Each of my children’s birthdays involves the typical cake, gift, and balloons. I also story tell recalling the day each was born. Their birth is such a part of my life story, my faith story, and my family story that I’m thrilled to stroll down those memory lanes. Even our grandchildren love hearing the stories of the day they were born because their mothers are warriors, their dads are super heroes, and one was born on the side of the road during rush hour traffic making international news.

My friend Glenys Nellist has actually published a children’s book celebrating the birth of her eldest child entitled The Wonder That Is You, illustrated by Aurelie Blanz. This book is beautiful and a wonderful gift for any new mom or grandmother. The rhyme is tender and the images are delightfully soft, diverse, and colorful.

One of my favorite things to do with the grands is to read aloud. Thankfully, Glenys has also just published Snuggle Time Fall Blessings. Her rhyming is simple and oh so playful for little ones. I read aloud to our Children’s Church students at the end of each Sunday and her prayer books are some of our favorites. Glenys has written five board books of rhyming Snuggle Time Blessings.

Fall Fun!
On a windy, crisp fall day,
Leaves race down the street.
Orange, red, and yellow,
Falling at my feet.
We stomp and crunch and kick them
And swish them as we run.
Thank you, God, for autumn.
It’s really so much fun!

Reading children’s books in church is a favorite time of each Sunday with our students. Thank you, Glenys, for continuing to pen some delightful ones.

What are you reading?

“Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story.” Psalm 107:2

Horst Schulze is the co-founder of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. I’ve been a student of his teachings about hospitality, service, and organizational science from the beginning of my call into professional ministry. Drawn to the hotel industry as a young teenager, he has practiced and consulted with organizations for improvement his entire career. He’s practical and shares how to lead rather than manage. His new book, Excellence Wins: A No-Nonsense Guide to Becoming the Best in a World of Compromise, puts this wisdom in one place.

With stories of successes and failures, Schulze shares the art of constant improvement by asking questions, trusting staff to be excellent, responding to the comments of many rather than one, and measurements that matter. His pursuit of excellence in the hospitality industry is based on his mantra of ‘training ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen.’ We in the local church are equipping followers of Jesus in service to equip new followers of Jesus. I can relate.

On page 202, he asks, “Well, do you want to stay alive, or not?” Of course, we do. I don’t want to only survive from Sunday to Sunday, but rather thrive in the details that can make ministry with children a place of excellence.  I know what I FEEL like, but I can’t trust my feelings. I think every Sunday is fabulous! Yet further down the page, he makes the statement, “You won’t accomplish what you don’t measure.”

“Measurement is how we determine the gap between where we think we are and where we actually are.” (pg 188) Here are just a few metrics to consider:
• Attendance (comparing year to year, season to season, girls/boys, etc.)
• Volunteer retention from year to year (VBS, Sunday morning team, special events, etc.)
• Attendance of volunteer leaders at continuing education opportunities
• Percentage of children attending compared to congregation worship numbers
• First connection + 1; Second connection +1 (when a family/child comes in by one area then gets connected to another over a specific period of time)
• If t-shirts are part of the promoting of the ministry, how often am I seeing those t-shirts being worn? (I was thrilled to see tshirt worn in a collage of family pictures on their Christmas card. Every time I see anyone wearing one, I make a positive comment.)
• Percentage of children who have aged out coming back to serve on a consistent basis (taking on places of leadership to learn to lead and build relationships with the littles coming up behind them)
• Percentage of guests returning
• Children engaging in sacred conversations as well as moving away from responding in a critical and/or contrary way
• Individual growth as expressed through anecdotal examples from parents and children

Other prompts for thoughts and worthy of discussion from the book include…
• “Tell me what ‘being the best’ means to you.” (pg 113)
• “The more a staff interacts, talking to each other and supporting one another, the more smoothly the operation goes.” (pg 133)
• “The organization you want is the one with energy and initiative, even joy.” (Pg 170)
• “Actually to be the ‘best’ of anything is not the same as being ‘excellent.’ You can be better than all your competitors and still have a gap to deal with when it comes to achieving excellence. Excellence is what secures your future.” (pg 208)
• “Whether I’m interacting with an employee, a customer, an investor, or even a competitor, I am aware that this person is one of the ‘others’ Jesus had in mind when He gave the Golden Rule about treating them as I would want to be treated.” (pg 218)

“Finally, brothers and sisters…if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things.” Philippians 4:8

Families with rising kindergartners are in shock. They are shocked their baby is old enough for school, may be riding a bus, and will be spending a long day away. These amazing families are wondering who their little one will sit by, have lunch with, and play with on the playground. We want to make this milestone a smooth one on Sunday morning especially if their kindergartner will be transitioning from the nursery into Children’s Ministry.

