My husband claims that I can name a movie title under 5 seconds or even with a passing glance walking through the living room. I love the movies. Tuesday nights are “Stimulus Tuesdays” at the local theater, so I invite my new daughter-in-law often and head to the cheap show when finances and time permit. It has been particularly wonderful that more and more movies are coming out with biblical topics.

I had the chance to see a pre-screening of Courageous, Facing the Giants, The Lost Medallion, even The Passion of the Christ. Just last week I was invited to a pre-screening to see Heaven Is For Real. It comes out across the country on the Wednesday of Holy Week. Our Tweener Saints Book Club chose the book for this month’s reading. My kids are already talking about it. The Youth Director and I are planning to have a Good Friday event for 3rd graders and higher to watch the movie, walk back to the church, and dive into the scriptures as a followup.

It thrills me to hear the conversations that get started as a result of these movies.    I can’t make movies.  I can’t publish books.  I can’t write screenplays.  But I can support anything that encourages conversations about the scriptures.  Our family watches  The 10 Commandments every Palm Sunday and each year I take a day (it takes me that long to get through it) during Lent to watch The Passion of the Christ.

After a fellow Christian blogger posted his thoughts about a pre-screening of a similar movie this week, some of his blog followers started tearing the movie apart.  It broke my heart.  I will not slam those who have access to such influence because their interpretation of the Holy Writ may be different than mine.  I recall reading multiple negative comments from my own Christian community about The Bible mini-series.  Frankly, I kinda liked the idea that the angels that came to deal with Sodom and Gommorah in the mini-series looked like ninjas.  I won’t publicly criticize the efforts of those who offer me and others the opportunity to pull out our Bibles and have meaningful discussion because the biblical topic wasn’t dealt with “completely,” or over a character’s costume, or…or…whatever.

I will spend my money to show my support so that more and more movies come out relating to Jesus.  And I will bring my kids out to go instead of waiting until it comes out on dvd.  This is a perfect way to grow their discernment muscles.  I will act and speak with joy that the testimony of our Christian community can be one of unity.  It breaks my heart when we turn on one another.  What kind of testimony is that to the lost and the hurting?  Lord, please remove any critical spirit in me.

In James Bryan Smith’s The Good and Beautiful Community, he writes, “It is misguided to think that we Christians are always going to agree on every issue.  Accepting our differences is imperative, but they are not grounds for division.  The true narrative, I believe, goes something like this:  If you do not look, act, worship, or believe as I do, but your heart beats in love for Jesus, then regardless of our differences, we can and must have fellowship with one another.”  I would add that because a movie is not “spot on,” doesn’t mean I have to place it in the same bin as those that have nothing at all to do with Jesus or biblical topics.  It’s hard enough to find entertainment that is clean.  Need it be biblically perfect?  I don’t think so.  I am no bible scholar, only a satisfied customer of the scriptures.

There are other movies coming out that I want to see with my kids and my family of faith:  Noah with Russell Crowe, Son of God, and Mom’s Night Out.  And I hope they keep on coming.

“In essentials, unity; in doubtful matters, liberty; in all things, charity.” – Saint Augustine

It’s been almost a month since I and several of my colleagues attended CPC East in Orlando. There are still 3 orange bags, 2 boxes, and 3 tables (yes, furniture) that are along the wall in our kitchen filled with goodies that were shared, won, gifted, or gleaned; all resources to further our cause to minister with children.

We go down a day or so early to catch up with friends in the Lord and glean from one another our challenges, and celebrations over the last year. We laugh, we take notes from each other, and we eat. This year we even chose to have afternoon tea at the Grand Floridian. We spoke of the power of modeling level 5 leadership, purchasing science materials from Steve Spangler, and using Blessing Balm (chapstick) on the back of a child’s hand to offer a weekly blessing at the end of class.

Pre-Conference focused on self-care with Beth Guckenberger, author of Reckless Faith. My personal summary: God has an adventure for me and my kids, and if I can extract the precious from the worthless, then I can be His spokesperson. (Jeremiah 15:19) There is nothing I can do that can take me out of the game; no story He can’t redeem, and He does make all things new. Moses was 80+ years old when he walked up and down a 6,000 ft mountain repeatedly to bring others to the summit. The whole bible is filled with COME and GO.  We come to the Lord, but then forget to go back into the chaos to escort others into the Kingdom.  We forget that God has more than just my chapter in His hands.

