Tag Archive - #fammin

Milestones: Baptism for Kids

March 11, 2010 in Family Ministry, Lead 0

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You guys hear me so much on this blog… I want to highlight some people this week with their thoughts on some of the Milestones that we have. First up is our Elementary Ministry Director, Laurie Sinkele. Laurie was a major reason we decided to go another direction when it comes to baptism for Kids at Brookwood. She’s put together a few of her thoughts on the struggle for baptism with kids and what our process looks like now. You can follow her on twitter as @lsinkele . I hope a ton of you follow her so she will tweet more often. Yes I’m totally asking for a favor :)

If you have any questions for Laurie, drop a comment and I’ll be sure to get her to check in with her thoughts!

We are thrilled that we can walk with parents in sharing Jesus with their kids.  We also recognize working in children’s ministry; we have an important job in leading children to Christ but feel that the biggest influence of the kids we see on Sundays is their parents.   We know for most people their spiritual journey it is not always an event that shaped their faith.   It is a series of events.  So when we look at baptism we try to get families to look at the milestones that lead them to faith instead of one event like baptism.

It is so easy to say, “I’m a Christian” and not live as one.  Sometimes baptism is viewed as they have made it as a Christian when in reality their journey has just begun.  That is one of the reasons it is so important that as a ministry and church we teach our kids and parents that baptism is sharing and growing our faith.  We don’t want them to be confused that baptism is a means to salvation.

When an elementary child shows interest in being baptized we have the parents attend a class called Leading Your Child to Christ.  That class is a prerequisite to First Steps for Kids.  In these classes we cover the basic beliefs of baptism:

  • To follow the example set by Christ. Mark 1:9
  • Christ commanded it.  Matthew 28:19-20
  • Illustrates Jesus’ burial and resurrection.  Colossians 1:12
  • Demonstrates I am a believer.  Acts 18:9
  • It’s an outward symbol of the commitment you make in your heart.

Our Leading Your Child to Christ class is for parents of elementary kids who want to be baptized.  In this class we walk through with parents what a relationship with Jesus looks like.  We want to minimize confusion of a faith journey.  We share with them that baptism is just the beginning of their kids spiritual journey and that it is a profession of faith and not a one- time event that they have arrived at.

We also teach parents to write their story of faith.  This gets them to look at their walk with God and how they can model that to their kids.  We don’t suggest to parents that they breakout a bible study each night with their kids.  We suggest that they model their faith, communicate their faith, and pray for their child.  Not every child’s walk with God will be the same.  Once parents have written their own story they are more equipped to help their child write theirs.

First Steps for Kids is a class that parents and kids attend together.  This is a time when parents can help their child write their story.  Through this class we hope the parents and child understand the meaning of baptism and are better prepared to make a decision whether or not that child is ready for baptism.

These classes will help the parents and children see if that child really understands and is ready for baptism.  We want the kids and parents to understand that salvation is not dependant on baptism.  Our faith is a great journey.   It is exciting to see what God has for us.

Milestones: The Aha moment

March 10, 2010 in Family Ministry, Lead 1

To give a little bit of a crash course in Milestones I’ll provide a little commentary on the situation.

For a lot of Milestones, we seek Parents when they are having an “Oh Crap!” moment. Whether it’s transition, pressure, behavior, etc. Parents are freaked out about something. We generally recognize common times that these moments are happening and try to turn the “Oh Crap!” into an “AHA!”.

Light bulbs generally don’t light themselves. An idea or concept needs to be caught and then put into practice. So every “AHA!” moment you want to achieve will need at least two things from Parents and in some cases kids:

1) Vision that compels peeps to move from “Oh Crap!” to “Aha!”
2) A plan that people can achieve and one that you can keep them accountable to.

So what “Oh Crap!” moments do families have in your ministry context?
How can you move them to “AHA!”?

Family Ministry Milestones

March 2, 2010 in Family Ministry, Random thoughts, Resources 0

Cute Kid, originally uploaded by Joe Lencioni.

So I was asked to do a little post on milestones and kids. Generally the Milestones that we associate with kidmin are:

  • Dedication
  • Salvation/Baptism
  • Preparation for the teen years

I know the last one is fringe probably between kids and students. But we’ll just put it on our list :)

I’d really like to focus on a specific aspect of the milestone for this post. You see milestones are generally used to provide reference points along the journey. They are should be viewed in a way that allows families to say, “Ok we’re on the right track”. They provide focus and guidance for parents. But honestly, I also think they can be tough to understand. If we see them a reference points then they hold the correct place in the realm of a child’s life. However, when they are skewed as goals or items on a checklist then the results could be ineffective.

