Holy Week is when we remember, recall, and replay the events of Jesus’ last week on earth before His resurrection. This miracle is the basis for our Christian faith. We need these annual reminders because we are forgetful people. Well, I am.

We’ve prepared for months various faith formation experiences for the families we serve, but what about us and our family?

Gentle reminder: You are a child of God, not His employee.

The biggest Easter happened more than 2,000 years ago, so let go of some of the pressure of this weekend. Instead, read or listen to….

• Matthew 26-28 written by a tax collector dedicated to names and numbers.
• Mark 14-16 written first and closest in time to the actual, historical event.
• Luke 22-24 written by Dr. Luke to his friend Theophilus after carefully investigating everything from the beginning.
• John 13-21 written by the apostle to fill in the blanks of the other three gospels, and as the only apostle eyewitness at the cross. This same apostle who also took care of Jesus’ mother and no doubt heard story after story, account after account of Jesus’ life

We can participate in something at another church as a participant this week and not as ‘the one with keys.’  Every Christian Church has things going on. Check websites and social media. Join in without feeling guilty or disloyal. Be an encouragement to a smaller church with your attendance. Walk in a different door; walk into the awkward; meet a new friend-in-the-Lord.

I like to think that Jesus didn’t take off the Monday after Easter. He was busy for the next 50 days. There was a sense of urgency. I attend CPC in January, but learning in April is like getting a B-12 shot to build my endurance for the intense and program-heavy summer months. These are on my calendar:
* She Leads Church is a free, online 2-day event of women serving in faith-based organizations presenting resources in TEDtalk like online teachings April 11-12, 2024. Online works if you can’t adjust your schedule to in-person. Register for free here.  
* KidMin Leadership Gathering is a 1-day Atlanta-area in-person event dedicated to digital discipleship, family discipleship, and personal discipleship led by three dedicated women of faith in the trenches of local church discipleship happening on Friday, April 19, 9am-3pm. Vanessa Myers, Brittany Nelson, and Joy Canupp will pour into you and your team. I took away so many ideas and resources when I attended last year’s KLG that I want everyone to go through it. Filled with content and hands-on practical ideas to love families to Jesus of all ages and stages is what this team does best and I’m here for it all day, every day. I’m hosting this in-person event because, like church, gathering in community is the best, most impactful of all teaching because the relationship piece is necessary to grow as a disciple-maker. Register today here.

As children of God, we’re worth it. Will you join me in making this Holy Week meaningful for you, too?

“After He said this, He showed them His hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.” John 20:20

We’ve been in our new worship spaces for two weeks, and I’ve already found my favorite spot to sit. Most people do. It’s been my experience that wherever you sit the first time in a worship space, that’s usually where you end up sitting again. It’s not long before it becomes ‘your’ seat. But, let’s get back to the point.

To be honest, I don’t really sit much during the worship service. I stand. I greet, I smile, I hover. I’ll write notes to the kid next to me on the paper covering the table. I might even play a game of hangman with one of the older kids, using the name of our church or something the pastor just said. 

That’s what happens at the tables set aside for littles on the side of our worship space.

Some churches call it a prayground. A prayground is a special area within a worship space where children of all ages and stages can participate in the service in developmentally appropriate ways. The tables are set to keep them engaged and involved in what’s happening around them. This kid-friendly space is an accommodation no different than a hearing aid or wheelchair ramp to include all ages of our church family. 

We’ve set up four tables, two tables placed together to make two squares. The tables are covered in brown paper. An artistic kid’s champion paints a welcome message on the center of each set of tables each week. On top of the tables are  buckets of clipboards, washable markers, and alphabots available each week. Depending on the service message or sermon series, there may be other special items added along the way.

But these tables are not just for kids. They’re for everyone.

Children learn best through repetition and ritual. They also understand and remember things better when they have something to do with their hands. If their hands are busy, their minds are calm…and learning.

This space rolls out the red carpet of welcome to new parents (1) unlikely to drop off their most precious with strangers-now-but-may-be-family-later, (2) unlikely to leave their little in a room with others who may be sick, (3) uncertain about safety and security protocols, or (4)  just want to stay with their kids and enjoy sharing worship together. This has been a culture shift for quite some time now.

With colorful chairs discovered when we closed on the property, the kid’s tables catch the attention of littles and bigs as they enter.  There are plenty of chairs for the bigs of a family to sit nearby or alongside, guiding children to stand, sit, pray, and participate in the service together.  

Children find plenty to see, hear, touch, and sometimes taste, all that is involved in the worship of our Great God. They pick up the language of worship, the customs of gathering as Christians, and fully join in to encourage one another, just as the Bible teaches in Hebrews 10:24-25 to ‘spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another- and all the more as you see the Day approaching.’