These are my personal summaries of CPC 2014:

I can still lead when I am limping.  Just as in the story of the 10 lepers, all were healed.  Only one came back.  Only one was thankful.  That one was made whole. – Harvey Carey

Story is king.  If you work with kids, you have to tell a good story with a character changing into something better (redemption.) – Matthew Luhn

Joseph embodies the young person we want our kids to be.  There is no greater challenge for kids and adults than to decide where wisdom comes from.  It comes from God (2 Corinthians 5:17.) Ministry with children includes a focus on respect, wisdom, and grace.  Grace is the greatest social skill we can teach little people. – Larry Fowler

Have I built in space in our teaching schedule to celebrate? – Dawn Heckert

When grace becomes touchable it becomes costly.  An abstract grace has that new car smell.  Touchable grace smells like dirty diapers and vomit.  Every orphan’s story begins with a tragedy. – Jedd Medefind

Why network and collaborate with others?  Even on my worst day, I could be someone’s best hope. – Craig Johnson

There are many who serve children in the world in ministry who have nothing but a call on their lives.  Advancing Native Missions helps to filter those global missions that are safe and legit. – Bo Barredo, Alex Mitala, Joji Barredo.  The UMC community has ministry around the world and if it’s water scarcity, hunger, or orphanages that tweek our hearts, we can go to Advance UMC.com to find a place and a people to support in partnership with the United Methodist Church.

The rest of my notes include: What 10 scriptures do I want my kids to know before they go to youth?; I’m paying WAY too much for Sunday School curriculum; great large group games and illusions (magic tricks) to practice for object lessons; some local scarcity opportunities to take my kids to this summer as day trips; and a recipe for a fabulous Broccoli Cheese Cornbread.

Children’s Pastor’s Conference 2015 is in Chattanooga, TN.  The purchase of my discounted ticket was approved by text.  And I am so grateful.  Attending this conference is like drinking from a fire hose, so I made sure to send a Mickey Mouse postcard to my Staff-Parish Relations Committee thanking them for investing in me and our ministry with children.  I hope you’ll join us next year!

Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance. – Proverbs 1:5

We typically have small numbers during the Sunday School hour the last Sunday of the year. I also wanted to give our regular, faithful Sunday School leader servants some precious time off. Upon deciding to gather all the ages together, even inviting the youth, we made a way to claim our homes for Jesus in 2014.

Arrival Activity: Draw a picture of your house; Make a model of your house with playdoh or clay.  (Students are greeted in their regular classroom spaces to make it easier to receive guests and they move to a larger space after 10 minutes.)

We talked about Jesus’ homes (heaven, stable, cave, heaven) and his beds (manger). We shared about our homes and our beds. We talked about our favorite rooms in our houses. We talked about what we do in each room.

When we believe that Jesus is a gift from God who died for the sins of the whole world, God sends a helper to us, the Holy Spirit, to live inside of us to show us the way to please God and share God’s love to help others.  WE are the house of the Holy Spirit.

The Bible says one more important thing about houses. It says that Jesus is preparing a house for each one of us is Heaven! He says that one day, we can all live forever with Him there in that perfect, wonderful place! (Luke 1:31-33; John 6:38-40; John 14:1-3)

ASK: Where do you live? (My house) Where in your house do you spend the most time? What is your favorite room in the house?

In the book of Deuteronomy 6:5, God directed His people (are we also God’s people?, so can this apply to us?) He said…
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at HOME and when you walk along the road, when you lie down, and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.

Where do you SIT AT HOME?
Where do you WALK ALONG THE ROAD?
Where do you LIE DOWN?
When do you GET UP?

We brainstorm some creative ways to bless our homes using our sight (hang artwork that honors God), sounds (speak prayers out loud – there is power in the spoken word), touch (physically lay hands on the walls, chairs, carpeting, etc.), smell (light a scented candle or bring an open orange).

Activity:  Wrap crosses with wire and beads to be artwork to hang in your home that honors God.

Personal Testimony:  I would pray through my kid’s rooms often when they were growing up, especially in middle school.  When we purchased a new home, my Emmaus Reunion group came to pray through the house from my son’s bedroom (he asked if it could be the starting place) out to our mailbox on the street.  When #1 Son moved into his new place after graduation from college, he asked if I’d come to pray through it, as well.

We prepared a pamphlet with short prayers that apply to each room of the house and we read some of those prayers together, out loud holding onto our crosses.  If anyone reading this blog would like an electronic copy of the prayers, email me at dedereilly@comcast.net and I’d be happy to share in a Word document.