In the local church where I serve, I’m responsible for kindergarten through fifth grade. Moving from the nursery into a more formal Sunday school setting involves many more children and movement among spaces. The best way for this transition to be smooth for parents and children is to offer the Faith Milestone: I Can Go To Sunday School. This Faith Milestone takes place the week before Promotion Sunday, immediately after all Sunday services. It’s calm, quiet, and everything is still set up.

We meet in the Children’s Welcome Center since that is where they will begin and end their Sunday experience from this point on. We introduce the family to the self-check in kiosks and explain the security stickers/tags because Nursery has been manned-check in. Their amazing Sunday School teachers are present and introduce themselves.

We walk through a Sunday morning by moving first to their Sunday school room for small groups and the large group worship space. The children walk on the stage and touch things that are new. Parents and families are in-tow. We walk to the bathrooms and the water fountain, then return to the Sunday school room and sit at a chair and circle up to sing a song.

We return to the Children’s Welcome Center for the end of Sunday school, and then ring the bell which lets them know we are gathering to move to the Sanctuary for big church. We enter the Sanctuary just like we would if they stayed for Children’s Church and sit in the front pews. We look around us and talk about what we see and hear. We chat. We stand up for singing and we move to where we’d sit for the Children’s Moment, then walk as we would be dismissed on a Sunday morning returning to the Children’s Welcome Center for water and snack.

This precious time ends in prayer and with two gifts:
1. A 5×7 paper-framed picture of Jesus for each child (and any siblings who attend), and
2. A copy of “Little Steps Big Faith: How the Science of Early Childhood Development Can Help You Grow Your Child’s Faith” by Dawn Rundman for parents

How do you help families transition from the Nursery to Sunday school?

“When your child learns that church is a place where they are embraced by members of the whole body of Christ who love them dearly, they can make deeper associations with God’s tender love for them.” – Dawn Rundman from Little Steps Big Faith

It’s Preschool Staff training season and these are my roots. I started my career in professional Christian Education in weekday ministry as a preschool teacher, then a preschool director. When I’m invited to present it’s usually for the cause of encouraging preschool staff to love their kids to Jesus as they teach colors, fine motor skills, pre-math skills and play well.

An easy way to share the love of Jesus and the power of His word with children and their families is to add scripture to artwork. As a preschool teacher every single piece of paper or communication included scripture. Nothing left my classroom without scripture. I learned to use a concordance well because this is the stuff that makes the refrigerator, the magnet board, and becomes the framed art hung on the walls of children’s homes.

This is a list of bible verses I used to add a little ‘something’ to artwork and other communication from my preschool classroom:

A Acorn They will be called oaks of righteousness. Isaiah 61:3
Apple A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver. Proverbs 25:11
Keep me as the apple of the eye. Psalm 17:8a
B Bear Bear witness to God’s love.
Bear the image of the heavenly. 1 Corinthians 15:49
Bird A bird of the air may carry your words. Ecclesiastes 10:20
Body I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 139:14
C Cloud He makes the clouds His chariot and rides on the wings of the wind. Psalm 104:3
The cloud of the Lord was upon them by day. Numbers 10:34
He spread a cloud for a covering. Psalm 105:39
D Delight thyself also in the Lord. Psalm 37:4
Door The Lord has opened a door. 2 Corinthians 2:12
Behold I stand at the door and knock. Revelation 3:20
Dino Look at the behemoth, which I made along with you. Job 40:15-19
His back has rows of shields…His snorting throws out flashes of light. Job 41:15-33
Nothing on earth is his equal – a creature without fear. Job 41:34
E Egg Is there any taste in the white of an egg? Job 6:6b
As one gathered eggs that are let, have I gathered all the earth. Isaiah 10:14
Excellent How excellent is thy lovingkindness. Psalm 36:7a
F Fish “Come follow me,” Jesus said, ‘And I will make you fishers of men.” Matthew 4:19
Flower Like a flower of the field. Psalm 103:15
Feet How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news. Romans 10:15
G Good Good news gives health. Proverbs 15:30
The Lord is good to all. Psalm 145:9
Gifts We have different gifts. Romans 12:6
Garden The Lord God planted a garden in Eden. Genesis 2:8
H Heart God is the strength of my heart. Psalm 73:26
Hair Even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Matthew 10:30
Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Luke 12:7
Honey Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones. Proverbs 16:24
I I I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13
I will be with you always. Matthew 28:20
J Joy Always pray with joy. Philippians 1:4
Jesus You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. Luke 2:12
K Kings Yea, all kings shall fall down before Him: all nations shall serve Him. Psalm 72:11
All kings of the earth shall praise thee, O Lord, when they hear the words of thy mouth. Psalm 138:4
L Little Let the little children come to me. Matthew 19:14
Light God is light. In Him there is no darkness at all. 1 John 1:5
Lips The lips of the wise spread knowledge. Proverbs 15:7
Lemon Their drink is sour. Hosea 4:18a
M Mirror Look to the Lord. Psalm 105:4
Music The Lord is my strength and my song. Isaiah 12:2
Me How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! Psalm 139:17
N Noodle soup I am warm. Isaiah 44:16
Nest That thou should make thy nest as high as the eagle. Jeremiah 49:16
Night God called the night day, and the darkness He called night. Genesis 1:5
O Ocean I stood upon the sand of the sea. Revelation 13:1
The sand is upon the seashore. Genesis 22:17
P Peace The Lord blesses His people with peace. Psalm 29:11
Be at peace with each other. Mark 9:50
Pray Pray to the Lord. Jeremiah 29:7
Pumpkin Offer unto God thanksgiving. Psalm 50:14a
For in the days of old, there were songs of praise and thanksgiving. Nehemiah 12:46
Q Quiet Study to be quiet and to work with you own hands. 1 Thessalonians 4:11
He will quiet you with His love. Zephaniah 3:17
In quietness and trust is your strength. Isaiah 30:15
R Rock The Lord is my rock, my fortress. 2 Samuel 22:2
He is my rock. Psalm 92:15
Right The Lord is right and true. Psalm 33:4
S Salt You are the salt of the earth. Matthew 5:13
Sun The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another, and the stars another. 1 Corinthians 15:41
Spider The spider taketh hold with her hands. Proverbs 30:28
T Trust Trust in the Lord forever. Isaiah 26:4
Tree The pine, the fir, and the cypress together. Isaiah 60:13
Then all of the trees of the forest will sing. Psalm 96:12
Birds of every kind will net in it; they will find shelter in the shade of its branches. Ezekiel 17:23
U Upper He will show you a large upper room. Mark 14:15
Umbrella The rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. Genesis 7:12
I will give you rain in due season. Leviticus 26:4
The Lord send rain upon the earth. 1 Kings 17:14
V Valentines A cheerful heart is good medicine. Proverbs 17:22
Blessed are the pure in heart. Matthew 5:8
The Lord searches every heart. 1 Chronicles 28:9
W Worm God prepared a worm. Jonah 4:7
X Excellent How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! Psalm 36:7
Let them praise the name of the Lord; for His name alone is excellent. Psalm 148:13
O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth. Psalm 8:9
Y Yellow The yellow gold of the land is good. Genesis 2:12
The streets of Heaven are pure yellow gold. Revelation 21:21
Z Zoo And all the wild animals play nearby. Job 40:20
Shapes:
Circle It is He that sitteth upon the circle of the earth. Isaiah 40:22
Square All the doors and posts were square. 1 Kings 7:5
Rectangle They went upon their four sides. Ezekiel 1:17
Triangle The great city was divided into three parts. Revelation 16:19
Oval Walk and go round about her. Psalm 48:12
Lift up thine eyes round about and see. Isaiah 60:4
Heart My heart is steadfast O God. Psalm 108:1
Star Celebrate and be glad. Luke 15:32
Star differs from star in splendor. 1 Corinthians 15:41

How else can you share scripture with your families?

