesday theme: Fear Factor
Chapel: Matthew 14 – When we are afraid, we can pray. God hears our prayers. Immediately Jesus responds because Jesus is always with us.
Activities: Greased watermelon wrestling which led to watermelon smearing fun, race to eat and finish unknown foods, races with friends attached with jelly & marshmallows, finding gummy worms in whipped cream without hands, cup spill (100 cups filled half with nothing, half with ‘stuff’; student chooses a number and that cup gets dumped on their head).
Thursday theme: Little Big Shots
Chapel: We all have gifts, but only ONE God raised from the dead and is alive today. Only place where ‘incredible’ is noted in the scriptures is Acts 26:8.
Activities: Talent show by group, Big Screen dance off, child-directed art, shaving cream, Talent show by individuals. (The Greatest Showman was HIGHLY featured here by the students.)
Friday theme: American Ninja Warrior
Chapel: 1 Corinthians 10:31 There’s always another course and we are in training. American Ninja Warriors train in a gym. We celebrated the end of a course a few months ago, then we rested. But now we begin a new course, a new school year and we must be in training to follow Jesus all the time. As followers of Jesus, we train at church. Be sure to come to church and gather with other kids who love Jesus because there will always be challenges along the way.
Activities: Science lady returns with 15 science stations, Staff Sargent Marine came to lead conditioning drills and martial arts skills, Ninja Warrior obstacle course.
With a closed Facebook group, we ran Facebook Live videos on the last 3 days…. which gave us a huge boost in families joining the closed group…which means our kids’ stuff is now running in those families’ Facebook feeds. Winner-winner-chicken-dinner!
Followup: Families invited to Promotion Sunday’s Pop Into Sunday School by email, word of mouth, and social media with bubble wrapped hallways, tootsie pops, ring pops, and pop-rocks in the parent packets AND an afternoon old-fashioned pot-luck with a couple of water slides for kids to get wet 3-5pm after all our services are completed for the day. Bring your own chair, tent, and enough food for your family and plenty to share.
“Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy name.” Psalm 103:1
We’ve saved this Faith Milestone until November as we prepare for Advent and other special Sundays that seem to fall in quick succession in the Liturgical calendar year. We invite the students 3rd-5th grade to attend training with our Pastor to learn the ins and outs of serving in the worship service. These acolytes (helpers) learn what to say, how to give eye contact, the logistics of where to go, and the specialness of serving the Lord in community worship.
We promoted the event through social media, the bulletin, the monthly newsletter, and by individual snail mail invitations. I include a brochure outlining all of the Faith Milestone events scheduled throughout the year to impress our intentionality of our partnership in their children’s spiritual journey.
I opened our time with the story of Samuel. He served in the temple as a young child. He probably did every small job you can imagine: emptied trash, cleaned up after others, dusted, swept, made beds, etc. He would also know all the secret places in the temple. He’d know all the warmest places in the winter and coolest places in the summer. And when God called him into ministry, he had grown such great relationships with the leaders at the temple, he went to them (Eli) for clarity, knowledge, and direction. This is what we hope for our students: they’d know the spaces and places and grow in such strong relationships they’d be connected to the local church for life.
Then we played a game of tag of multiple items in the sanctuary so they’d be reminded or learn the vocabulary of the worship space: chancel area, organ, mic stand, communion table, back worship table, narthex, piano, keyboard, lecturn, pulpit, flower table, baptismal font, tech booth, etc.
Pastor took the remaining time teaching them the symbolism and logistics, giving ample opportunity to practice, of lighting candles, offering communion, and using a microphone.
Lighting candles: why we light, when we light, when we extinguish, why we bow, where to go, where not to go, how to light, what happens when it goes out, walking too fast, walking too slow, which aisle to travel, which stick to use, etc. And then we practice.
Offering communion juice: why we use the elements of bread and juice, when we come up, when we finish, where do we look, how do we walk, where do we go, how do we clean up, what do we say to each person, how we smile, etc. And then we practice with a full chalice.
Next, we learn to use a microphone. How to speak, when to speak, when to clear our throats, how to address the microphone, where do we look, how do we hold things and speak, etc. And then we practice with a live microphone.
I jump back in to finish the training explaining the act of hospitality they are doing when serving in the worship services. We address appropriate clothing to wear, shoes to wear, readiness to serve, their freedom to say, “Not today,” when invited to serve, and personal hygiene. When we serve, we don’t want anything we do to be a distraction. So, yes, I went there about brushing teeth, combing hair, taking a shower, and using deodorant. They thought it was funny, but they’ll remember it.