One of the youth shared how she’d just gotten the acceptance letter she’d been waiting for from the college of her first choice.  She shared how she plans to pray through her home now and her dorm next fall.

Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”  John 13:17

When the matriarch of the Bull family passed away in the 1990s, my cousins came upon some great discoveries. One was a chest-of-drawers with the top drawer filled with quarters, the second drawer filled with dimes, the third drawer with nickels, and the bottom drawer with buttons. I have no idea what happened to the top three drawers, but my Virginia cousins sent the buttons to me.

Teaching weekday preschool at my local church, buttons were a hot commodity and a great addition to my classroom. My cousins also sent to me a box of Sunday School pictures of Jesus that I treasure and hung on the walls in my classroom.

After many years in the weekday preschool classroom, I had to step out of teaching every day because of some medical issues with my vocal chords. I gave away most of my classroom supplies to help some new teachers and kept a few things for workshop visuals. But I was in a quandary of what to do with the buttons since I did not want to pack them away in the basement. I really wanted a way to enjoy them.

So, discovering some wire among my craft supplies, I started to string them and made 18-24 inch strings of these beautiful buttons. A lot of them. And we hang them on our Christmas tree every year.

My Grandma Bull married late, had 5 children, and raised them all on a dairy farm, hence my LOVE for cheese. She wasted nothing. Before she would discard a shirt, blouse, or other piece of clothing, she’d snip the button off just in case she needed it. Over the course of all those years, she snipped buttons from her husband’s Merchant Marine uniforms, church dresses from two little girls who chased their precocious older brothers, and work shirts of her three sons to make future repairs.

I really have no idea who wore what, when, how, or where. But each year, as we hang this precious garland, I think of my Aunt Weegie, Uncle John, Aunt Mary Anna, Uncle Eddie, and my Daddy. I recall the stories they told about each other around the tables after meals. I remember the loud voices (we do loud extremely well), the competitions, and the laughter (if we talk loud, imagine the decibel level of the laughter). And I praise God for time, words, and the stories that have shaped my perspective, given me a history, and prepared me for connection.

In Playing for Keeps: What You Do This Week Matters, Reggie Joiner and Kristen Ivey wrote, “Stories matter…they provide kids with the relational, cultural, and spiritual context to shape their perspectives about God, Faith, Values, and Life…Stories are just another one of God’s brilliant ideas to connect us to what really matters.”

Each Christmas, Grandma Bull’s buttons give me the energy and momentum annually to be sure I share family stories with my kids…the ones I gave birth to and the ones I serve.

“Sing to Him; sing praise to Him; tell about all His wonderful works!”  1 Chronicles 16:9

There is a great used bookstore just outside of Chattanooga, Tennessee named “McKays.” I learned about them when we needed to stock a new weekday preschool with developmentally appropriate books and the classic favorites of preschool teachers. We would make an annual pilgrimage exchanging our own “read that, give it back” boxes of used books.

A few years back, I picked up Walk the Talk’s Leadership Secrets of Santa Claus:  How To Get Big Things Done In YOUR Workshop All Year Long. The small paperback, published in 2003, was filled with some funny insights. I came across it just the other day and thought it seasonally appropriate.

If we can all agree that one of Santa’s biggest challenges is the dance between Santa the MANAGER and Santa the LEADER, we can understand the following practical strategies outlined with truth and humor.  My comments as it relates to local church leadership follow in italics.

Build a wonderful workshop:  Focus on your people as well as your purpose…In church world, it’s about building relationships.  The quickest way to build relationships is to share in experiences whether they be in mission, service, worship, special event help, sharing in the remarkable moments of life, or just working the room regularly with joy and encouragement.

Choose your reindeer wisely:  Hire tough so you can manage easily…I want the best for my kids.  Whether a Sunday School teacher, a permanent sub, a small group leader, a CLUB345 chef, even setting the altar shouldn’t be done by volunteers, but sold-out followers of Jesus in the local church.  And if the ones serving are not yet the best, we can give them the encouragement and tools to grow from where they are to be the best they can be.  

Make the list and check it twice:  Make the most of what you have…We can whine that we don’t have enough time, money, volunteers, kids, material, equipment, talent, or expertise.  Or we can make the most of what we have.  Share your kids with other kids.  Share your resources with others who have resources who will share with you.  I don’t have to have everything to make everything available for ministry to children in my own house.  I DO have to build relationships with other children’s directors through networking.  We have a gym (we host the Winter Ball Invitational).  We have access to our sanctuary during Advent (we host Silent Night.)  A colleague has paid interns who’ll clean up anything (she hosts Messy Night).  A colleague has a beautiful stage area (she hosts a christian concert).  Another colleague can do anything in her huge fellowship hall (she hosts shared summer camps.)