In addition to the prayground aka kid’s tables, we also have a nursery for preschoolers and younger littles with activities specifically tailored to their age group, all focused on Jesus. We’re trying out different curriculums to align with what the older kids are learning, based on our denomination’s doctrine, a biblical worldview, and including apologetics. 

How do you welcome littles with bigs into your family worship?

So grateful were we to be welcomed by the local Funeral Home chapel for the last 16 weeks. We knew it was temporary yet had no idea for how long. Their hospitality was generous and loving. Youth met in the room where they could eat with tables and chairs, adult classes merged to fit in available spaces, children met on the floor and still used modpodge, sharpies, paint, and wet glue without a slip. The only expectation was that the Spirit of the Lord was in the place and among His people.

He certainly was!

Just this week we gathered to worship our Great God on a 15-acre campus with a new sign out front.

Within the last nine days papers have been signed, walls have been painted, ceiling tiles have been replaced, squirrel’s nests discovered, and even with backordered chairs and tables, we gathered to worship our Great God.

Pipe and drape defined space, youth had their regular donuts, the coffee was hot, holy communion was served, the tech team were heroes, children were painting rocks for the Holy Week Walk with Jesus Tour, and the nursery was full. The sun was shining, and the parking lot was in overflow. Laity formed teams of security, maintenance, custodial, landscaping, with project managers and an ever-growing punch list.

A huge, beautiful flower arrangement was gifted by the folks from the church across the street who shared they had been driving around the campus praying for us for weeks leading up to the closing. A dear kidmin friend delivered Amazon blessings of paint, scissors, glue sticks, pipe cleaners, beads, googly eyes and other craft supplies for little people to creatively respond to the Good News of Jesus.

The humble generosity of God’s people has been overwhelming.

Some of the stories….

• On the first Sunday four women chose to humbly receive littles in the nursery as their worship.
• Youth wrote their names on a banner with their new name as their worship.
• Young adults served all over campus as their worship.
• Bushes and lawn-care for nine days was their worship.
• Crosses on walls were tended and painted as worship.
• A grandma searched the consignments, cleaned, and boxed potato heads, Lincoln logs, Lego bricks, and Duplo blocks for littles starting from a sacred scratch as worship.
• Boxes were built for monitors, new light bulbs were hung, windows were framed, light fixtures were cleaned as worship.
• Prayer partners were vacuuming, dusting, dumping, laughing, loading, unloading, greeting, shopping, disinfecting, draping, setting, sitting, painting, wiping, praying as worship.
• Senior saints had chairs in classrooms while camp chairs were brought in by other adult small groups as worship.
• Dozens of donuts and Poptarts (thanks for popping in on our first Sunday) were donated by a kind couple as worship.
• Littles built a fort of sticks and pine straw in the woods on campus during the afternoon new member class as their worship because there are fifteen acres to explore.
• Smooth swings and a picnic table were home for families on a playground to linger after services as worship.
• Multiple multigenerational families are traveling over an hour for this, their worship.
• A prayground space of tables for elementary (and youth) with markers, Alphabots, and connecting straws is a sacred space in the worship center for children to move and remain engaged in worship.
• Six wagons of children’s and nursery supplies were moved from one building to another then returned as worship.
• The Good News of a humble sacrifice of praise was shared through word, song, and actions including the blowing of a shofar was worship.

We have scheduled our first church potluck next week. Kingdom work of tablelife and prayer throughout the campus. The youth are exploring this week with dozens of mini-Jesus figurines to be found just about everywhere on Wednesday night. New ministries and other-than-Sunday-or-Wednesday programming have graciously agreed to wait until April to ‘come in the house’ to get our legs under us for rhythms and scheduling. 

In full transparency the spiritual warfare is thick. Of course it is. It’s to be expected when bold, new things are started.

Thank you, Lord, for a great sense of humor. Thank you, Lord, for the joy that comes every morning. Thank you, Lord, for growing my perseverance muscles. Thank you, Lord, for the example of Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Esther, and Jesus’ brother James. Oh, brother James!

I put on the armor of James Chapter 1 every day. I sing “I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart” when I answer the phone. There’s a 6-foot cardboard cutout of Jesus in the corner of my office to make me smile alongside pictures of my family of bigs and littles who call to laugh and remind me that the Lord is good, and His mercies endure forever.

And the strong disciples who share and lead this journey are the best of God’s people faithful in prayer, skill, talent, preparation, and encouragement. I’d go to the fiery furnace with them any day, every day, all day.

Thank you, Lord!

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.” James 1:17-18

Intentionally Multigenerational is one of our core values. We intentionally set the table(s) to connect every age group, at least three generations, in discipleship and worship faith formation experiences. Souper Starry Night is one of those church-wide gatherings friendly for all ages and stages.

Folks signed up to bring hot soups in crockpots, moon pies, chips, and water bottles. They also signed up if they wanted to play an instrument/sing, serve on the parking team (directing before and after), staging team (decor and take down), music team, dinner team (receive and set out), trash team (bag it and take it), and assist in the star activity stations.