“My word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:11

We serve a God of celebration. One of the first things God did when he led His people out of Egyptian slavery and into the Promised Land was give them days and times of celebration. Times to stop the ‘every day’ or UR (usual routine) to celebrate God’s goodness, to launch into a new season, get a do-over, and even refresh for the next season.

Promotion Sunday is a great way to celebrate the end of the summer and acknowledge the natural rhythm of your community when school starts. It builds energy as you invite your families to gather at church. We celebrate Promotion Sunday on the Sunday after the local school system begins. On Promotion Sunday our team of servant leaders prepare themselves to teach and lead, and our children move up to the next age-level with fanfare. It’s a big deal! A theme helps that. We are inviting families to STEP UP TO THE PLATE on Promotion Sunday 2019.

Marketing information:
• McEachern Kids is ready to STEP UP TO THE PLATE. Come on by The Treehouse as we are ready to help you and your family start the school year and knock it out of the park!
• Promotion Sunday will be on Sunday, August 4 when McEachern Kids will move up to their new classes and meet their new teachers. Wear your Braves gear as we all STEP UP TO THE PLATE to follow Jesus! Come to the Pep-Rally in The Treehouse to meet your new teachers and be escorted to your new classrooms.

Our creative team has prepared a photo space and we’ve ordered foam fingers and pompoms for the children to help with the visual aspect of the festivities for the pep rally. We’ll have huge bowls of Cracker Jacks and mini Tootsie Pops to hand out for take-aways. The youth department is selling tickets to the Atlanta Braves game at 1:20pm that day after church. The adult Christian education department will be setting up displays of ‘next step’ opportunities in discipleship as they, too, STEP UP TO THE PLATE.

Every child will get an information packet which will include a family survey, registration form to update information, a new school-year ParentCalendar (2019-20) with all the dates of anything outside of Sunday morning, and a layout for what is the next step in discipleship for each age level. We want to keep our families informed of what is offered for their child at each stage of their development. It shows our intentionality and gives them a heads-up on what their church has chosen to be the priority and investment in our partnership to love their kids to Jesus.

Rising 1st Graders

Rising 2^nd Graders

Rising 3^rd Graders

Rising 4^th Graders

Rising 5^th Graders

How do you celebrate this milestone of a new school year?

“If God is clear about one thing, it’s this: What is good, true, right, and just will last. Everything else won’t.” Maria Goff from Love Lives Here: Finding What You Need in a World Telling You What You Want, pg 166

Summer is the perfect time to offer something special to families to have fun, to make new friends, and to have some sticky church memories. We invited every little girl who had completed kindergarten through completed 5th grade to bring their mother, grandmother, significant woman in their lives for some paint and praise. Here’s what we did.

Promotion in bulletin and through social media: All little girls (completed K5-5th grade) are invited to bring their Mom to share in some paint and praise.
Thursday, July 18, 7-8:30pm
This is not a drop-off event, but a shared big girl/little girl event in Oaks Hall. Register today at ….

A fabulous elementary school art teacher of 40+ years prepared the space with an amazing team of teachers and dear youth. We prepared trail mix and fruit water of lemon and oranges. Mrs. Glover guided our gals to use brushes and paints like professionals. We prayed, we hummed, we followed along, and some decided to do something a little different.

Mrs. Glover shared testimony of her relationship with her mother who is now in Heaven and her daughter who is serving in the mission field in Asia having just graduated from college. She spoke of her teaching past students who were in the room as well as how much she enjoys teaching worship art to our 4th & 5th graders in Sunday school every other month (awesome plug to come back for Sunday school!)