Listen to the elves:  Walk awhile in their shoes…Children’s Ministry Directors are not supposed to do everything.  We are to equip and delegate.  But we can’t equip nor delegate if we don’t intentionally partner.  I know that my kid’s parents want the very best for their kids and will do anything to make it happen.  They just may do it differently than I do. I raised my kids in a different time.  (We finally purchased a computer in our house when Baby Girl was a sophomore in high school only because she was working on a project about the Vietnam War and according to our 1970 World Book Encyclopedias  the Vietnam War was still going on.)  Providing easy wins for parents is part of my job.  These parents are already harder on themselves that I could ever be.  I won’t be the one to join in the chorus of “you’re not doing enough.”  I will be their cheerleader and make them look great in their kid’s eyes.  I will provide a lot of resources and encouragement because I don’t know what’ll stick for each family.  But they will know that we’re in this together.

Get Beyond the Red Wagons:  Teach “The Business” of the business…Sharing the why we do what we do is important and it is constant.  We can do all the things other churches do, but are we really aware of what we do best?  Then capitalize on THAT.  Then promote THAT.  Then talk about THAT.  The business of the local church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ.  Period.  We can do a lot of other great things, but our marching order is to make disciples of Jesus Christ.  Have we done THAT?  Are we pre-planning for THAT in the context of what we do best? Do my folks know how and are they given opportunities to tell their story with Christ?

Share The Milk and Cookies:  Help them see the difference they make…This goes beyond volunteer recognition, which is very important.  Sharing life with my families and fellow disciples is one the best parts of what I do.  But am I allowing them to share life with me?  I can invite them to networking lunch, women’s ministry retreat or dinner event, sit with them at church, tell the stories I hear, go shopping, invite them to a concert or play, share a night with other KidMin leaders, local and not so local trainings, or even gather together to attend the Amy Grant/Vince Gill Christmas concert at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta. 

Find Out Whose Naughty and Nice:  Coach “the majority in the middle”…It’s so easy to stroke the KidMin superstars, but it’s the majority in the middle who are the backbone of the workshop, er the local church.  When we started an extremely successful, free, academic tutoring ministry just a few short weeks ago, MEN stepped into Children’s Ministry like I never expected.  I confess I didn’t recruit them. They asked if they could play.  Leaders in their vocation and (who I thought were the) non-flammable faithful who attend bible study, Sunday school, and serve on church committees.  Building relationships with these folks by spending a year in the adult choir and at least one season a year in adult bible study, as well as working the room at special events and making myself available and approachable on Sunday mornings made for a very safe and easy opportunity for these guys to see me and say, “Hey, what if I…”

Be Good for Goodness Sake:  Set the example…One of the most pivotal questions asked by a wise pastor from the pulpit of this reformed pew sitter, “If everyone in the church was just like you, what kind of church would we be?”  Good grief!  I had some catching up to do.  I have counted on Christ.  He is also counting on me.  Setting the example of service, worship, belonging, community, healing, accountability, joy, teaching, telling, setting healthy boundaries, helping is a result of just how much work the Savior has done in me,  around me, and for me. Let me never forget from where He has brought me.  Let me never forget my salvation wasn’t just for me.

My “wilding-out” buddy, who also happens to be a Director of Children’s Ministry, gave me some of the biggest Gingerbread Men I’ve ever seen from B.J.s. And wanting to do something special for Sunday School on the Sunday after New Year’s Day, decorating these mack-daddys were perfect! Even the smaller ones come in a box of 8, can be found at WalMart of Big Lots, and work just as well. Lay them out on an oval paper plate and be ready with 1 gallon or 2 gallon Ziploc bag to send them home at the end of the lesson.

This is the lesson basics of what we’ll do. Depending on the age range in the classroom, I wanted to be prepared with several scriptures to choose from. We’ll have “circle time/large group time” with the singing and using our bibles. Then let loose with the decorating. I’ll ask more specific comprehension questions as they’re working on their Gingerbread men and I work the room. It should be sweet!