With sharpies at the front of the serving line, folks wrote their names on large styrofoam cups (bowls are much too cumbersome to carry around and chat) and kept their original cup for refills. I confess I went through the soup line twice. So yummy!

Music selection was background music then songs co-led by the kids with full participation by the kids-at-heart from old VBS music like Waves of Mercy to classics such as I’ve Got Peace Like a River to I’ll Fly Away. It was the perfect time for a guitar-playing Jesus guy to play in public for the very first time coached on by our fantastic Worship Coordinator.

With COMMUNITY in our name, we’ll continue to meet and gather in public spaces and outdoors as often as possible. Souper Starry was hosted by a saint with a huge piece of land and a creek flowing in the back. The building had a roof and two out of four sides which used to house an RV, I think. A gracious gift of ‘what’s in my hand’. She’ll be getting a gift card and flowers when I return later this week to pick up my Solo Fire Pit which was WAY too hot to transport.

Star stations were spread out from the party barn to the creek:
Station #1 – Bag
Write your name on a bag with the sharpie.
Use this bag to collect all your goodies from each station.
Psalm 148:3 “Praise Him, sun and moon; praise Him, all you shining stars.”

Station #2 – Tapple
Play a game of Tapple with others at the table.
Category: Things in the sky
Genesis 1:16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.

Station #3 – Prayer
Pick up a gold star.
As you hold the star in your hand, pray outloud…..
S – Say
“Dear Lord….”
T – Thank
“Thank you Lord for (name 3 people & why)
A – Adore
“You are a great God who put the stars in the sky to give us light in the night. Thank you for being so kind and wise.”
R – Remember
“Lord, help to remember you in the morning, during the day, at night, when I’m alone, when I’m afraid, when I am sad, and when I am happy. Lord, help me to remember you are with me always.”
You can keep the gold star.

Station #4 – Family
Write the name of all of your family (or draw a picture) thanking God for each one.
Using the clothespin, clip each star to the celebration frame.
You are part of the Macland Community Church family!
Choose an ornament painted by MacKids and hang it somewhere at home to remember to pray for your church, ‘cuz your church is praying for you!
Exodus 32:13  “Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever,” Moses said.

Station #5 – Draw
Connect the dots to draw a star.
Revelation 22:16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”

Station #6 – Count
Guess how many marshmallow stars are in the container?
Place a star sticker on the paper and write the number you think are in the container.
Psalm 147:4 “He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.”
(At the end of the night, whoever came closest without going over received a box of Moon Pies, which turned out to be a lovely high schooler.)

Schedule:
3:30pm-5:30pm Staging
5:30-6:15pm Soup dinner & Star activity stations
6pm Fire pit ready for marshmallows
6:15-6:45pm Music & message
6:45pm Lingering
7pm Cleanup begins

Souper Starry Night was the perfect way to rest and laugh a bit after the first couple of intense days of preparing a new space we closed on just three days prior. We have six more days of multigenerational hands-on labor to do before our first official worship service. Though, I really believe that anything we do joyfully that tells Jesus, “I LOVE YOU!”, even cleaning bathrooms and pressure washing sidewalks, is worship. 

What does intentionally multigenerational look like in your local church?

Psalm 148:3 “Praise Him, sun and moon; praise Him, all you shining stars.”

For decades mid-to-large size churches here in North Georgia thrived in silos. I even served under a senior pastor who boasted he was the ‘King of the Silos’. 

The Business Dictionary defines a silo as “a mindset present when certain departments or sectors do not wish to share information with others in the same company. This type of mentality will reduce efficiency in the overall operation, reduce morale, and may contribute to the demise of a productive company culture.”

Organizational “silos” is the term given to departments or ministries within your church that have a tendency to protect themselves, hoard and maintain resources for their own projects, and to place their own goals ahead of the larger vision of the church. Unseminary, Feb. 2024

I’m sure no local church started out that way, but here we are.

Local churches are finding greater effectiveness by prioritizing smaller, more intimate groups sharing and collaborating for gospel effectiveness. A Family Ministry Team of areas previously siloed can be the answer to equipping the core believers while leaving seats open for new disciples and updated ideas. Working together we can streamline generational discipleship milestones, faith formation educational experiences, congregational care led by laity, parent equipping through coaching and small groups, filling family holes, and families serving alongside families.

This week we’ll be gathering the leaders of previously siloed ministries along with their wingmen/second chairs at a local restaurant to get the ball rolling. We’ll start with a ‘shout out’ for someone or something which filled our buckets over the last week then begin discussing systems and processes for….