The supplies were an investment as we will indeed do this again. I thought of doing the pizza-box-converted-into-an-easel trick, but I had four other special happenings that week and I knew my limitations.  Here is our supply list beyond the light refreshments, wet-wipes, paper towels, cups of water, and such:
Easels
Brushes
Canvases  (11X14)
Paints

We listened to praise music in the background thanks to a long-play YouTube channel coming through the room speakers. We charged $5 per person and registered everyone online.  This gives me data to use in promoting other events during the school year like encouraging parents to ‘step up to the plate’ on Promotion Sunday to make Christian education a family priority. One mom asked if we could do this around the holidays. Another posted about it on her well-known weekly blog. Many a little girl spent time with her mom away from laundry, away from other distractions, and we didn’t really see any cell phones until the end to take pictures of their masterpieces together.

Last month we offered a Big Guy-Little Guy Nerf Games with a total of 22 big guys and 23 little guys. Close to 50% were boys who had only attended Vacation Bible School and/or Recreation Ministry. The Paint & Praise Party had 25 little girls and 24 moms. Close to 30% were little girls who had only attended Vacation Bible School and/or Recreation Ministry. We could have made this a church-wide endeavor, but the little girls would have been lost. The goal was to let the girls spend some time with their moms while meeting and growing in relationship with other mom-girl teams. That’s how tribes are built. Summer is the perfect time.

“Whatever your goal is for the summer, be intentional with it.” Becky Kiser, from Sacred Holidays: Less Chaos, More Jesus, pg. 88

The email last April gave the staff and specific laity a week to complete a space audit. By definition, an audit is an official inspection of an organization’s or individual’s accounts typically by an independent body. What brought this on was a lack of dedicated space for our ministry to youth whose previous space was given to a new worship service. Rather than just finding space, the entire campus underwent this amazing endeavor.

Each ministry lead was asked to answer inquiries in three parts:
Part 1: Current Utilization
A. Name or identify the area(s) currently used by your ministry area.
B. Identify the schedule(s) of your current ministries, per areas identified in 1-A.
C. Identify the maximum and minimum number of people using the spaces in 1-A.
Part 2: Projected Future Space Needs of Your Ministry Area
A. Do you anticipate that your ministry will need more, less or the same space in five years?
B. If you identified “more” space, what area(s)might be ideal to accommodate the growth?
Part 3: Your Professional Opinion
In your professional opinion, are there spaces/areas (whether within your ministry area, or not) that are currently underutilized and/or need to be reconfigured to better accommodate the church’s overall ministry effectiveness – current and future?

Once everything was submitted, the trustees enlisted the help of professional organizers beginning in May to evaluate all of the space including storage. Everyone was instructed to clean out their spaces and at least three huge dumpsters were set up in the parking lot to take all the debris.

This was awesome and took great courage. Every church has things lingering in the corners, under the stage, and above the closets. There are sacred cows that moo from the last century. I recall the tongue lashing I endured for removing a brown cotton banner from a stairwell at a previous church I served. This banner hung from a stick, had children’s hand prints from the 1970s and was probably a white sheet to begin with. Anybody else with similar experiences?

Negotiations have begun for the cleaned-out spaces through the professional organizers which is genius because we all know how that could go if initiated by staff. We have laughed a lot through this process because I discovered there were two storage areas in another building that belonged to children’s ministry. I had no idea! (I’ve been here two years on August 1st.) There was also a great workroom that was not claimed by any ministry because three ministries thought it belonged to the others. Ha! We ended up getting that space. How did we know? It was the one area that was not cleaned out after all the dumpsters left.

In the process, we’ve lost space, gained space, gained storage, and made a classroom out of another ministry’s storage space. It’s the only room we do not share. Yep, we share space. We share with weekday preschool ministry, recreation ministry, nursery ministry, and worship ministry. Using space and sharing space is what we do. You probably do, too. Yet if feels so much lighter, just like it feels when you might clean out the garage, the basement, or that closet upstairs that no one opens anymore.

Would your church benefit from a space audit? Ours has!

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

Preparing for a new school year in the local church is like celebrating New Year’s Day. It’s a new year of planning, recruiting, vision-sharing, and hopefully more laughs than tears. If you’ve already reached out last spring to those who were on your team last February/March, you are a huge step ahead. If you’ve got your school year calendar ready for publishing by mid July, you are a great gift to your families. If you’ve been editing your excel worksheet of everyone who has EVER served on your children’s ministry team with those who have done ANYTHING this summer, you are ready for the ask.