Parents were not invited to stay for this Faith Milestone since we scheduled it right before CLUB345. This gave the students who had never come to CLUB345 a natural ‘in’ to start. This is the night we pack and stack the Christmas shoeboxes. We had a full house!
“Then the Lord called Samuel. Samuel answered, “Here I am.” 1 Samuel 3:4
Karl Vaters is an encourager of those who serve in a local church. He speaks from experience and has plenty of stories to tell. He regularly speaks from what he calls a ‘smaller church’ perspective. I first met him at my first Children’s Pastors Conference a LONG time ago. Thankful for social media and his website, he’s a good resource when it comes to living and working in the trenches of the pew, the fellowship hall, and the parking lot, not just the stage.
Connect the congregation to it’s innovative heritage – How can I learn about the history of the local church I serve? How can I share that history with the current church families in such a way that they find belonging and connection to those saints? – Be sure to read the history on the church’s website; chat with the longest-serving staff member; Dig deeper into the names on the plaques all over campus. – I Love My Church Faith Milestone: every year we tour the church, learn vocabulary for church spaces ex: “We call this a _____ because _____,” and the stories of the people on the plaques. – Every other year, on the last Sunday before the time changes so it’s daylight, we tour and hear the stories of our church cemetery with our 3rd-5th graders with a church saint who is the caregiver or knows the most. I call them ‘the keeper of the stories’. I’ve served at two local churches with cemeteries onsite or across the street and those are indeed sacred spaces of great information. The kids love to hear the stories, they’re outside, and church saints can answer all their questions. I get to add that many of the names on the grave markers made decisions that made it possible for the kids to enjoy the church they call ‘home’ today, were active in their jobs and families AND their local church and community.
Strip away everything but Jesus How many times do I say His name in the course of my teaching? No matter what I teach, do, share, pray, how do I make sure everything is all about Jesus? – Even the best curriculum doesn’t point to Jesus every week, but I must. So I study and practice pointing all things and people to Jesus for every message. HE is the message of greatest importance. Everything we think or believe we are as Christians and as the church is only because He rose from the dead to forgive us of our sins. He is indeed the author and perfecter of our faith. Jesus all day, everyday! – I’m on the lookout for images of Jesus in all types of art and creative expressions. I’ve learned much about how the greatest artists of history were given space and finances to paint, sculpt, and draw what we now regard as some of the greatest pieces of art in the world. – Bread & Juice Class is a Faith Milestone we offer to Kindergartners and 1st graders early in the school year. In a church-wide space audit a huge picture of the last supper was discovered which was given to the children’s area. That artwork is an important part of our teaching and our end-of-class picture. – At Preschool Chapel and in our large group space, The Treehouse, we have a constant visual companion in a 6ft cardboard cutout of Jesus. “This is NOT Jesus, but it is how an artist took all he/she knew and thought He might look. For us, it’s a reminder that Jesus is with all of His followers all the time.” – We light an LED pillar candle when we gather together at the beginning of every large group, every Faith Milestone, every meeting, and every everything with a repeat after me, “We light this candle. As a reminder. That God is with us. And around us. Always.”
Engage in more conversations. – How do I make myself available, accessible, and offer margin to have conversations with those I serve, those who I serve alongside, and those who I don’t know yet? What is my posture? Where is my face? Do I linger? Do I arrive early enough? Do I stay late enough? Do I have a ‘place’ where I am found? – Just a few weeks ago we enjoyed a Rally Day event to intentionally welcome folks back to church after the last worship service of the day with an outdoor picnic, homemade lemonade and ice cream, and burgers/dogs. I never eat at these events, but rather walk table to table and chat. My dad called it, “working the room.” I learned from the best. On Rally Day I pulled a wagon behind me with hand fans (it was HOT!) with sunglasses (Top Gun theme) and bubbles (everybody likes bubbles) for the kids and the kids-at-heart. So many great conversations, answers to questions I asked about new family schedules, thanking the guys at the grill and the tech station, relieving the face painters to take a bio-break so a little girl could delightfully paint my face as we waited.
How would you address these three principles to be more effectively innovative in your house?
“Jesus Christ was the most revolutionary, innovative, world-changing person who ever lived. His followers should be the same.” – Karl Vaters
Liturgical = relating to public worship. Agility = ability to move quickly and easily.