Sing: O Be Careful Little Eyes What You See
O Be Careful, Little Eyes
O be careful little eyes what you see
O be careful little eyes what you see
There’s a Father up above
And He’s looking down in love
So, be careful little eyes what you see

O be careful little ears what you hear
O be careful little ears what you hear
There’s a Father up above
And He’s looking down in love
So, be careful little ears what you hear

O be careful little hands what you do
O be careful little hands what you do
There’s a Father up above
And He’s looking down in love
So, be careful little hands what you do

O be careful little feet where you go
O be careful little feet where you go
There’s a Father up above
And He’s looking down in love
So, be careful little feet where you go

O be careful little mouth what you say
O be careful little mouth what you say
There’s a Father up above
And He’s looking down in love
So, be careful little mouth what you say

Psalm 139:14 “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.”

Eyes
Proverbs 4:25 “Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you.”
Psalm 121:1-2 “I lift up my eyes to the hills – Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.”
Psalm 119:37 “Turn my eyes away from worthless things.”
Psalm 101:3 “I will set before my eyes, no vile thing.”
Psalm 119:18 “Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.”
Pair Share: What do you consider worthless things?

Ears
Psalm 34:15 “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are attentive to their cry.”
Righteous = morally upright, without guilt or sin; in accordance with what is right
Attentive = paying close attention to something

Hands
Psalm 47:1 “Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.”
Pair Share: When do you clap?

Deuteronomy 2:7 “The Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. These 40 years the Lord your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything.”
James 2:14 “What good is it my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?
James 2:16-17 “What good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”
Pair Share: Deeds with your hands…like what? (donations, helping someone who dropped something, starting a conversation with a new kid at school or church, showing kindness no matter what)

Feet
Romans 10:15 “And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’”
The Good News = God loved us so much, He sent Jesus to show us how to live and to give His life for us so we could be forgiven for our sins. AND we are invited to be God’s people to show and tell others of God’s love and become more like Jesus everyday. Isn’t that good news?

Mouth
Psalm 54:2 “Hear my prayer, O God; listen to the words of my mouth.”
Proverbs 4:24 “Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips.”
Perversity = a deliberate desire to behave in an unreasonable or unacceptable way; contrary
Corrupt = having or showing a willingness to act dishonestly in return for money or personal gain
Psalm 34:13 “Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies.”
1 Peter 3:10 “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech.”

Send off/Closing
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own.” You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”

1 Thessalonians 5:23 “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you (verb=set apart; declare holy; dedicate to God more) completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

A colleague lent to me last June, Get Their Name: Grow Your Church by Building New Relationships authored by Bob Farr, Doug Anderson, and Kay Kotan. I’m just now getting around to reading it. I confess, because she’s asked for it back.

It’s a fantastic little book offering practical steps to sharing faith, building healthy, spiritual relationships, and growing a healthy church. Once I read, “The average UMC (United Methodist Church) member invites someone to come to church once every 38 years,” I couldn’t put the book down.

Simply put, they present evangelism in the following levels:

Elementary Evangelism is meeting new people through service…handing out water bottles, cleaning up a park, and being intentional about “adding the Good Word to your deeds.” Good deeds are merely good deeds if not sharing the why “We want to share God’s love with you because God’s love is available to everyone, including you.”

Middle School Evangelism is sharing life and faith through small groups with people you already know. Middle schoolers rarely step outside their comfort groups, but will do most anything in a small group.

High School Evangelism is sharing your faith through testimony of recent experiences for the building up of the persons around you. You want to share your story where you are safe for the sole purposes of offering hope to those listening.

College Evangelism is inviting others to worship who you do not know. In college, I recall inviting and being invited often to group gatherings and events on campus simply because we were within earshot.

The authors go on to share that until we are confident in giving testimony, most are fearful of inviting others to church. And when was the last time that testimonies were shared in the worship setting or even in the Sunday school setting? It’s been my experience that we are more about taking in more general information and spitting it back out, rather than learning how to tell our story or His story over the last week. I was challenged early in my walk that when asked “Why God?” my story can’t begin, “Well…when I was 10 years old…” My testimony should be no older than the bread in my breadbox.

The goal is to begin “real conversations with real people to build real relationships that lead to a real experience with Jesus Christ in the gathered community.”

The challenge: Have I built in enough margin, extra white space, in my day to make a new friend? Or am I so caught up in going to the next thing that I can’t make time to be interested in new people; making sure to concentrate on the other person’s story; building trust in who they are; making sure my questions are about them; resisting making the conversation about me and my story?