The purpose of milestones is to give people a picture of the long term, the overall life experience of a child rather than isolated singular events. Why is this small thought important?

From Dedication forward parents begin to put pressure on themselves to perform well as parental units. By casting the vision of a journey rather than getting to salvation/baptism or to the teen years without error, we hope to see parents take some pressure off themselves and their kids. Not only that but provide proper opportunities for kids to question and grow in their view of God and Christ.

Over the next few posts I’ll talk about how I feel about the milestones mentioned above and also a couple more thoughts.

Faceoff Friday: Coca-Cola vs. Pepsi

February 26, 2010 in Life, Random thoughts 13

Coca-Cola vs. Pepsi, originally uploaded by Si1very.

Simple explanation. Vote in the comment section below. Give reasons why and we’ll tally over the weekend.

Coca-Cola or Pepsi? And let’s take stable of drinks vs. stable of drinks:

Coca-Cola- Coke, diet coke, coke zero, sprite, barq’s root beer, fanta, fresca, mr. pibb, vault, dasani, vitamin water, minute maid, hi-c, powerade, nestea, etc.

Pepsi-Pepsi, diet pepsi, mt. dew, sierra mist, mug root beer, dole fruit drinks, sobe, tropicana, amp, aquafina, propel, gatorade, starbucks drinks, etc.

Which wins in your opinion?

Leading When you’re Young: Dad and Michael Hyatt

February 9, 2010 in Lead, Life 0

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You know I love to write, but honestly my english skills are well… lacking. But I’m trying :) Anyway, I was going to post a blog on a leadership rule that I learned from my dad as I was beginning to supervise at UPS. He said this,

Son don’t ask anyone to do anything that you haven’t done or wouldn’t do now.

I’ve got great thoughts but Mr. Hyatt’s are so much better. If you want a real leadership tip from me. Subscribe to michaelhyatt.com

Crazy Awesome Video

January 30, 2010 in Resources, Tech 0

Rethink Scholarship at Langara 2010 Call for Entries from Rory O’Sullivan and Simon Bruyn on Vimeo.

Leverage Influence

January 21, 2010 in Family Ministry, Lead 0

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Well this picture represents what most of think of, when we think of teenagers. Goofy, awkward, slight immature, yet full of potential. I figure I would use myself because well I like to think I am a kid at heart. O, and well, I bear a striking resemblance to….well…..uh….a teenager.

But leveraging our influence to develop these young people. Giving them an opportunity to learn about ministry. Learning the ins and outs and what serving God is all about. But being honest, alot of times, kids and students end up being used more than developed into spiritual leaders. It starts out really honest, we want to develop the potential that we see in our kids and students. But over time the day to day gets in the way of training.

When I worked at the Brown, aka UPS we were told as sup’s we were to spend 70% of our time on training. Why? Because without our people, it doesn’t work. But getting people in the right spots isn’t training. Getting people aligned with their gift set isn’t training. Training is training.

Here’s a few tips to check your influence and make sure you are developing rather than using your students and kids in ministry.

1)What: What do you spend the majority of your time with these young people doing? What is it that you are “doing” with them and not only that but what specifically are you trying to develop in them? Is it time management, communication, classroom management, or none of the above? Keep the what in focus. What is your purpose?

2)Who: Who is it that you are developing? Did they fall in your lap? Or did you hand select them? Generally taking part in the selection process tends to nip this using thing in the bud. Why? Well because you personally picked them and have more of an idea of your purpose. You picked these young people and you know the reason and the intent.

3)Where: This seems a bit odd, but generally if your “mentoring” only takes place on a Sunday and on campus. Then most likely it’s not mentoring. Go offsite, it shows the people you are pouring into that you see that they are valuable.

Those are things that I would continue to check myself on. Keep those in focus and come up with a plan and strategy. Set a time and pour into these young people.

I had people do this for me, they cared for me and invested time and money into my development. But I’ve also been used before. A lot actually. And we wonder why young people sometimes have problems with authority? Leverage your influence. There are young folks out there dying for someone to see potential in them and give them some guidance.

Reactivating the Family

January 19, 2010 in Family Ministry, Lead 0

fast asleep, originally uploaded by rodbotic.

So like Kenny so aptly put it, church has stepped into the role of primary spiritual leader in the life of children and students. And it’s true but in order to step out of that role we have to stop being that for parents. I mean think of the things that the church has in place: Recreation, Teaching times, How to serve, Time Management workshops, Math Tutoring, etc.

