I’ve gotten lots of phone calls for the logistics of the Drive-in services, so I thought I’d share. Here are five of the service plans which have guided some of the drive-in services for kids with adults in the car.

Parameters: 6pm – 1st grade & younger; 7pm – 2nd & 3rd grades; 8pm-4th & 5th grades
20-30 minutes in length

Bible Story: God helps Daniel eat wisely, Daniel 1
Bible Point: God is wise…so we make wise choices; It’s all about food. In life we will face many tough decisions, but as long as we have been reading the Bible and practicing what God wants us to do, God’s wisdom will guide us in those decisions.
Loop Music for Sunday School and VBS music which will have familiar lyrics for adults and are ones our kids already know with upbeat tempos and less than 2.5 minutes long each. And some are just fun!
God is Always with Us
I Was Made For This
Praise Him
I Have Decided to Follow Jesus
Doxology
Joyful Joyful We Adore Thee
Feels Good
Confidence
Happy
Can’t Stop the Feeling
Transition to start: Take Me To Church
Pre-service Hospitality: Have music playing as cars arrive. Have volunteers wearing chef’s hats and aprons welcoming everyone waving and making noise with pots, pans, spoons, from church kitchen, etc.. High energy!
Arrival & Gives
-Registration form for paper airplanes; list of sticky situations for Bible lesson; balloon w/scripture Daniel 1; Each kid gets a bag #1 and a bag #2 for later; list of wise/unwise scenarios for parents to discuss with kids later.
Welcome & introduce yourself and tell a story about your family.
Hi, my name is _______________ and welcome to Drive-in Church!
Please fill out the registration form and fold it into the best paper airplane you can make and we’ll give you a target for it at the end of the service along with some popcorn today to thank you for popping in. But first,

Super Silly Cooking Demonstration – Have a “Chef” come out to open up the evening by doing a mini-version of “Chopped” the television show. The theme: Pizza (**note: this does not have to be done with pizza…it could be popcorn, dessert, or whatever else we want to do – pizza is just an example here). We ask him to open his basket of secret ingredients, and it is filled with gross things (coffee grinds, dirt, rocks, leaves, anchovies…things like that). Everything he pulls out, he gets very excited about and goes on and on about what a wonderful pizza he can make (ignoring the displeasure of the audience). He quickly makes the “pizza” (lots of drama, laughs and fun describing it as he makes it), and we ask for volunteers from the audience to try his creation and offer a critique. Of course, no one volunteers….Ask them why not? What do they see and why do they think it’s yucky?
Discuss how this relates to the nasty stuff we sometimes put into our bodies – too much junk food, unclean music, no exercise, T.V. shows, movies, video games. Who has heard the phrase you are what you eat? This is the truth – what we put into our bodies – both food and entertainment – matters. It determines the type of person we become. The solution – putting good stuff in.

Ok, so let’s try this again. If you were making a pizza, what would you want in your basket of secret ingredients?? Talk about how much better it is to fill ourselves with good things – God’s Word, healthy food, clean music, movies, etc.

So today’s lesson is about a man named Daniel, and a tough decision he had to make when he was hand selected to work for the King. One of his tough choices was centered around FOOD…was he going to eat the food offered to him by the King, or would he stick to the food he was supposed to eat in accordance with God’s direction…stay tuned to see what Daniel did!

Game: Let’s Make A Deal
Say: In today’s Bible story we saw how God helped Daniel make wise choices about food. We have a lot of decisions to make each day; sometimes it’s easy to make wise choices, and sometimes the wise choice isn’t so clear.
Let’s play a game that’s all about wise choices.
• Each kid gets 2 bags (bag #1 & bag #2)
• Families discuss how each kid will decide which bag they’ll choose.
• You can shake them, smell them, see them, but not open them. Explain that kids won’t get to look in the bags first to see what’s in them; they’ll have to decide if they want to risk giving up one for something that might be in the other.
• Allow a few minutes for teams to discuss their decision.
• Ask teams to raise their hands when they’ve decided..
• Allow the teams who chose to take the bags to open them.
• Let kids know they get to keep the other bag, too….this time. .
Talk About It/Car Chat
Ask: Why do you think you did or didn’t make a wise choice?
Say: The decisions in our game were fun and not too serious, but many times in life we have some very important decisions to make.
Ask: • What’s a big decision you’ve had to make? Have kids talk to their parents.
Say: When we have important decisions to make, it’s nice to have someone to talk to about it to get some advice. We might talk to parents, grandparents, teachers, wise friends, and wise family members. We can also talk to God. God is wise, so he’s the best one to go to when we need wisdom.
Song/Music: I Have Decided to Follow Jesus (teach the signs, then play the song.)
Bible reading/Storytime/Message: Eat a Healthy Snack
Show kids the cupcakes or cookies and the carrots.
Ask: • Which of these snacks would you rather eat?
Say: In our Bible story today, Daniel and some friends had to choose what they were going to eat. Daniel’s country had been overtaken by another country, and Daniel and his friends were taken to work for the king of the other country. They lived in the palace for a few years to train before going to work for the king.
The king served food that probably looked and tasted really yummy, like our desserts. But Daniel and his friends wanted to eat only vegetables.
Talk and Walk through Daniel 1:8; 1:9-10;
Say: This was a matter of life or death! If Daniel handled this wrong, the king could get mad and people could die. But Daniel didn’t want to disobey God, either.
Ask: What do you think Daniel could do? Have kids share in their cars.
Say: Before we find out the wise solution God gave Daniel, let’s think about situations kids today might face.
We’ll play a game we will call wise or unwise. Mom/Dad will lead this one from the car. Mom/Day, you take it from here. Use a thumbs up for wise and thumbs down for not wise. Y’all take it from here! (list of sticky situations)
Say: Great wise thinking! Daniel’s situation was a tough one; the king was telling him to do something that was wrong. But if he just stopped doing it, the king’s adviser could be killed. Maybe even Daniel and his friends could be killed! But God is wise, and he helped Daniel and his friends make a wise choice in solving Daniel’s problem. Here’s what they did.
Walk through and read Daniel 1:11-16.
Ask: • Why was this solution a wise one? Car Chat
Say: Daniel and his friends trusted that God would keep them healthy when they stopped eating the food the king served, and they knew they wouldn’t look sick or weak after 10 days. But putting a time limit on how long they’d eat only vegetables helped the guard in charge of Daniel and his friends feel better. He knew that if they didn’t look healthy, Daniel and his friends would agree to eat the king’s food.
Say: Making wise choices isn’t something we can always do well on our own; wisdom comes from God. God is wise, so we make wise choices. Listen to what the Bible says about the wisdom of Daniel and his friends.
Read Daniel 1:17-20
Say: Daniel and his friends had wisdom because they spent time with God. They knew eating the king’s food was against God’s wishes because they knew God’s plan for wise living.
God gives us wisdom when we spend time with him, pray, and spend time with wise people. The Bible gives us lots of examples of wise people (Daniel) and not so wise people.
It’s kind of like training our bodies. If you want strong arms, you train them by doing push-ups. Have each child do five push-ups.
Say: If you want strong abs, you train them by doing sit-ups. Have each child do five sit-ups.
Say: If you want strong legs, you train them by doing squats. Have each child do five squats.
Say: The more you do those kinds of exercises, the stronger your muscles will get. Then your muscles will be trained to do hard things, so when you really need them to work hard, they’re ready.
If we want to be spiritually strong, we can train by spending time with God and reading the Bible. Then when we need to use our wisdom muscles to handle a tough situation, we’ll be ready since we’ve been letting God fill us with his wisdom! God is wise, so we make wise choices.
Prayer: Try this simple prayer below, especially useful for the kinesthetic learner.
(3 deep breaths) God, you love doing God things!
God, you are above (reach toward the sky), below (touch your toes), inside (hands to heart) and all around (big arm circles).
I worship you (reach toward the sky), and give my life to you (touch your toes).
And I love you (hands to heart) with all that I am (big arm circles).
(3 deep breaths)God, you love doing God things!
Leaving activity; offering; registration form; GIVE AWAY popcorn saying, “Thanks for popping in!”
Exit song: https://vimeo.com/showcase/4261476/video/191691866 I Have Decided to Follow JesusI