The updated edition of Bishop Robert Schnase’sFive Practices of a Fruitful Congregation has been the book in two summer book clubs I’m part of. An in-person, brown bag, small group at my church on Tuesdays at noon following lead staff meeting (for the purposes of shared vocabulary), and an online small group through Zoom on Wednesday mornings at 8-9am (for the purposes of what this shared vocabulary looks like in other local churches). We discuss a chapter each week.
Last week was a discussion on the chapter entitled “Passionate Worship”. Coming from a kidmin perspective, I have no seat at the big church table. But when I read it from a kidmin perspective, I do sit in the seat to help ‘bridge the divide’ from The Treehouse (basement) or Food Truck Church (parking lot) to the Sanctuary (big church) for my families’ so that….
New families can find places and spaces of familiarity to decrease their anxiety level for entering a new space with its own rituals, and
Current families can explore multiple worship practices with their littles.
“Thank God for his (John Wesley) spiritual maturity and liturgical agility! Our rich Christian heritage of worship comes to us through many convolutions of style and practice. Outdoor camp meetings, frontier revivals, high-church liturgies, African American spirituals – these are but a few of many streams of practice that flow through our history.” Robert Schnase, Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, pg 60
My first step was to watch a month or two’s services of my church’s ‘big church’ to find the pieces of ‘regularness’ in every single service. I took really good notes as if I was a first-timer each week. I compiled a list of those regular elements.
The second step was to evaluate the elements to determine one or two to intentionally teach at some other place and space in a participatory, developmentally appropriate way.
Worship experiences and practices are typically not taught, but caught. With the average attendance of faithful church attenders in my area of the state being 1 out of 5 Sundays which include Easter Sunday and Christmas Eve, we’re unreasonably expecting little people and new big people to ‘catch’ our rituals of weekly worship less often than twelve days out of 365.
One place we teach these regular elements is through Faith Milestones. Each year our children’s ministry offers developmentally appropriate faith milestone events at 45 minutes for a little with a big person who loves them specific to… (1) Bread & Juice Class – Holy Communion served in various ways and how we typically offer it at our church, ex: intinction, an open table and the logistics of before and after the actual practice. K5-1st graders (2) I Can Pray – Offering prayer stations for individual/family prayer as well as what corporate prayer looks like in Big Church, ex: The Lord’s Prayer, journaling, glory prayers. 1st & 2nd graders (3) I Love My Church – Spaces and places of worship on campus and the stories behind them, ex: Choir loft, who wears a robe and why, and vocabulary such as the difference between a pew and a bench. 2nd & 3rd graders (4) I Can Serve – Acolyte training and Ambassador Training, ex: timing, dress, lighters, hospitality. 3rd-5th graders (5) I Can Worship With My Family– the opportunity to learn ‘on the job’ about two or three elements of regular worship, ex: Signing the Apostles’ Creed and Gloria Patri; speaking into microphones, and other opportunities for physical participation like passing offering plates, instrumentalists, holding signs for the word-of-the-day, active visual elements, small-group/family prayers, processing in and out. K5-5th graders
Worship experiences and practices are typically not taught, but caught. I think that is why there are such deep, emotional attachments to how worship is presented and why most American worshippers think only the music is the worship part. American worship experiences today range from Vacation Bible School large group to Camp Meetings, from amateur musicians who passionately love the Lord to professionals in lighting and musicianship, from spaces of well polished wood furniture to a parking lot filled with cheeseballs.
“Multiplying the opportunities for worship is about allowing God to use us and our congregations to offer a more abundant life for all.” (pg 70)
Several years ago I was invited to participate in a week-long planning and teaching for interactive and innovative worship. I participated alongside the worship leader and senior pastor of the local church I was serving. The week-long event was led by Dr. Marcia McFee and Chuck Bell. My greatest takeaway from the whole week was to set the table for participation for and by all God’s people…which means planning far in advance and collaborating with the Christian educators who are trained in developmental practices with the new attender in mind. Bishop Schnase calls it liturgical agility.
I also regularly glean from the teachings of the fabulous worship artist Mark Burrows who I hear in my head say, “What’s good for kids is good for everybody,” when it comes to setting the table for participatory worship.
There are many of us in conversation about innovatively setting the table for worship with littles in children’s ministry, large group worship, as well as family worship. We’re going to get together to share ideas and experiences at a Children’s Worship Think Tank on Thursday, July 21st hosted by Alpharetta First UMC in Alpharetta, Georgia, 10am-12noon, sponsored by the North Georgia Conference Children’s Ministry Network. If you want to be inspired and can get there, you are invited to a seat at the table because we’re better together.
” Praise the Lord. Sing to the Lord a new song, His praise in the assembly of His faithful people.” Psalm 149:1
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