1. Communication & marketing – All church things are good, but what is the best use of resources of time, space, assets, and people by calendar seasons? With our history, we have a great number of faithful servants who have led ministries and missions passionately where many came from. What will it take to navigate not becoming a 2.0 simply because we’ve always done it that way leaving space for a modern and courageous reimagination? One way is to begin with clearly stated goals of the item/event and how it will line up within the navigational beacons of the church vision. Let’s follow that by discussing how we can bridge multiple areas, like three or more, to bump up the effectiveness before, during, and after the event/idea. Yeah, we’re gonna talk about that. 
2. Facility usage and reserving spaces – With ‘community’ in our name, we’ll be pushing to continue to meet and celebrate God’s goodness and faithfulness in public spaces. Yes, it is easier to reserve a room at church, but what if instead of frying the bacon for a men’s breakfast in the church kitchen, we instead went for breakfast at the local donut shop, bread bakery, or biscuit place to support a local business and witness boldly? Maybe instead of gathering inside, what pivot can be invited to put it outside? Yeah, we’re gonna talk about that.
3. Calendaring – One of the great joys of starting something new is there should be no sacred cows over the calendar. We can share faith formation events by the quarter and edit to excellence the sharing of all of the members of the church family. Yeah, we’re gonna talk about that.

Family Ministry is not just coordinating events for all kinds of families, but rather setting the table so that everyone comes and goes away experiencing what it feels like, looks like, sounds like, smells like, and even tastes like (potluck, anyone?) to be part of a healthy family of faith. No matter what stage or age we gather, may we learn to set a family table for all in public places where the name of Jesus just rolls off our tongues in everyday conversation.

Carey Neuhoff wrote recently about 7 Church Trends That Will Disrupt 2024. He notes that the Boomers haven’t prioritized church life with the post-pandemic return. The slow coffee Sunday morning is just too comfortable. The oldest Millennials turn 43 this year and are not the least bit interested in Christian-lite nor an overproduced stage. The youngest Millennials and GenXers (think 27yo) are all-in when it comes to community and looking to follow Jesus with great passion with their whole heart and head. How will we set the Family Ministry table for all? Who will model that? Yeah, we’re gonna talk about that.

“Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you.” Proverbs 4:25

As a local church staff member, I’ve been fortunate to come across several organizations that have greatly supported me during and since the challenging quarantine season of 2020. These include Church Communications, Women in Apologetics, Theology Mom, She Leads Church, Carey Nieuwhof, and the Vanderbloemen Search Group. Through their blogs, podcasts, and resources, I’ve gained wonderful insights that continue to shape my approach to effectively serving in the local church.

The resources provided by Vanderbloemen Search Group were especially helpful with salary and benefits resources for not only executive church leaders, but also those of us serving in professional ministry as lay persons. Sharing the results of financially supporting professional laity were life changing for many around the country who were hiring, who were deciding to stay or go, who were deciding to reorganize, and who were advocating for equitable compensation for ministry with children and families professionals especially before and during the Great Resignation.

William Vanderbloemen has authored several books. I was downright delighted and inspired by his latest, Be the Unicorn: 12 Data-Driven Habits that Separate the Best Leaders from the Rest (HarperCollins Leadership, 2023). I’ve read the book and listened to it twice on Audible. The stories and suggestions of how to improve and practice the twelve habits were encouraging and well-defined no matter where you stand on the ladder of the faith-based organization you serve. These are the soft skills that I agree are absolutely necessary to build a healthy, effective, growing organization.

Want to be unusually effective, aka a unicorn, as a member of your staff for the cause of Christ? These are MY interpretations of how I can up my habits and skills as a team player on an effective church staff:

1. The Fast – I’ve been riding learning curves like a driver on the Atlanta Motor Speedway over the last four months: new database, new email/communication platforms, new public office, and new spaces. We’re running like wild horses, so I better be able to keep up ‘cuz I’m not missing a thing. Some have been intuitive (spaces, adaptability, relationships, planning). Some have not (databases, new email/communications platforms, etc.) So thankful for Youtube and the prayers of ‘Lord, let Your priorities reign today.’
2. The Authentic – It’s helpful to be real upfront, ready to apologize, ready to celebrate others, and live as a child of God among other real children of God.
3. The Agile – Kidmin folk are pivot professionals: the service goes long, the service finishes early, servant leaders call out, the folks higher on the planning chain edit events up to the day before. We have Plan A through Plan G for Easter Sunday and Christmas Eve and all along the way.
4. The Solver – This is the habit I’ve found easiest to live out because planning far enough in advance leaves the most margin for problem solving. Be the one who doesn’t come with the problem unless there are several ways to solve it while keeping the goals at the forefront. There is no room for the grumbler or complainer here.
5. The Anticipator – Not talking about being a prophet here, but someone able to consider all the possibilities for effectiveness and the most effectiveness. Want to be fruitful or REALLY fruitful. It’s a focused attention on the logistics, systems, and processes from the parking lot and back to the parking lot. My preschool teacher days were great training in this.
6. The Prepared – I’ve never been one to shoot from the hip. I admire those who can deliver a message, a children’s moment, and even a public prayer without some preparation. Does preparation look like packing the car on Saturday rather than waiting until Sunday morning? Does preparation look like reading the church-wide study a couple months ahead of time? Does preparation look like having a 2-year calendar? Does preparation look like meal prep if I’m pulling a 14-hour day? 
7. The Self-Aware – This is what I know about me: I tend to interrupt (I get excited!); I tend to stay until the last person leaves (FOMO maybe?); I tend to make 5 stops on the way to the 1 place I really need to go (the big grands have already called me out on this one); I’m loud (thanks, Dad!); my conflict management style is accommodation (usually good for everybody but me); my working genius is galvanizing (the natural gift of rallying, inspiring, and organizing others to take action…my operative word being ‘organizing’) and invention (just give me the navigational beacons to stay within and I can figure it out; creating original and novel ideas and solutions); I’m no Bible scholar, but I am a satisfied customer of the scriptures.
8. The Curious – I LOVE learning! I work on my questions outnumbering my statements.
9. The Connected – NOW we’re talking. I can only think of one day where I have ever over-peopled. Holy guacamole anyone?
10. The Likable – Nothing like a Facebook birthdays to make a person feel likable. If I lose my joy, I lose my impact.
11. The Productive – I want to talk about Jesus, my family, and my local church family all the time. All. The. Time. Lord, let me stay faithful to be more about the Lord of the work and not only the work of the Lord.
12. The Purpose-Driven – Do you know your purpose? This!