Bible Story: Jesus calls Matthew to be His friend
Theme: Jesus is our friend, so we’re good friends to others; Toy Story
Music to Loop:
God is Always with Us
Praise Him
I Have Decided to Follow Jesus
Doxology
Joyful Joyful We Adore Thee
Can’t Stop the Feeling
In The Sanctuary
The Power Shuffle
You’ve Got A Friend In Me
Transition to start: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eTOcrWu8mQ Take Me To Church
Pre-service Hospitality: Each kid/car gets balloon w/scripture to pop at Bible story time; registration form.
Welcome: Introduce self and ask ice breaker: Name as many famous ‘pairs’ or ‘two things which go together’ as you can in one minute. Examples: Salt and Pepper, Peanut Butter and Jelly, Buzz and Woody
Dance Party: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5V9tv9gjbWY In the Sanctuary
Game: Sword Drill – As children hold Bibles closed with hands on covers, state the Bible reference twice, then on the command “SEARCH!” have the students race to locate the verse. Once they have a finger on the verse, they can honk their horn and call out, “FOUND IT!” Once everyone has found it, read the verse aloud and talk about what the Bible says about friends…keep the comments brief and to the point of the lesson. Potential verses include:
• Proverbs 27:17 Friends sharpen each other.
• Proverbs 27:6 Friends help each other, even when it’s hard.
• Ecclesiastes 4:10 Friends help each other in tough times.
Invite kids to pop their balloons to find out where we’re going in the Bible.
Bible Lesson: Matthew 9:9
Storytime/Message: Story of Forky in Toy Story 4
Prayer: God your love is bigger than I can imagine. stretch arms high
God, your love wraps around the world. stretch arms wise
God, your love is here in my heart. bring hands close to heart
God, create in me Your way to keep my eyes on Jesus. place fingers on eyes
And my eyes out for other people. point fingers away from self. (Thanks, Christine Hides!)
Leaving activity/take away: Cake & Ice Cream July 4th Celebration! Blue cake mix & Ice Cream; Sandwich take-away; Forky DIY kit. Like an ice cream truck but with individually wrapped ice cream sandwiches in vanilla or chocolate.

Bible Story: Jesus heals a deformed hand on the Sabbath
Theme: Jesus is BOLD – he goes against the grain; Christmas in July! Jesus goes against the grain, so we can too – we can celebrate Jesus’ birth and the gift of his presence in our lives ANY time we want!
Pre-service Hospitality: Each kid/car gets plastic spoon, jingle bell, length of mermaid fabric, balloon with scripture location to pop at Bible story time; registration form.
Music to Loop
Transition to start: Take Me To Church
Welcome: Introduce self and set up Christmas in July.
Opening monologue to set up Christmas in July:
Hello again! You know, I have lately seen something that frustrates me…the stores are full of Halloween supplies! Can you believe that? (pull out a pumpkin or other seasonal decoration)
Look at this? It is still July! We’re just barely starting summer! The weather is still super hot! It’s not time to think about all of this. You know, I’ve even seen pumpkin spice in some stores! Next they’ll be selling Christmas ornaments, for crying out loud! This is absurd! (Hold up calendar)
See? NOT time for those seasonal things. Oh, but…I will say one thing I approve of: CANDY CORN (Hold up bag of fall themed candy corn). This is okay. This we can have around, even in August. Why, you might ask? Well….I mean, I like candy corn. So…that I approve of.
Does this seem strange? Probably. And it probably seems a little like a contradiction. Why would I say one thing is not okay, but another thing just like it is? Well, in the Gospel story today, Jesus dealt with some people who were struggling with rules and regulations, and were making some strange contradictory statements.
You see, Jesus went to the Temple, the church, and he healed someone. There was a woman who was crippled; she couldn’t walk and had been that way for a long time. Jesus touched her and immediately made her better.
Dance Party: Our parking lot is our sanctuary – going against the grain!
In The Sanctuary
Games: while playing games, play music Joyful Joyful We Adore Thee
• Face the Gingerbread Man Minute to Win It w/teddy grahams
Begin with a gingerbread man on each person’s forehead. The players have one minute to get the cookie into their mouth using only their facial movements.
• Jingle Bell Rock w/ plastic spoon and jingle bell
Have each challenger place a plastic spoon in their mouth and see how many times they can run around their vehicle for 169 seconds (169 days from today until Jesus’ birthday) with the jingle bell staying in the spoon.
• White Christmas (goes with the healing theme of the tesson) w/ toilet paper rolls
One person stands still while the other wraps them in toilet paper. This game is the best player head to head against another two player team. The team that completely uses their toilet paper first wins. It’s fun to see what method the teams come up with to do this quickly.
Storytime/Message: Mermaid fabric square for each student.
What do you think people mean when they say someone is “going against the grain”?
Say: The grain is the arrangement of fibers in paper, fabric, and even food! The grain is made by a whole bunch of fibers that line up in the same direction. Imagine these markers are fibers. Line up several markers in front of you on a table. Push the fabric all in one direction. Now try to keep the same colors and push in the other direction. It’s hard to do because the grain is only one color in one direction. The grain is too strong!
Say: In our Bible story, the religious leaders said that healing someone on the Sabbath was wrong. It would have been easy for Jesus to go along with the rule. Maybe he could have even come back the next day to help the man. But Jesus is bold. He loved the man more than he loved the easy way. Going against the grain was the right thing to do.
Invite kids to pop their balloons to find out where we’re going in the Bible.
Bible Lesson: Read Mark 3:1-6
Discussion: Would you have been silent? How did the man feel when Jesus had him stand in front of everybody? The man was brave and Jesus was bold. Jesus is bold to do the right thing, so we can be bold to do the right thing.
Prayer: a repeat after me prayer song
Do not be afraid, God is with you, Everywhere you go, God is there. (2x)
Leaving activity/take away: meet the new pastor; birthday blow horns; candy canes; a Christmas card to write in and mail/deliver to boldly tell “Jesus loves you and so do I.”