The authors were kind enough to lay out steps of how to begin a conversation with someone I don’t know because, “People looking for a faith community are not looking for friendly people, but for friends.”

As in Adam Hamilton’s Leading Beyond the Walls, we’d do well to offer a short (two-minute elevator story) response to the following 3 questions:

1. Why God? “God has been active in my life from when I was a kid and has always wanted good for me, but my free will is alive and active within me…Most of the bad that has happened in my life is because of choices made for me or those I’ve made on my own when I am not paying attention to the life lessons taught in the Scriptures…My church gives me the relationships and support to keep my free will on track.”

2. Why Church? “God has designed us to experience energy when we participate in community…God is best and most easily experienced in the faith community….We are the bridge to the gathered community….Then the Holy Spirit can do the heavy lifting.”

3. Why My Church? “God has designed us to experience energy when we participate in community….we need a gathered experience…we need to feel the win…going in the same direction….cheering for the same result…in the company of others with a spirit of “YES!””

A few statements stopped me in my tracks:

• “97% of all newcomers to a church have had a major life transition in the last two months.” (From The Race to Reach Out by Douglas T Anderson & Michael J. Coyner) Everyone has a story. Little do we know what life transition will bring someone through the doors.  Am I asking questions with genuine curiosity to learn another’s story?
• “The #1 roadblock for connected people inviting unconnected people to worship is that they are not confident in the guest experience.”  This is where radical hospitality comes in. Where our hospitality is going beyond expectation, beyond the average, beyond what we’ve always done, beyond the typical Sunday morning handshake experience.
• “Guests arrive early or late, but rarely on time.  Be prepared.”  Think guest, not a visitor (when was the last time I had a visitor in my home…never…I have guests).

I’m going to start asking questions of the people I DO know at my church and the ones I DON’T. It’s the beginning of sharing testimony.  And I’m ready to make some new friends in the Lord.

Lord, let me not just be friendly, but be willing and build in life-space to make new friends in the Lord.  Amen

Thanks, Cindy…you can have your book back now.

We have a cemetery on the front lawn of our church. I love it. I use it. I especially like having a patriarch of our church come to share with our tweeners and youth the stories and the “why” it is there.

We schedule it for the 4th Sunday in October (no bugs and nice cool temps). After some “housekeeping” and “respect” discussion, we send the students in pairs on a scavenger hunt throughout the cemetery. These are the questions we had for them this year:

Find the name of someone that shares your first name, your middle name, or your last name

Find someone who died nearest your birth month and day

Find 3 people with the same last name

Find 2 people with the same first name

Find 3 people who served in the Armed Forces

Find someone who died the year you were born

Find someone who died most recently

Find someone who’s name has a color in it

Mr. Jimmy then arrives to share the story of why the cemetery is there, why two brothers have the same name yet spell it differently, that there are 4 civil war veterans buried there, and why some tombstones are larger than others.

Then….he asks if there are any questions. Their questions are honest, innocent, and so respectful of the burial process along with the whys of plants, markers, and rocks. He shares that most young people don’t think about graveyards very much, but the older one gets, it becomes important.

Before we are dismissed, we stand at the grave of the first youth director at Wesley Chapel. And I get to tell a few stories of my own as she passed away just this year in her nineties.

Before we leave we let them know that we have what we have and enjoy what we enjoy in our church because of the conversations, prayers, and gifts of many in this cemetery. They planned and prepared for our current children’s ministry and youth ministry.

A comment made by one of the tweeners, “I never even noticed the cemetery before, but now I like that it’s part of our campus. It’s filled with great people.” I couldn’t agree more.

“Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past.  Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders, and they will explain to you.”  Deuteronomy 32:7

It takes a lot of courage for lay and clergy leadership in a church to invite consultants in the house. A humble spirit of “Yes, I’m willing to allow fresh eyes on my spiritual heart and my physical presence,” doesn’t speak of failure or defeat. Rather it speaks of a rumbling of the Holy Spirit within the Body of Christ that says, “We want different God-honoring results, so we have to be willing to do something different. And we need a little help with knowing some ways to do it differently.” I get to do that in the area of ministry to children through a great group, Proactive Ministries (https://www.facebook.com/Proactive.Ministries.)

In the words of Rick Chromey, author of Energizing Children’s Ministry in the Smaller Church, he calls it an opportunity to stand as a guide from the side, rather than a sage from the stage. This guide-from-the-side spent last weekend with a church that needed some ideas to market their ministries to little people.