Yet we expect for Parents to lead the Spiritual Development of their children. I think the thing that most of the people in this Orange Week will tell you is this:

There is no magic “(insert thing, program, event, curriculum)” that will solve this issue. But somehow we have to make that shift. We have to put the power back in the hands of the people that 79% of kids say they look up to the most, their parents.

But how do we put the power back with the parents. I’ll give you a couple ways that I see it happening.

1)Connecting with Parents-One of the flaws in the traditional childrens/student ministry setting is the lack of connection parents have with the ministry. *unless they are volunteers of course :)

We have to find a way to give Parents tools to deal with the issues that their kids are going through. I’ll give you a good place to think about:

Kids now spend more time online than watching television. That is completely opposite of their Parents. How can we equip parents to connect with their kids and set limits and consequences in an area that children are really the experts?

2)Re-prioritize-quick think about this particular work week. How much of your time is directly focused on parents? Probably not much huh? Yet, we expect Parents to step up to that spiritual leader role, but we spend most of our time preparing to be in that role on a Sunday morning. And just so you know, I am right here with you. What does that look like? What is something tangible that I can do for parents that will help me get my priorities aligned.

3)Pray and Think-It’s a big issue. It’s a big problem. It needs to be solved. There is a way. Pray and find some people to connect with that can help you brainstorm through some things. You aren’t alone in ministry. There are plenty of PEOPLE to help you. Here’s a couple of places to start if you don’t know:

Twitter
cmconnect
Blogs

As a young person in ministry. Don’t blame someone else because they don’t come to you. Go find someone to help you.

Refine the message

January 19, 2010 in Family Ministry, Lead 0

Giant Pen, little kid, originally uploaded by allemander.

Refining the message. This transition is probably the thing that I look forward to the most.

I think as a teacher we always want to make things attainable, clear, and concise for those that learn from us. But at times we get in the bigger is better mentality or the more is more line of thinking.

But the reality is that Jesus, who I’m sure most would agree, we can glean a lot from the way he taught others, had two things for us to focus on.

Love God
Love Others

Refining the message means being able to focus in on some areas that you can focus on developing in kids or students. I like to call them core values.

However, transitioning to this place takes time (a theme in any type of transition) and long range planning. And that means honesty and openness and the willingness to learn something about an area that might not deal with your particular focus in ministry.

But establishing core values from birth to 18 helps so many areas of ministry. Production, Curriculum development, Events, and Prayer.

And while smaller seems like less, it’s really not. Think of a magnifying glass. The more focused the beam of light, the quicker those ants burn….uh…I mean the more concentrated power of the beam.

And that’s what refining the message is all about.

Integrated Strategy

January 18, 2010 in Family Ministry, Lead 2

orange-week-1

So Integrated Strategy? The ol’ two heads are better than one thing huh? But is that how it really is? Yeah unless someone gets in the way.

I’ll start with probably my favorite Emerson quote:

“For everything you have missed, you have gained something else, and for everything you gain, you lose something else.”

Are you willing to go through this? Because this is what Orange is about. It always seems so easy from the outside to see what family ministry looks like. The family experience, the seamless communication between children’s and students, and how everything seems to just work so gosh darn well. But in reality there is a struggle.

Reaching families for the gospel of Christ and giving them the resources to bring about change in their own family is not an easy task. It takes a concerted effort to get there. It takes more than one group and more than one event and more than one idea to bring this goal to fruition. Things that your group might see as completely beneficial may have more holes than you think. Your “golden calf” of an idea that works for your area might have to be lost in order to gain partnership with parents. Your comfort zone will be breached and you will gain some much needed perspective. But are you willing to go through it. Cuz as I’m sure most of the bloggers during Orange week will attest. It ain’t easy, but it’s good.

So here are the 3 struggles that I see switching from children/student to family ministry integrated strategy will include:

Communication-being more honest with others and yourself. you need to bring all of your thoughts to the table. You might see something that no one else does and it needs to be communicated. You’ll have to be open to hearing and receiving other’s ideas and being open to change things that “we’ve always done”.

Time-the turnaround on things has to be lengthened because their are more parties involved. The transition itself takes time. And the meetings….argh.

Conflict-anything that’s worth doing involves conflict, but because it’s so new it will be tougher than most of what you’ve experienced.

But those things that are a part of the process. And the payoff is tremendous. You discover more about yourself and your team and those golden calves are destroyed and get turned into glorious sacrifices. The communication gets better, the time is worth it and the conflicts produce growth. And in the end you have a strategy that both parties can agree on to reach the goal of partnering with parents in the spiritual development of their children.

So are you willing to lose some things in order to gain something much greater?

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