Bible Story: Jesus Teaches Us To Live Differently
Theme: Jesus is different…so we live differently; Drive-thru pool party
Scriptures: Matthew 5-7
Promotion: Bring your water balloons, water guns, inflatable pools in the back of your truck, or bring nothing, totally up to you. You’ll be able to shoot water or throw the water balloons at your leaders.
I think this lends itself well to a “Drive-Thru” event as opposed to a “Drive-In” event. We could have stations set up through a prescribed path through the parking lot where cars can park and walk to 6 stations spread out for interactive fun with a lesson/message at each, led by McEachern Kids volunteers and their families. You’ll stay in your vehicle as the McEachern Kids leaders will be in pools of water with water
“Better is the end of a thing than the beginning: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.” Ecclesiastes 7:8

Pool Party – Last station is a DRIVE-THRU POOL PARTY
Take-aways – bubble wands for each child at Bubble station
Here are some station ideas, where we would just need to pair it up with a message of “Living Life Differently” – the messages could be on signs, and they could be reinforced by leaders at each station giving a message:
• Drive By Art Station – Spin Art
• Bear Hunt printed on the parking lot
• Fun Science Experiment – Diet Coke & Mentos
• Dance Station – Learn a dance
• Bubble Station – give out bottles of bubbles to kids as they drive by, and have them blow bubbles
• Water Balloon Game

Bible Story: God delights in His people; God is joyful…so we’re joyful.
Theme: God rejoices in his people, and God’s people praise HIM; Joy is CONTAGIOUS!
Loop Music
Transition to start: Take Me To Church
Pre-service Hospitality: Bubble machines, balloons with Psalm 100 in them, Confetti cannons, beach balls; Registration form – one for each vehicle (to become a paper airplane); balloons with Psalm 100 in them. – one for each kid; registration form
Welcome – Emcee always introduces self and shares something about their family.
Say: Since we’re talking about joy, let’s see if we can pass on joy and laughter!
Make a funny face to the car next to you and see if you can make them laugh because joy is CONTAGIOUS!
Joy is the feeling and calm and peace we experience when we TRUST that…
1. God is who He says He is (creates and gives life)
2. God can do what He says He can do (is with me always)
3. I am who He says I am (A beloved child of God)
Games
Masked Singers & Freeze Dance
Freeze Dance
Happy (with stops)
Finish that tune. Let’s see if you can finish these tunes….I will hum a song and you start singing it/shouting it! Row Row Row Your Boat…. Happy Birthday to you…Twinkle Twinkle Little Star…Jesus loves me…I Have Decided to Follow Jesus…
Dance Party: Amazing Grace (w/American Sign Language motions)
Christians, what do you believe? Apostles Creed (say it with signs & our masked singers)
Beach Ball Joy – Each car uses own blanket/sheet bouncing with beach balls. Place three or four small beach balls on each blanket. Joyful Joyful We Adore Thee
Today we will read through parts of the Bible that show us God is joyful. God is joyful about us, for us, and with us. Let’s pop our balloons to find out where we will be reading today from our Bible.
Invite kids to pop their balloons to find out where we’re going in the Bible.
Bible Lesson: Psalm 100
Joy is an awesome gift God gives us. God is joyful, so we can have joy about all the good, fun, exciting, and special things in our lives. When you’re joyful, you can remember that your joy comes from God.
Psalm 100 – Parents read it together. Then we’ll walk through it together.
Storytime/Message (DeDe)
As you go through the Psalm continually ask kids
(1) what is this Psalm telling us about who God is?, (car chat)
(2) what is this Psalm telling us about what God does and (car chat)
(3) what is this Psalm telling us about what God expects of His people and how His people should respond to Him. (car chat)
He is God, He made us, He shepherds us, He is good, He is forever loving, He is faithful.
Have kids notice that it doesn’t just say we should sing and shout to the Lord, but that we should be glad and joyful while doing it. Have kids demonstrate how you could sing joyfully and how you could sing without joy (or feeling).
Say: When we say that God is joyful, so we’re joyful, we don’t mean to say that life will always be happy. What we mean is, our lives have deep roots in joyful things that will never change! All the things you just named are always true.
When we have joyful roots, and spend time with joyful people, we can find God’s joy no matter what’s happening in life. Happiness may depend on our circumstances, but joy is rooted in our faith and friendship with Jesus.
In the book of Nehemiah, when Nehemiah celebrates with the Israelites, he says, “The joy of the Lord is your strength!” (See Nehemiah 8:10.) We can have strength no matter what happens because our joy comes from God’s joy! God is joyful, so we’re joyful.
God’s joy gives us strength, courage, and hope. (Say 3 times; repeat after me)
Know what God’s joy gives me and I can’t just hold it in? Confetti Cannons (give to parking lot leaders)
Prayer – Breath Prayer
Breathe in slowly and deeply as you whisper: Lord, you are God.
And then exhale as you whisper or think: I thank you and praise your name.
Ending Activity: We have some VIPs with us tonight…some Very Important Pops! So we have some very important pops to share with our dads and granddads tonight as you leave.
Leaving activity: Spread Joy to others as we leave the parking lot. We will give each car a balloon and a name and address to bring it to McEachern Saints list compiled by Adult Christian Education lead.