Another quick article about becoming a unicorn employee can be found here.

If you have the opportunity to access Vanderbloemen’s book, whether through Audible or in print, I highly recommend it as a valuable resource for personal and professional growth. Its insights offer practical steps for anyone seeking to enhance their leadership and effectiveness in ministry. If you get the IRL book, be ready to read it then pass it on. This is not the kind of content that needs to stay on a shelf.

I know of a few habits I’m going to work on this year to build into my daily routine because I want to be a unicorn for Jesus.

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” Colossians 3:23
“No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs – he wants to please his commanding officer.” 2 Timothy 2:4
“…and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:44-45

This is how one of our pastors, Rev. Judy Stevenson, describes the speed of the Holy Spirit leading our new church plant. We should be exhausted, but I just can’t explain the energy that comes from gathering every single Sunday and all the times in-between. Let me share just a few stories….

How we started: A team of lay prayer warriors faithfully gathered over the last several years on Wednesday nights asking, surrendering, submitting, grieving, celebrating, listening to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Lord, let Your will be done.
Now: A team of lay and clergy prayer warriors continue to faithfully gather every Wednesday night alongside 33 prayer partner teams praying in-person weekly for each other as individual disciples, for our new local church to stay within the Holy Spirit’s navigational beacons, for our amazingly talented leadership team to lead in unity and without fear, and for our denominational leadership to stay the course no matter the hardships and distractions. The Christian community around the world is cheering us on as we courageously start and follow this new awakening of faith and revival.

How we started: Due to the great generosity of a local funeral home, we’ve been offered spaces every Sunday morning, and other times as previously scheduled, for business meetings and special worship services such as Christmas Eve since Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023. The Sunday morning immediately following the Saturday afternoon the super majority were denied disaffiliation, folks gathered for small groups at 9:30am, then picked up their little people going directly to the funeral home across the street to celebrate God’s goodness and His faithfulness as a new congregation at 11am. Because a small group had prepared and talked through multiple scenarios, they even provided a paper bulletin in less than 12 hours. Because there were no inherited spaces nor culture, we started from a sacred scratch and the excitement is contagious.
Now: We have teams for hospitality, greeting before and after services, security, a fantastic database, keeping ministry safe policies implemented, cleanup routines, livestream, blended worship services, 33 prayer partner teams, the overflow room (pray-ground) is overflowing every week, usher teams, teaching teams, a volunteer coordinator, we break into song and prayers aloud at business meetings, we prayer nap our pastors before worship (even the Bishop last Sunday!), operate a nursery with leaders and a servant rotation, and the youth have the only spaces permitting food so they can enjoy donuts on Sunday morning. We gratefully submit to the ask of no food anywhere else which is why serving our first Holy Communion as a church happened at Campfire Christmas, a family worship event in 40 degree weather in a barn before our new pastoral team was secured. The first time our pastors served Holy Communion on a Sunday morning, we served and received it outside with ice in the juice ‘cuz it was 12 degrees.

How we started: Only current leaders who were compliant with Safe Sanctuary over the last year serving children, youth, and vulnerable adults could continue to serve in those capacities.
Now: The Global Methodist Church, has partnered with Ministry Safe to provide free, professional, online training along with documents and sample policies acceptable to our insurance company to roll out for all. We pay only for background checks which are offered at a deep discount as an example of the Global Methodist Church’s commitment to keeping ministry safe.