What’s the ask? Would you prayerfully consider serving on the Children’s Ministry Team this school year? Be sure to add to your email/letter celebrations of how the Lord is growing the ministry and a few teasers of what is new and updated. Everyone loves the energy that comes from starting something new. Be sure to add new parents/grand parents of kids to your excel worksheet/database of potential champions who’ve become involved over the last year. People get involved in a local church because they WANT to get connected. Invite them!

“As we prayerfully prepare a new school year for McEachern Kids, I hope you’ll consider coming to a free training dinner on Wednesday, July 17 5:30pm-7pm in room #F147.  We’ll TACO-bout the many different opportunities to serve Jesus on the McEachern Kids team. This is for you if you’re all in, if you want to get more connected, and even if you’re just curious and unsure of making the commitment.” There’s the ASK and the INVITE to TACO-bout it. We will use Moe’s Southwest Grill to cater a taco bar and mustaches for everyone!

Promotion Sunday for us is the first Sunday AFTER school starts, so we’re on a mission in July to champion ministry with children like a Dallas Cheerleader without the uniform…with joy, in every conversation, with personal stories, and an elevator pitch.

Prepare an email to go out after July 4th. I include a Parent Calendar for the upcoming year. The calendar is the greatest challenge of having it ready and prepared to share by mid July, but so worth it. With our calendar in the hands of the parents first, our parents have gone to task with the PTA and their kid’s schools to change their dates and it’s worked! Print several hard copies of the email and the calendar to hand out to folks you see on Sunday mornings or who the Lord brings to your mind. Pray, “Lord, who?” then act on it. Don’t argue with your Holy Spirit. Know that you’ll have to coach and do it well and often. Prepare for the ask. It’s what we’ve been called to do, invited to do, hired to do, and expected to do well. If this has you hyperventilating, order a copy of Sustainable Children’s Ministry. A blog post of this amazing resource can be found here. If you serve in North Georgia (or can get here), come to the Children’s Ministry Institute this fall so you won’t be hyperventilating next year.We’ll cover this exercise at the last meeting. You can do this!

Want a copy of our email and calendar sent just last night? Email me directly at dedereilly@comcast.net.

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10

It is an ugly, awful, terribly misguided myth that churches can’t grow during the summer. Don’t listen to it. Don’t buy into it. Don’t settle for it. Summer is the perfect time to try new things, change up each week, and be so invitational it makes your hospitality team wonder where you came from.

It’s not just about VBS week, but the weekend after and every day until fall programming starts. I know of too many churches offering amazing Vacation Bible Schools as ‘outreaches’ yet plan nothing special to offer afterward to continue to build relationships, connections, and faith-formation experiences beyond a laid-back Sunday morning. We put in all that work, all those resources, and we’ve dropped the ball. We take a summer break. We think since most people are gone during the summer, we just can’t pull it off. I’m not gone. Are you gone?

Think about it. Reserving space is easier in the summer. Using shared space is easier in the summer since preschool, recreation leagues, and even some Sunday school classes take the summer off. Smaller groups of kids thrive in relationship-building during the summer. Summer is a great time to teach and lead new volunteers and leaders into a glimpse of how your Sunday morning team works and its logistical systems. Summer is the perfect time to get to know your volunteers better, hang out by the Gaga Ball pit, playground, and make friends with folks new to the church and community.

This is why we use incentives to recruit our summer Sunday morning volunteers who take over so the regular school-year servant leaders rest and refresh with ‘first 10 to signup get a logo-ed tervis tumbler’ and ‘free ticket to the ice cream truck coming on campus after services on National Ice Cream Day (July 21).’ This is why we offer Faith Field Trips for small groups of students to learn about Jesus, share in an outdoor experience with other kids their ages, and partner with other local churches in our districts. This is why we offered summer events like Nerf Wars and the upcoming Paint & Praise Party which helps us ‘fuel a warm community’ (from Growing Young, by Kara Powell, Jake Mulder, and Brad Griffin). This is why we celebrate each Sunday as a special Sunday in June and July.