“Share with the Lord’s people.” Romans 12:13

 

Not wanting our families to grow accustomed to doing life without one another, we find Thursday night drive-in church the sacred space to nurture those and new relationships. Guidelines were provided by our denominational leaders. We’re a few weeks in and plan to offer these weekly memorable experiences throughout June, July, and August. This is drive-in church for kids with adults in the vehicle, not drive-in church for adults with kids in the vehicle. Each week finds us in edit-to-excellence mode and this is what we’re learning:

Keep the service short
Keep the services at twenty minutes. Families arrive up to ten minutes early to get settled. Families are lingering after the services especially if the weather is fantastic. One of the goals of the services is to offer space and time for re-connection, yet we need to make way for the next wave of service families and remain deeply hospitable. Stick with the most important holy habits to share in this season with most of the activity taking place in the vehicle: game, prayer, Bible reading, and music. Twenty minutes is the limit.

Intentional visual memories
Children recall memories in visual form accentuated by how they feel. Use a lot of beach balls, make big foam board pizza and walk it around. Bubble machines and balloons in clusters. Music with masked dancers and use the church’s choir robes, decorate you with the theme or a tutu or a chef’s jacket. Bring out a huge measuring tape to stay mindful of six-feet-apart in a humorous way. Name tags are good for inside the building, but what does a greater visual look like to recognize who the leaders are? We had black aprons made with our logo embroidered largely on the chest so it can be seen from far away. We’ll use these when we return to inside-the-building children’s programming as well for visual hospitality moments since we won’t be able to high-five, hug, or be physical. We’ve also ordered some handheld signs to use to transition from the parking lot to inside the building. Already looking down the road at what can we bridge from outside the building to inside the building when we can return to inside programming.

Introduce yourself
Whoever is speaking, introduce yourself. Not everyone will know who you are. Say your name and speak of your family as who is connected to you. It’ll build connection between you and the families in your audience. Add a story of what your family did the last week that relates to the service theme: cooking theme/your family’s favorite pizza, then turn it around to a discussion prompt for each vehicle. We have a young man as our one of our emcees who grew up in our church as a kid. When he introduces himself, he speaks of his family and how his family members share the love of Jesus in the world and in our church: His Dad leads an adult Sunday School, his sister served in the Asian mission field, his Mom is a super servant on our Children’s Ministry Dream Team. I overheard a conversation between several older elementary students share, “We could do this one day when we grow up!” (Insert hand on heart here!)

Incorporate elements of what our kids did inside the building
Our students presented the Apostle’s Creed and the Gloria Patri in American Sign Language in our traditional service pre-Covid. We lead one or the other each week just before the Bible reading. Our Ambassadors who are serving on the parking lot team get to be the visual leaders of this. They do this best! We introduce this with a shout of three times of “Christians, what do you believe?” or “Followers of Jesus, what do you believe?” These amazing Ambassadors hold a sign which reads, “Flash your lights if this is your first time!” Since their families are the traffic team, we position these ambassadors nearest the first time vehicles for the kids in those cars to want to learn the signs to these elements that may not be familiar. Kids want to do what other, older kids are doing. 

Leverage what you know kids like
Knowing kids like to get things, kids like to pop balloons, and kids don’t like waiting to do something but will wait since it builds excitement. Investing in a Ryobi Inflater/Deflater, we blow up balloons most weeks with a rolled up piece of paper with the scripture location. Each kid gets a balloon and a registration form when they drive on the lot, but can’t pop the balloon until later in the service. Needing to capture contact information, each kid gets a take-away from each service AFTER they fly a paper airplane made from the registration form (they fold and fly it from their vehicle) into a kiddie pool. Take-aways include bags of popcorn (we say when we toss them into the car window, “Thanks for popping in!”), star bubble rods, cold Smart Water and Gatorade for our VIPs (Very Important People: Dads & GrandDads & Uncles & Spiritual Dads) for the Thursday before Father’s Day), helium balloons to be tied onto mailboxes of church shut-ins and saints as they leave to ‘spread the joy’ after the Psalm 100 service.)

We are learning something new each week. Stay tuned!

“I am carrying on a great project and I cannot go down.” Nehemiah 6:3

Because of the COVID19 safety restrictions, we have shifted faith formation for little people from inside the building this summer to the parking lot. Children remain in their vehicles to celebrate Jesus as a family.

I’d spoken with many churches doing drive-in church well for their adults knowing there were children in the vehicles. We wanted to do drive-in church well for kids knowing their adults were in the vehicles. Considerations were multi-sensory, hands-on, all-skate, Bible reading, give tools and practice for family prayer, car-chat discussion, games, a noisy offering response, kid-friendly contact collection, follow-up, a sound system, smooth traffic flow, a take-away, aimed at an audience of 3rd grade boys, 20 minutes, Jesus content, leave ‘em smiling. Three services at 6pm (1st grade & younger), 7pm (2nd & 3rd graders), 8pm (4th & 5th graders). If a family has multiples, they pick their service.

We shifted to a different location due to rain at the start of the first service. By the third service we were blessed with a rainbow in the sky. God’s goodness was waiting for us. The volunteers close to the vehicles were masked and gloved. We used our current Sunday school curriculum as the starting point for planning.

Hospitality – Colorful signs and familiar Sunday school music as they arrive and park.

Welcome – Each kid gets a registration form and black balloon at arrival to pop later. Inside each balloon is a piece of paper with the scripture inside. Registration form asks for family name, how many in the car, email address. Kids fold it into a paper airplane to fly at a target at the end of the service in the world’s largest offering plate (kiddie pool).

Game – The Masked Dancer (3 animal masks; choir robes) to Can’t Stop The Feeling.

Song – Taught sign language to Amazing Grace, then played the 2 minute Sunday school music to do the signs together.