How we started: Because spaces are limited, we quickly outgrew our youth space. The 1.5-2 hour midweek gathering for youth would also need to adjust as the numbers kept growing.
Now: Since all the adult Sunday morning small groups graciously agreed to study The Class Meeting (it was the most Wesleyan thing we could do to prepare us for the common language necessary to move forward as a new body devoted to transformation), three classes received high school youth as members of their classes for the 8 weeks of the study. High school students were assigned in their friend groups yet not to classes where their parents/grandparents were. The wins: Multigenerational practices reminded previously formed groups how to receive new members well; Multigenerational practices showed our high schoolers that working through our faith through sanctification is a life-long process (adults don’t have it all together, yet modeling we are better together in Christian community); common language; new relationships and deeper multigenerational relationships. After the 8 weeks, the high schoolers will return to the youth space on Sunday morning which will be one week before moving into our new, permanent location. For the adults and the youth who fully participated there is already more interest, respect, honor, in sharing life in a multigenerational Body of Christ. Handing over the keys to younger leadership, interest, and input will be so much smoother because of fully submitting to this process of making new friends in the Lord. Everyone had already done the most awkward thing ever by leaving their home-church and starting another. Feelings abounded, yet the Holy Spirit provided this platform for a more rapid chance of sharing voices, perspectives, dreams, and developing trust. 

A generous family opened their home for the mid-week youth gatherings, so we tightened the time to 1 hour (so this family didn’t have people in their home for HOURS every Wednesday night with food set up/clean up and more and we wouldn’t overstay our welcome) and I’m meeting at the coffee shop around the corner with parent(s) wishing to chat and read/discuss scripture at the exact same time. This coffee shop time has offered a platform for parents to share their dreams of what a new youth group experience could look like since we are starting from a sacred scratch in all areas. We’ve booked some local mission trips this summer through SAMs (Sunday Afternoon Missions) and a week at Smoky Mountain Outreach with our new pastors leading the trip. Did I mention that before our new pastors served Holy Communion to our congregation on a Sunday, they served the youth first on the Wednesday prior? We may not be as shiny or able to do everything, but our leadership has made it clear by repeated word and deed that our youth are a priority and a multigenerational Body of Christ is the goal. The youth leaders? They are solid disciples of Jesus. The organizational structure of these lay leaders devoted to ministry with youth includes multiple layers of communication.

How we started: The best advertising is a t-shirt so a local friend with a Cricut machine and an Amazon account prepared swag to give to our new pastors and several of us who ‘office’ in public spaces. 
Now: An apparel design company I’ve been doing business with over the last 18 months has opened up an online store for us just this week to order t-shirts, pullovers for littles and bigs. This way we don’t have to unwisely purchase an unknown amount of product blindly. A simple design and they are taking on the money part since we’re just getting started. Everyone looks good in navy blue.

What we’re working on now…

• Branding logo to tell our story, identify who we are, and stir a curiosity to know more. 
• Multi-shared space allocations moving from the gracious funeral home chapel to a permanent location nearby.
• Laity-led ministry and mission navigated and coached through a lay-volunteer coordinator.
• Still learning all the ins and outs of a new and useful database.
• Designing a youth Confirmation Cohort for the fall. 
• Just found out that two men have been travelling to South Georgia to participate in the inaugural class of GMC lay speaking classes.
• Five New Member Classes to make clear what church membership is and what it is not in spaces shared by a nearby GMC.
• Training for multiple new Class Meetings all over the community, because COMMUNITY is in our name.
• Though a permanent location has been arranged within 102 days between the first worship service at the funeral home to the current closing date of the new space, we will further navigate a consistent presence in public, community spaces for worship, service, office, etc.
• This week is Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day. Since we rented a local subdivision clubhouse for the day for $75 to offer an imposition of ashes service at 7am, we’re offering a drop-in time for all ages and stages in the afternoon from 2:30-6pm with painting, prayer, and activity stations to celebrate Lent and God’s unfailing love. Ashes will also be offered midday with a short service at a local antique mall, then at the funeral home that evening. May we be marked as Christ’s all day, every day, in community.

As of this writing, we’ve been worshipping and serving together for 87 days including the worship service at 5pm the evening of the special conference. The Lord made clear our marching orders. May we be found faithful to tell the stories as His gathered and redeemed. (Psalm 107:2-3)

“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14

The power of words is why I earned a degree from LSU in Political Science with a minor in Greek & Roman History. Political Science is the study of how people organize and govern themselves. They organize and govern themselves by words and the people who deliver the most compelling words and ideas. The minor in Greek & Roman History was less planned, but a great byproduct of taking all four years of Latin and some art history classes. For me it was all about the history which supported and defined the art.

These are some of the word phrases which organize my serving in ministry with children and families. I’m likely to repeat these phrases out loud or in my head just about every day.