Flipping Church is a book of amazing stories of Wesleyan church planters who have collaboratively broken the rules and fought the battle of church myths, struggles and successes for the called to share the gospel in multiple contexts. In it, Rev. Olu Brown, pastor of Atlanta’s Impact Church, affirms this challenge to the local church to ‘become known as the church of summer excellence.’

How do we pull that off? Rev. Brown writes, “In order to grow during the summer months, each church must PLAN FOR SUCCESS in the summer.” (emphasis mine) He continues, “Truly, if you don’t do something unique and creative over the summer, the likelihood is that your congregation will go into decline in both people and money.”

Rev. Brown invites the reader to consider the following:

• Variety and innovation inspire worshipers to attend during the summer because the local church actively works to engage their attention. People have a ‘need for novelty and desire to have fun during the summer.’
• Offer incentives to encourage attendees to be more consistent and invite others to join you during the summer. It’s not about watering down the mission of the church, but rather ‘good evangelism in the 21st century.’

School begins in the Atlanta area in August. Plan for summer success in January to be the church of summer Children’s Ministry excellence. What is your local church known for in the summer?

“But those who plan what is good show love and faithfulness.” Proverbs 14:22b

With a desire to build some ministry memories for our fathers and sons, we offered a Thursday evening Big Guy-Little Guy Nerf Games event 7-8:30pm on a hot summer evening in our gym. I read every blog I could find about Nerf Games for ideas, cautions, must-haves, and lessons learned.  The little guy had to have completed K5-5th grade. The big guy could be a dad, uncle, grandfather, big brother, etc. We did not offer prizes, other than the container of red, white, and blue M&Ms for the one who came closest to guessing how many were in the container. Prizes were bragging rights. It was a hit!

Promotion: Big Guy-Little Guy Nerf Games
All little guys (completed K5-5th grade) are invited to bring a big guy. Bring your own Nerf artillery and we’ll provide the ammunition. Thursday, June 20, 7-8:30pm. This is not a drop-off event, but a shared big guy-little guy event in the gym. Register today at… $5 per big guy, $5 per little guy

Supplies:
o Bullets and Target stickers
o Blow up rocks
o Barricades – Big boxes; panels
o Bandanas & Goggles & Ammo
o Name tags
o Black half-aprons to keep and store ammo (we use these aprons all the time)
o Overturned green buckets to raise items on tables
o Face paint makeup sticks and hand mirrors
o barriers
o Turned over tables
o Signage
o Helium balloons red, white, and blue
o 5 Back-up guns from 5Below & Walmart

Setup outside the gym included a sign-in table for name tags, bandannas green or blue, safety glasses, ammo, and black half-aprons to store ammo. (We use these half-aprons for a lot of things).
Setup inside the gym included one wall of various target shooting stations, one wall with M&Ms and water stations with camo paper cups, and a corner with 30 chairs for water break and devotion. The rest of the gym was filled with barriers, balloons, random chairs, etc.

7-7:20pm Big Guy-Little Guy photo ops and target shooting
7:20-7:45pm Various games such as Protect The President, Last Little Guy Standing, Last Man Standing, Last Team Standing, Little Guys Guard Big Guys, Big Guys Guard Little Guys, Family Target Shooting Contest, etc.
7:45pm Water break with Butterfinger snack bars and devotion led by a McEachern Kids leader who used all kinds of animals calls, then spoke about Jesus calls (outstanding!)
7:50pm Various games (see above) After each game, a whistle would blow to reload and pickup ammo from the floor
8:20pm Hands-on prayer time and clean up.

Delights? Watching a grandmother and wives/mothers viewing from the upper balcony. The laughter and giggles from the boys and their big guys. This was a summer follow-up to VBS which made for the majority of attendees being new to the church. There were dads who came without guns and dads who came with duffel bags full of them. We will definitely do this again. A colleague is planning to borrow our goodies for Veterans Day with a Veteran from her church to offer the devotion.

“He was a mighty hunter before the Lord.” Genesis 10:9