Game – God created our bodies so let’s play Simon Says and see how well your body works (air guitar, lift legs as high as you can, hug yourself, hug your family, pat your head, kiss your tummy, touch your nose with your tongue, etc.)

Pop the balloon – Find out where to look in your Bible, Psalm 139.

Pray in song – O Be Careful Little Eyes What You See.

Bigs read Psalm 139:1-14 – Psalm 139 was written by David and known as a man after God’s own heart. David wrote people are wonderfully made because of who made us: God! Share the story of how Milk Duds got its name. We are not duds, we are wonderfully made by a wonderfully, perfect, and loving God.

Car Chat – We learn that God is our creator and He sees our thoughts and actions. Is that a good thing? Do we really want God to see us all the time? Does God know you? How does it feel to know that God created you? (Leave space in-between each question.)

Personal Testimony – The things God made about us were made that way for a reason. I shared about my Dad’s big voice. I have that same big voice because God knew one day that I’d need a big voice to tell kids about Jesus. Even the things you might not like about yourself can be part of God’s purpose for you and He can use it so you can tell others about Jesus.

Closing Prayer – Hand-stack prayer: everyone in the vehicle stacks hands on top of each other. The person whose hand is at the bottom of the stack goes first, praying a single sentence prayer as they pull out his hand and place it on top of the hand stack. Then, the next person prays and pulls her hand out and places it on top of the stack until everyone gets to pray aloud then all close with AMEN.

Leaving activity – Receive offering and fly the registration form paper airplanes into the kiddie pools carried around the parking lot. Kids get small boxes of Milk Duds tossed into the vehicles from someone who is gloved.

Lessons learned to put into place next week – Each person who speaks introduces themselves (not everyone in the vehicle will know us); wireless mic for the speaker rather than a hand-held to facilitate greater movement; pray for no rain so we can use the larger space and all can see the speaker when necessary.

We plan for each week to look differently and the experience to be different. Example: emcee added to week #2; drive-in stations for each vehicle on week #4; send-out station at the end on week #3; end with a drive-thru pool party and water on week #4.

Text messages were sent and received on Sunday from the big people of several upper elementary boys sharing what their boys remembered and enjoyed at the service so we know what to focus on next week as most memorable. The hand-written follow-up postcards were mailed out the following Monday to mailing addresses as a thank you for coming and an invite to come back followed with an email reminder for the next Thursday to go out on Wednesday morning. If no address is known, we will contact by email to introduce ourselves and make connection the next day. Content is not king. Connection is king. It’s all about the growing of our relationships. This was a natural next-step in discipleship for those who came to know us at the drive-thru. 

Jeff Henderson is an entrepreneur, speaker, pastor, business leader, and author of Know What You’re FOR: A Growth Strategy for Work, An Even Better Strategy for Life. In a recent talk about Three Strategies For Re-entry, he said, “Don’t let your customer grow accustomed to doing life without you.” We don’t have customers; we have disciples of Jesus and we are responsible for one another. We need each other, we’re better together, we’re wired for community, and drive-in church on Thursday evenings this summer will allow us to continue to safely do life together with littles and their bigs.

The biggest win? The big people in the lives of our little people are the heroes here. These bigs are leading their kids/grandkids to keep their eyes on Jesus and their eyes out for other people. We are just providing the setting and the sacred space. 

“I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.” 1 Corinthians 9:23

When the guidelines were provided for Drive-in church from our denomination’s leadership, an idea was formed. With the standing goal of resourcing families together to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and love our neighbors as ourselves, we began planning.

The plan is to offer a kid-friendly-family-engaging service of less than thirty minutes outdoors at three different times. Families with multiples could choose their service as they’d all be the same. We chose a Thursday night so not to interfere with any other ministry choosing to edit their programming or service offerings through the summer. Nothing is as it was and everything is up for innovation. The services will be the same: 6pm for 1st grade and younger; 7pm for 2nd-3rd grade; 8pm for 4th-5th grade. The back parking lot is perfect for sound and no drive-thru traffic on Thursdays.

A ZOOM call with the children’s ministry leadership team gave direction followed by phone calls with the senior pastor, the head of trustees, the head of IT team, the head of AV team, and a super Dad who always has a spirit of YES. We reserved space, ordered an inflatable movie screen from WalMart, thought through the projector needs, and this amazing team of super-servants met at 6pm last Thursday to see where the sun would be and set up for a dry run. An upgrade in sound/visual equipment in our sanctuary offered some replaced equipment which was sitting on a shelf.

The location was perfect, but a tad windy. The inflatable movie screen was awesome to look at, but the wind made it so unstable we had to move it behind the sidewalk we’d hope would serve as a stage area. Moved it so far to rest against the building which was on a slope making the screen low and small. The screen also had a hole in it so it wouldn’t stay upright. We couldn’t get a visual from the projector even though it was in the shade to be seen by the cars in the parking lot. A new projector with the lumens necessary to be seen in the daylight would cost a fortune. We’re now rethinking how or even if we should present the music video and/or the story video. If not a visual, how else do we engage with more than one sense (auditory) to present the message, share the message in the vehicle, and invite families to respond within the boundaries given? The two heavy plastic kiddie pools we’ll use to collect an offering will give us an awesome sound when money is dropped in as families exit. Sidewalk chalk will X-out spaces where there is no parking. Traffic patterns were set and the sun will cooperate for the appropriate shade. More ideas are coming in from folks who have been silent for a while, but have jumped all-in to the deep end of the innovation pool because sharing Jesus with kids in a sticky, fun, and engaging way is the goal for us all.

The Resilient Church Academy has helped me process the fireworks of thoughts and ideas that can only be turned off by watching an historical documentary on Prime TV. What are you watching? Sorry, squirrel moment. Yesterday’s Master Class of mobilizing the resilient gospel spoke of creating spaces for lament, spaces for mission, and spaces for hope. Our Drive-in dry run created space for all three. And I’m good with that.

“But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.” James 3:17

As soon as we knew we would be home-bound, especially on Sundays, we prayed of ways in which we could remain connected in a healthy way. Kate Morris, the children’s pastor serving Acworth United Methodist Church began a Sunday school drive-thru on the first weekend. After some quick collaboration, we started the Tuesday Family Faith Kit Drive-thru.