“Go big or go home.” I think this comes from my wondering if the Lord would refer to me as lukewarm (Revelation. 3:16). I want to be committed, joyfully all-in ‘cuz if I lose my joy, I lose my impact. If I get it wrong, tomorrow is another day. I may shoot some bullets before lobbing cannonballs (Good to Great by Jim Collins), but I’m in it and I keep my eyes on the goals set. I don’t even have to win, but I’m all in.

“If it’s good for kids, it’s good for everybody.” This goes along with, “When our hands are busy, our minds are calm.” Sitting still may be necessary, but it’s a challenge for littles and for me. So much so that I stay in the overflow room of our church where I have plenty of stuff for holding onto so littles can listen and be ‘in the room where it happens.’ Things like squishy Jesus, magnet-tiles, sticker books, and connecting sticks. I keep thinking putty in my clutch.

“Go with what you know and not with how you feel.” With the world bowing down to feelings everywhere I turn, I find greater peace in going with what I know. When I feel alone, I know the Lord is with me. When I feel unheard, I know the Lord hears me. When I feel unsure, I know the Lord is greater than how I could mess Him up. When I feel angry, I know the battle is the Lord’s. When I feel hurt and disappointed, I know the Lord will ‘work all things for good for those who love Him’ and MAN do I love Him. He is trustworthy. My feelings are not. Willy-nilly is not a fruit of the Spirit.

“Do for one what I wish I could do for a hundred.” Relationships matter and they grow with time, margin, and a kind or wise word shared. Balloons, a random watermelon, a confetti cannon, a gift card, homemade soup, Crumbl cookies, a Sugarwish email.

“Faith formation experiences should be developmentally appropriate and sticky.” Last Sunday our pastor led us in a teaching about loving one another extravagantly from 1 John. For the children’s moment I used a Rice Krispie Treat to show just as the melted marshmallow connects Rice Krispies, God’s love connects and binds us one to another.

“Always be asking, ‘What’s in my hand?'” After serving the littles and bigs of multiple local churches, I can confidently say that the Lord indeed gives every church everything and everybody each church needs to reach the community it serves. What could be in my hand? People with skills like power tools, woodworking, lawn care, car care, etc. can lead littles and bigs to new skills to serve people and the Lord. Got a parking lot? Leave out nice, new orange cones for the teens to learn to drive and parallel park. Can read? Then a baked cake mix with frosting can be delivered to a single or a neighbor with an invite to Easter services. The best curriculum is the one delivered by the one who can tell the personal stories of God’s goodness and faithfulness with a consistent ministry of presence. Lord, you did it for him, do it for me. It’s less about WHAT and all about WHO with a good work ethic and a spirit of YES. Look at everything the Lord’s provided and let your mind go wild for how what’s in your hand can be used to build up the Body of Christ and serve the community as lights in the darkness and partners.

“Church on Sunday starts on Saturday.” We have an enemy whose sole purpose is to keep us from worshipping the Lord. If our worship services were on Thursdays, the devil would make it hard to go then, too. Knowing this upfront means I’m making the decision and plans on Saturday to get to gathering together to pray, play, serve, sing, sign, learn, and worship with other Christians on Sunday. If I’m teaching or leading on Sunday? Then that Sunday started the Monday prior, at the latest.

A personal liturgy is a plan of aligning words to so order our lives. Words matter because people organize their lives according to the words we tell ourselves. What are you telling yourself today?

“Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a word aptly spoken.” Proverbs 25:11

Imagine putting in a full Sunday, two of us traveling three hours to meet two more, a Buccee’s stop, rescuing four more off the Florida turnpike when Auto Zone tells us an alternator is going out, another one helps pick up three, while four wait an hour later for AAA to arrive in a min-van, then meeting five more at an AirBnB. It was CPC week and we were ready for anything.

CPC is Children’s Pastors Conference sponsored by INCM (International Network of Children Ministers). Each January kidmin friends from all over North Georgia and one from Ohio gather to celebrate God’s goodness in worship, learn of His equipping saints in breakouts, participate in coaching, spend hours in the resource center, debrief over tables and in the hallways, along with hundreds of others around the globe who love littles and their bigs to Jesus. Several of us have been discipling and sharing life for decades.

What comes from the stage is for us as disciples. What comes from breakouts is for us as disciple-makers. What comes from the prayer stations is between us and our great God. What comes from waiting in line and a character breakfast on Monday before registration is the sharing of faith formation experiences we’ve all done in the last year: what worked, what didn’t, what happened, what’s the fruit, what can we share with one another, the goals, and if we would do it again. What comes from joining focus groups for new resources is new friends and time to explore upcoming resources for our families. What comes from being in the company of these amazing disciple-makers is the desire to stay.

As Beth Guckenberger shared this language from the stage, these kidmin warriors are my favorite stayers. We gather to set upright our spines of steel. We gather to remind one another of the rock from which we were hewn. We glean from one another to fill one another’s tank of hudzpah: extreme self-confidence and audacity for Jesus.