I totally get those folks in the local church who express displeasure with marketing ministry like “the world.” But if our goal is to make disciples of Jesus Christ, we gotta have kids to make disciples of. We have to get them in the door. I am shameless for what I love. I love Jesus and I love the local church. I am a shameless promoter of both.

Last week I spent a few days with a precious church in east Texas who graciously invited me to share in that particular area. The personal coaching time I shared with the current KidMin Director probably looked more like throwing a huge pot of spaghetti against the wall and hoping something stuck. It’s been my experience that marketing and promoting opportunities for kids to grow, tell, serve, worship, and belong with the goal of making disciples of Jesus Christ is worth it’s own strategies, and maybe it’s own budget line-item. Here are just a few of what we came up with…

– Pray for “more”.

– Ask other groups in the church to pray for “more,” especially the saints of the church who gather for prayer meetings.

– Pick one or two opportunities as a focus each month to promote. Even the ones that take place all the time, like Sunday School, need a time of promoting.

– On the church’s website or web presence, know that new people recognize what a church sees as important by the order in which the staff are listed. Any staff specific to children must be close to the top. The photo needs to make him/her look attractive, kid friendly, and the bio should express who he/she is, not just what they do.  New parents want to know who is on the bus with them as they travel the roads of spiritual parenting.

– The job description of the person responsible for KidMin in the smaller church should include a large percentage of his/her time in marketing, promoting, and communicating what’s going on. It’s been my experience that smaller churches hire their super volunteer who are the hands and feet of the ministry.  But smaller churches really need a mouth to move to the next level. Shamelessly promoting any experience to my kids takes about 25-30% of my time each week.

– Coordinate open-house-like field trips, aka meet and greet opportunities, a couple times of year, especially if the children’s area is distant from the tall people areas. We use Pentacost Sunday at WC with the kids and youth inviting every Sunday School class or other small group to a birthday breakfast in the gym during the Sunday School hour to bump elbows, as one opportunity.  The kids do the decorating, setting up, cleaning up, and we teach them how to “work the room.”

– Prioritize website, bulletin, and before/after service PowerPoint slides with photos to include children and youth.

– Offer a photo and facebook release to be signed by parents/grandparents so the families will be expecting to see these photos among the promotional materials.

– Access support to develop a KidMin Info board in the main hallway to highlight 1-2 major focuses for each month, but not everything…visual overload makes it hard for someone to find the info they need about a special opportunity/event. Make it big and colorful, but visually easy to get the info while walking past.  A Mom with a toddler hanging on her leg and an infant on her hip with two diaper bags doesn’t have time to read everything on her way to the nursery or to the car, so we need to make it easy for her.

– Acquire and use acrylic folder stands to display flyers for the next major “community invite” event and place on any table where a group meets, i.e. Sunday School, scouts, coffee pot, Weight Watchers, conference room, library, etc.

– Expand postcard ministry for all children and families related, even distantly, to the church (preschool, scouts, basketball league, Sunday School, VBS, special event – have a “guess how many” location at each event where someone gives you his/her name and email, etc.)  Postage and professional looking postcards cost money (though they can be purchased inexpensively online) and a budget for marketing will give permission to the KidMin Director to do just that.

– Sandwich board promotion in the hallways enlisting youth to wear and walk around without saying a word.

– Increase personal touches and communication to any paid staff who support other community ministry to little people (preschool, daycare, etc.)

– Introduce and communicate to the church family who is serving in the children’s areas through photos, newsletters, bulletin boards, etc.

– Address church-wide publicity such as name of the church van, signage outside, signage inside.

– Engage in regular, frequent (at least quarterly) opportunities to collaborate with everyone involved with ministries to children (preschool, Sunday School, VBS, music, etc.) to develop relationships and guide decision-making, shared resources, written/verbal/image-driven cross promotion opportunities.

– Plan for special Sundays when the kids are on stage in big church (scouts, preschool, choir, worship art exhibit, etc.) at least quarterly.

– Prepare fliers to go to all the nearby daycares and education centers.

– Encourage 2-4 “all hands on deck” community-invite experiences, or piggy-back with like opportunities already on the calendar, that offer elbow-bumping between those already in the church and those we are inviting.

– Quarterly emails of upcoming “specials” to everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, on your email list.

– Photos and teasers in newsletters.

– Photos and teasers on facebook pages (yours personally AND everywhere you can).

– Announce it from the pulpit.

– Put it in the bulletin (did you notice where this made the list?)

What else would you do?