We gathered every bag we had in the supply closets and prepared 50 bags for the next seven weeks. 15 of the 50 bags were for multiple children in a family meaning there were 3-5 of everything in each bag.

We gathered everything we had on hand of extras and typical kid’s items including bubbles, stickers, candy, snacks, all the St. Patrick’s Day items I’d purchased ahead of time for the Sunday that didn’t happen, sidewalk chalk, pompoms, etc. We also added pre-purchased items for Lent events ready to be staged. We didn’t spend any additional monies except the palm branches. We gathered what we had on hand and prepared to share, separating everything into seven weeks of bags with a printed devotion. If you’d like a copy of the first three week’s of devotions, contact me by email at dedereilly@comcast.net. 

Posting on social media, we invited families to drive thru the breezeway of our children’s entrance (that way if they didn’t come to us regularly on Sundays, they will know where to enter when we are permitted to return to Sunday gathering) between 11am-12noon each Tuesday. We make a big deal of greeting each vehicle, wearing gloves we set the kit on the empty front passenger seat, maybe take a photo, and then ask if we can pray with them with our hands lifted toward the heavens. We pray and we invite them back the next week.

6 o’clock Bible readings
We invited parents to record their child(ren) reading a favorite Bible story/verse from their Bible in their favorite place at home, under 2 minutes and send it to me on Facebook messenger. I’ve scheduled a Bible reader/memory verse for each night at 6pm on our closed Facebook page. Hannah Harwood, the Children’s Pastor at Sam Jones United Methodist Church in Cartersville, Georgia began this early on as morning digital devotionals. 

Handwritten postcards
Pre-purchased postcards with forever stamps were ready for VBS. Instead, we’ve handwritten notes to every family and every servant-leader to “Say your prayers and wash your hands, until we can be together again! – Ms. DeDe & McEachern Kids”

Other Connections
• Prepared schedule of texts and phone calls to check in.
• Providing copies of Family Faith Kit devotions are being added to the lunches and dinners provided by our partner elementary and middle school through the missions team.
• Weekly email to email list (may not be on social media) on Saturday how to celebrate Family Church with a reminder of our online service info and Family Faith Kit drive through.
• Hallelujah Project: Use what you have (sidewalk chalk, paper, paint, crayons, string, scraps of wood, etc.) to create a “Hallelujah” banner/sign/message for Easter Sunday. Tag the church on Instagram or Facebook using #athomehallelujah. Another great idea from Christine Hides, Director of Christian Education at Kenilworth Union Church, Kenilworth, Illinois.

There are lots of things which can be done, but let me remind you to pace yourself and remember your why.

McEachern Kids exists to partner with families to grow in their faith in Jesus together by experience, resource, and encouragement. We can’t be part of the noise, especially during the week when families are navigating schoolwork, working from home, feeding the family, laundry, pets, and new schedules. We are all about relationship building in the family to grow in a personal relationship with Jesus, worship the Lord together, belong to something and someone, serve one another in the family and others outside the family, and tell their story.

“Then the Lord said to him, ‘What is that in your hand?'” Exodus 4:2

Family Faith Kit Drive-thru was one of our many responses to the crisis of the pandemic and the resulting quarantine. We started with 35 bags and grew just last week to serving 161 with close to 100 bags. It’s been hugely successful, yet it was our response to the crisis. We can not sustain it physically nor continue offering it with excellence. After much prayer and many a phone conversation, our children’s ministry leadership team decided to end the family faith kit drive-thru on a high note and begin making plans for an intentional opportunity to build on our main goals of (1) resourcing families to keep their eyes on Jesus modeling and leading their kids to love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength AND love their neighbors as themselves, AND (2) we’re better together as we follow the rhythm of our community for June and July. Our last Family Faith Kit Drive through will be today, so we wanted to be sure we equipped our families to continue to keep their eyes on Jesus with a Summer Family Faith Kit with the following instructions:

The Summer Family Faith Kit is a way for your family to keep your eyes on Jesus as you vacation and enjoy wonderful family time this summer, building memories around faith practices and holy habits.
In this bag are ways you and your family can…
GROW – JUMP ROPE; THANK YOU SEEDS
• JUMP ROPE to memorize Bible verses with a chant, a song, a rhyme.
• THANK YOU SEEDS – Write a note to Mom & Dad and give them this item inside the note thanking them for helping you to keep your eyes on Jesus during Quarantine and this summer, then plant it together.
TELL – FLAT JESUS; SQUISHY JESUS
• Color FLAT JESUS and then tape it where you brush your teeth to remind you to pray every morning and every evening to thank God, tell God, ask God, to know that God loves you and your family.
• Take a picture of SQUISHY JESUS and post it on Facebook, Instagram, or other social media with #kidsjourneywithJesus as you go/travel from place to place. Going to Grandma’s, take a picture. Going to the store, take a picture. Going to the pool, take a picture. There’s even a Facebook page as we share the Journey with Jesus challenge with other United Methodist Churches in North Georgia. 
SERVE – Mini STARBURST PRAYERS; SUNGLASSES
• STARBURST PRAYERS – Prayers are far from mini in size when offered to a great big God, so as you eat your snack, pray blues by naming those who are sad to find their joy in Jesus, pray pinks by naming those who are sick, pray greens for yourself asking God to help YOU to stay the course of loving the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength AND loving your neighbor as yourself.
• SUNGLASSES – The sun will be bright as you help others with a challenge to serve someone each day. When they ask you why you helped, you can say, “Because Jesus loves me AND Jesus loves you!”
WORSHIP – DRIVE IN; PRAYER WALK
• Come to the McEachern Kids Drive-In on Thursdays in June beginning June 4
6pm for families with K5 & 1st graders
7pm for families with 2nd & 3rd graders
8pm for families with 4th & 5th graders
If you have multiples, pick your service.
Services will be less than 30 minutes, no restrooms; back lot parking spaces only, bring your Bible as we tailgate together.
Weekly Family fun kits can be picked up at McEachern Kids June Drive-in.
• Use the Nature Prayer Walk to pray as you play on your family walks this summer.
BELONG – JESUS SQUISHY HEART; SIDEWALK CHALK; FUN DIP
• Write a note to your neighbors on your driveway that Jesus loves them, ‘JESUS LOVES YOU’.
• Place the SQUISHY HEART beside your bed to hold as you say your prayers each morning and each night.
• FUN DIP – enjoy right now, because YOU are a McEachern Kid which means YOU will have fun as you live out your faith this summer.