Hudzpah in the trenches of the local church He’s called each of us to serve. Telling littles and their bigs that God made them, Jesus loves them, and the Holy Spirit is their constant, present, helper when they say YES to Jesus.

As a fellow trainer, I so appreciate the breakout presenters who have prayed and gathered and prepared their very best to pour into us as if their words are a drink offering unto the Lord. The breakouts I attended focused on spiritual warfare, unique family ministry events that are true ‘all-skates’, relationship-driven large group tips, the guest experience for all, ministry with less than thirty kids, and setting the stage for families to celebrate Jesus through family rituals and traditions. All were fantastic and exactly what they said they’d be, but the ‘ministry with less than thirty kids’ brought me to tears and still chokes me up when I talk about it.

In the resource center, this year we were on the lookout for apologetic curricula resources for both elementary and preschool. For the next three months we’ll be test driving a different one each month until we decide which is best for our theology and developmentally appropriateness.

I had conversations with my housemates, one who just graduated from seminary, about the differences between a program and a ministry debriefing a breakout she attended. Another table discussion was about transitioning the goals of traditional VBS to multiple more effective models of programming to better suit the current trend of limited volunteers and the rhythm of a family’s seasonal schedule. Yet another was a conversation with kidmin around the country navigating the tension between content (the immediate; the basis on which we’re evaluated) and relationships (over time; what we may not see until we arrive in Glory).

The theme was UNCOMMON. The Lord continues drawing me to the word PECULIAR. CPC24 proved again to be the catalyst for more effective training, authentic relationships, shared vocabulary, creative inspiration, and beginning a year of peculiar and uncommon faith formation experiences for littles and bigs so they learn and choose to follow Jesus with their whole heart for their whole lives. I’m here for it. All day. Every day. I’ve already gotten my ticket for next year. Have you?

As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. Proverbs 27:17

Nothing can stir up spiritual warfare like building and growing a spirit-filled body of believers who will make disciples of Jesus Christ who worship passionately, love extravagantly, and witness boldly. Having been in the trenches of fruitful ministry, spiritual warfare is a guarantee. I know what it looks like, smells like, feels like, tastes like, and acts like. It’s godly people doing, saying, and responding in ungodly ways.

Beth Guckenburger shared at a 2024 CPC breakout that we don’t have to wait around for the enemy to make his move. We can indeed throw the first punch. Those first punches look like being wrapped in God’s word, fellowship with grounded believers, rest (anyone else respond badly when exhausted, or is it just me?), passionate worship in community, and especially prayer in the name of Jesus.

In prayer we make our declarations of what we know to be true and in prayer we can declare the enemy has no authority here. 

We are throwing the first punch and I’m bringing my Jesus guys and gals with me by creating a team of Prayer Partners among the new church I serve for the season of January through the end of June. We began inviting ladies high school age and older to be partnered with another lady for prayer. The men asked to be included. We have high schoolers through senior saints.

This is the email sent with expectations along with the prayer partners names and contact info:

Thank you for joining the Macland Community Church Prayer Partner Team and committing through the end of June to:
(1)    Pray with one another weekly by phone call, text, email, or in person, and
(2)    Pray for Macland Community Church (prayer prompts will be emailed each week), and
(3)    Agree at some point in the next six months to serve alongside one another at some event/opportunity sponsored by or representing our new church. Ex: We have several prayer team members serving this week as judges for a local elementary school’s writing fair and science fair.
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” 1 Peter 2:9-10

The weekly prayer prompts will be inspired by Rachel Jones’ 5 Things To Pray For Your Church: Prayers That Change Things For The Life Of Your Church published by The Good Book Company. The Good Book Company has a wonderful selection of little books to equip God’s people to pray for a suffering friend, your spouse, your parents, your city and so much more. I also love their children’s resources as they are filled with multi-cultural illustrations and simply written doctrine. 

Our pastors also suggested several phone-ready digital resources:

The Wake Up Call podcast/email – for this gal who listens to podcasts at a speed of 1.6, this is perfect to listen to while taking care of morning stuff. J.D.Walt even sings to you.

Lectio 365 app – this one offers a slower pace for both a morning and an evening time praying the scriptures.

A new church plant with many relationships just starting out, the Lord will most certainly grow these amazing folks closer to Him and closer to one another in the next six months through prayer. This is a high expectation ask and folks knew when they signed up the commitment they were making. Also this week: the first Faith Milestone: I Can Pray for families with 1st and 2nd graders. All this prayer….because we are in an old story and what we do right now will make a difference in 100 years. (Beth Guckenberger)

I remember receiving a note from a Jesus gal I admired when we served alongside one another for a season on a Walk to Emmaus many years ago. ‘May you be ruined for the mediocre things in life.’ 

Just ruined.

The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord even the demons submit to us in your name.” Jesus replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.” Luke 10:17-20