“Jesus said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.'”  Mark 10:14

For over a month now I’ve been on a rant in the Children’s Moment. When the musicians begin playing “Jesus Loves Me,” just before the Pastor’s sermon, I have been heading up to the altar with my bible, a yellow rope, and a resource.

After asking the children how many hours there are in a day (24) and how many days in a week (7), we calculate that there are 168 hours in a week. Inviting 2 children to hold each end of the yellow rope taught, I share they are holding a rope of 168 inches long. One inch is marked in a black marker about 2/3 of the way in.  Each Sunday for the last 6 weeks, I then add…

“If we have 168 hours a week and only take 1 hour a week to devote and honor the Lord by coming to church, how will we ever learn to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, and mind as God’s people are told in Deuteronomy and Mark (and I say the “D” book in a funny way)? And that’s if we come to church every single Sunday and don’t miss a Sunday….ever, never miss a Sunday.”

Then I show a different resource each week to give the Lord more than an hour, more than an inch, each week.  How can we practice and learn to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and mind?  Each week, I used a single resource:

Cake mix & can of frosting – Bake a cake with Mom, Dad, or Mimi and give it to a neighbor saying, “God loves me and He loves you and I wanted to share something special with you.” And I give a cake mix with a can of frosting to one child at each service to do at home.  (I will do for one what I wish I could do for everyone.)

Muffin Mix – I would wake up the earliest on Sunday than any other day of the week to make it especially special when my children were still living at home. I would bake muffins for the whole family and bring them breakfast in bed. That was the one day a week that no one woke up to an alarm, but me. I would bring Mr Bob a cup of black coffee with a muffin. I would bring a huge glass of OJ to #1 Son with a muffin. I would bring a cup of hot chocolate to Baby Girl with a muffin. And the house smelled like muffins. Then I give a muffin mix to one child to use at home.

Glory Bell – A hotel dinger bell (found at Staples). Psalm 100 tells us we serve a God of celebration, so any time something happens that is praiseworthy, we ring a Glory Bell kept in the kitchen. Get a good grade? “Ding” and shout “Glory!” Get up early on Sunday for church? “Ding” and shout “Glory!” I have teeth to brush each morning? “Ding” and shout “Glory!” And I give a glory bell to one of the children to use at home.

Bible – Leave the bible out on the table at breakfast for everyone in the family to read that day. If they are very good readers (tweeners), we open the bible to the Proverb chapter that matches the day of the month. Even a children’s bible with cartoon pictures is worthy of reading at the kitchen table over breakfast for everyone.

Prayer – I speak of and show my prayer journal and how I have traced the hands of those I love and mean so much to me in my journal. When I pray for each one, I place my hand on their traced hand in my journal and pray that they would love the Lord our God with all their heart, soul, and mind. Then invite a child at each service to allow me to trace their hand in my prayer journal. The child then writes his/her name in the traced hand. If any other child wants me to trace their hand in my journal for me to pray for them, they see me after services…one did.

Mirror Marker – The #1 way God’s people grow closer to Him is by reading the bible. Mirror markers/dry erase markers are great to write a bible verse on the bathroom mirror to be sure we pray or memorize scripture when we brush our teeth. How many times are we supposed to brush our teeth? (2x each day) For how long? (2 minutes) We can pray God’s Word back to Him, and memorize scripture twice a day for 4 minutes. I even suggest they might like Luke 12:35 “Be dressed and ready for service.” Or Philippians 2:14 “Do everything without complaining or arguing.”  (Moms love those!) One child would get a mirror marker to take home.

Blessings Journal – If a blank composition book or journal and an attached pen were to be left somewhere in the house (kitchen table, counter, bathroom) with the title “Blessings” written across the top, we would be able to write down what we see as blessings given to us by God.  Kind of like a family blessings journal and anyone is welcome to add something.  One child get’s a  journal to take home from each service.

Bill Hybels wrote in the Afterword of Follow Me: What’s Next for You, “First, Christ-Centered people need to be reminded that they’re not crazy for taking Christianity so seriously. They need to be reminded of the Scriptures that tell us that making our lives a living sacrifice is a normal part of the Christian life. Second, Christ-Centered people need resources. They are actively building relationships, sharing a verbal witness and helping their friends explore Christianity. They’re learning more and more to die to self and to humbly do whatever Christ calls them to do. But many of them are asking, ‘Could I get a little help here?'”

What else can we do to give our families a little help offering Christ-Centered experiences and give Him more than an inch, more than an hour this week?