Through it all we want you to remember to take Jesus with you. Jesus is the most important thing in this bag, but especially in your family life, as you go about your day. Jesus isn’t a ‘one more thing’, but rather He is your Savior ‘as you go.’

I will show you my faith in Jesus by my deeds. James 2:18

In the words of my KidMin colleague, Katie Atcheson, “VBS is my favorite week of the year.” This is the week where anything goes and anyone can come. Both little people and taller people are actively sharing the love of God. We make sure that every learning style is addressed, from the crafty to the drama queen, from the wet game boys to the snackers. And we share the family stories of the Bible. We plan for 5 months to pull off 5 days. It’s glorious!

But now what?

1. Instead of filing the registration forms, place them in your bible and pray for each one to continue to grow in their faith. Pray their families will find a church home or become even more connected to the family of faith.

2. Be ready when they come through the door on a future Sunday morning or on campus for a camp or other future KidMin special event.  Be ready to greet in the children’s hallway.

3. Add their contact info to your database so you can invite them, with a personal note, to the next 3 things you have on the calendar that involves:
Worship – Blessing of the backpacks the Sunday before school starts
Belonging – Drive in movie night on a July Friday where there is mingling and chatting
Mission – Fall packing party for Operation Christmas Child

4. Leave a few things up on the walls for when the kids bring their families on a future Sunday. The space will resemble what they enjoyed for the week, and it’ll feel more like home.  The stairway is great for this!

5. Follow up with your volunteers by personally inviting them to join your KidMin team in another service opportunity, especially your first-time volunteers. (I trust you have already shown your appreciation through a goodie, a thank you note, or a planned pool party for your youth volunteers).

6. Send a letter to each child’s parents who made a decision to follow Jesus.  Offer suggestions to help their new disciple grow in his/her faith and knowledge of God and His son, Jesus. And don’t forget to add a flyer with the upcoming happenings.

7. Wear your VBS tshirt often over the next 90 days…you’ll never know when you may run into a child at the grocery store or Home Depot.  It’s a great conversation starter and you can offer a personal invite.  The Kingdom of God grows through the ministry of conversation.

The last day of VBS is not the end of my favorite week of the year. It just might be the beginning of something fabulous!

What other suggestions do you have for followup?

Family Ministry: A Holistic Approach was a breakout session led by Kathleen Jaoudi at the 2023 Children’s Pastors Conference. Wearing 3D glasses, she invited us to look at ministry with families through a different lens. Not the silo-ed lens of post-Young Life to the present, but generational discipleship for today.

Using a pie chart, she shared a model for intentional focus in six key areas. In these six key areas, you probably are already doing a good bit. Grouping what you are already doing might offer some insight for what to edit and what to shore-up.

First, she said that all ministry is Family Ministry. Agreed. Family Ministry is a process rather than a program with the goal of operating as a full Body of Christ in your local church. Agreed even more. Here are the six key areas:

Milestones: Milestones we make are the developmentally appropriate teachings of our faith symbols, rituals, and holy habits; Milestones we mark are the remarkable moments of life to commemorate the work of God in our family’s life in ways that we did not see coming.

Educational: The intentional building of educational experiences for some and for all. Ex: CLUB345, K2Club, Sunday school, Missions lunches, bringing in a special speaker, etc.

Caring: This is the congregational care of sharing life in grief and celebration; food ministry; new babies; hospital stays, etc.

Parent Equipping: Helping along the way in bite-sized pieces for resources, special events, emails, social media, etc. Ex: My son told me that a website is too much info and no one has time to get lost down a hole of too much information. But providing weekly resources in bite-sized pieces by email or social media posts make for a much easier application.

Family of Families: This is what we do to fill the holes of families, Jesus Loves You Boxes, prayer, moving, car care, Lent Dine-outs, mentoring, coaching, etc.  

Families in Service: Multi-generational opportunities to serve others and one another, family mission trips, hospitality, family VBS, cleaning and/or building spaces, Great Day of Service, delivering, collecting, donating, etc.

Christina Embree is the founder and creator of ReFocus Ministry. She presented at the most recent Bible Creatives Online Conference about the pillars of creating a plan for generational discipleship: Institutional, Spatial, Technological, and Relational. 

As I’m still processing how to incorporate these pillars within this family ministry pie, I really like her vocabulary: Generational Discipleship. I’ve spent some time with her and I really like her plan for intentionally setting the table for folks in at least three generations and sharing the life of the gospel through everyday discipleship in ways that all can engage in a life of faith in Jesus.

Whatever we call it, we know that the purpose of the church is to equip the saints for ministry. Equipping Christians is the one thing we are called to do. Everything else is good, but equipping Christians to live as Christians in the world is what we are to do no matter what. Let’s have a plan for it, let’s set the table for it, let’s push beyond the awkward, and quit protecting turf that we imagine is there because we can’t imagine anything else. I’m putting on my imagination hat!

“But you, Lord, sit enthroned forever; your renown endures through all generations.” Psalm 102:12

There is too much going on in my brain and on my calendar. You, too?

Children’s ministry folk are fast pivoters and quick on our feet to adapt and edit. Yet once I make the February turn and the closer I get to summer, I’m feeling the pressure of meeting expectations and the many ‘good’ distractions that take longer than they should to settle, and it’s Lent, and Sunday keeps coming, and Tuesday keeps coming.

How do I try to get it all done? If ‘all’ is this week, I’ve found a plan that works as a good boundary model. As in all models, stuff happens, but as far I can manage, this is my plan each week:

Sundays – A full work day; set the alarm for super early so I have time to arrive early and schedule others to arrive just as early to get the ball rolling to be able to face the day’s activities with joy and margin for a pivot if necessary. Sunday is game day! If there is no additional afternoon/evening programming, afternoons are filled with admin work – attendance; expense processing; placing orders; cleaning up; packing away; staging for the next thing. No one else is typically in the office so I have uninterrupted access to the copy machine.

Mondays – Communication day by emails/postcards/notes/letters; reports; writing; texts, list-making; social media scheduling; zoom calls.

Tuesdays – In-person and on campus meeting day (staff & lead staff & hallway meetings) since everyone is on campus; lunch meeting; evening Kids Bible study.

Wednesdays – Study and collaboration day at home office or travel day. Podcasts and Audible let even a travel day be a study day; writing and reading; social media scheduling; consults.

Thursdays – In-person and on campus morning Bible study; Sunday prep; lunch meeting; team one-on-ones; Lenten dine-outs; in summer this is generational discipleship event night like Family VBS.

Fridays – Personal Sabbath to do what reminds me that God is good and I am His.

Saturdays – The only day with my honey who is only off on the weekend, so I guard the daylights out of Saturdays.

Two additional priorities:

1. At least two days each week I sleep until I wake up, meaning no alarm and nowhere to be in the morning. Sleep is one of my holy habits. According to James Bryan Smith’s Good & Beautiful God, ‘sleep is an act of surrender.’ “The number one enemy of Christian spiritual formation today is exhaustion. We are living beyond our means, both financially and physically.” “Sleep is a perfect example of the combination of discipline and grace.” (p 33-34)
2. A subscription to Audible helps me hone the skills necessary for effective and changing ministry. Not only is it good for listening to books, but there is a whole list of classes included in The Great Courses and free-on-Audible books. Just last month I freely listened to The 6 Habits of Growth, How to Say It: Words that Make A Difference, Pivot and Pursue It, and How to Negotiate at Work. 

I went on my Walk to Emmaus in 2000. My walk was a tipping point for how I lived out my life as a disciple of Jesus and my calling to ministry. If I don’t set my priorities, my priorities will be set by someone and something else. There are indeed times when I have to submit to someone else setting my priorities. But I have a plan and do my very best to make my week work for me rather than the other way around.

How do you make your week work for you?

“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” Romans 12:18

Any well-planned church event is just an event unless there is intentional discipleship before and after. Effective event planning at church must serve a discipleship purpose or it’s no different than the great events planned at your kid’s local school or the local YMCA.

What if you could extend the event into something more with just a little forethought and preparation by asking more questions?

Someone asked in the staff meeting last week if the event I’d planned the following Sunday afternoon was a one-and-done. Someone else piped in and shared, “DeDe never does a one-and-done event.” I smiled. They’re right!

I’m a disciple-maker, not an event planner. Yes, I plan events, but there is intentional discipleship before and after which makes a world of difference in what is planned and how resources (what’s at hand) are stewarded.

Discipleship BEFORE might look like….

• Setting the WHY and up to THREE MEASURABLE GOALS to help the event stay within the navigational beacons and purposeful when add-ons come alongside disappointments. Story: As the Children’s Ministry Lead AND the Women’s Ministry Lead of my church, it’s important to me to bridge the high school girls into the women’s ministry and set the table to begin and deepen relationships between women of all ages and generations. When it was discovered that several of the older women decided not to go on the Women’s Retreat because, “we only want to go if there are grown women there”, the design team was disappointed. Yet, one of the goals of the retreat was to set the table for intergenerational relationships and we had to let it go. An event can’t be all things to all people all the time. Other measurable goals could include the percentage of first time participants, percentage of second step folks in attendance, setting a critical mass number for the space, number of generations in attendance, percentage of grandparents in attendance, lingering space before and after, base line for ages in attendance, anticipating trouble spots and addressing before, when to address trouble spots going forward, answering three main questions for next time, etc.
• Determine the WHERE – this helps those who are new or still finding their way around your campus. Logistics and how we communicate those logistics matters as we try to remove as many awkward-moment possibilities as possible. Logistics and spaces can make for distractions, confusion, and an awkward start. Intentional hospitality through communication, registration, personal invites, and room reservations can set a good table for discipleship. 
• Story: Last Easter there were so many families attending the Sunday morning children’s ministry Egg Scramble there were kids with families (new parents want to do everything, especially church, together as a family) opening eggs on stairs, hallways, and more rooms than I had planned. The spaces were also nearer their cars in the parking lot than the sanctuary (up one floor) to leave afterwards where we’d hoped they’d attend the second service. This year, we are moving it to a larger space, nearest the sanctuary, still adjacent to the kid’s Sunday morning check-in entrance, but critical mass will be seen and enjoyed. If there are less in attendance, it won’t look like it. If there are more in attendance the space can now accommodate them. I’ve invited the men’s ministry to offer a biscuit bar to follow the Egg Scramble to make sure the entire floor smells like bread and folks will linger hopefully to support and attend the second service.
• Story: Wonderfully Made requires the hanging of vocabulary words I would not want included or remembered for being said or hung up on the walls in our kid’s worship space. It just needs to be different, but in a location that our community knows well. Mission accomplished by moving two buildings over where the community votes, enjoys scouts, and near an outdoor playground for big kids to remember they are still little kids in lots of ways when the information gets to be too much, and it does. 
• Story: Due to a database upgrade that dropped an event, another event was approved two months prior overlapping my original event time. That’s how I discovered several of my events had been dropped in the upgrade. I pivoted my time to get the original space on the day originally promoted. Another space was offered a few days before my event due to the ‘chili smell’. Nope. Too late for all that. The space mattered for a whole host of reasons thought out last summer when the room was originally booked. Trying to navigate people to a different space in that short amount of time was not up to our standards for hospitality. It worked out just fine. 
• Story: A site visit by the Women’s Retreat design team helped us get to know one another when transportation was the church bus. Yes, we needed information about the location in order to plan the event well, but what seemed like a last-minute stop (intentionally planned) at the local coffee shop gave me a ton of information about the design team members. AND asking a member’s spouse to drive us made for lots of easy conversations of “What brought you to the church?” setting the table for learning the stories of the women leading the team. Offering next steps in discipleship for each one in the year to come is so much easier when we hear the priorities as shared by their stories. Ex: One isn’t part of a Sunday school because she “doesn’t like to bring food.” I see this design team as one of the small groups I lead for this season, so I will maximize the discipleship time as they see to the tasks BEFORE the event.

The event itself should be prepared before, during, and after as a best next step in one’s discipleship journey with what’s in your hand and who is the Lord setting before you. Want to dig a bit deeper? Check out this post.

Next week I’ll offer a few ideas for turning a one-and-done event into something more AFTER the event, thereby extending the discipleship pathway into intentional next steps.

“But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.” 1 Corinthians 14:40