“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you” (Acts 1:8a)
What is “Memory Monday”? Each week I’ll post Scripture and/or Bible doctrine memory work from the previous Sunday’s children’s Bible lessons. Here is the challenge! Learn the memory work together as a family. Then, kids, come to our Sunday gatherings next week and recite the memory work to Mrs. Kelsey Barnes (St. Matthews campus), Mr. David Kidd (Germantown campus) or me to receive a reward.
While I was at the Children Desiring God conference, I ran into my friend Deepak Reju. He serves as an associate pastor for family and counseling ministries at an influential church in Washington, D.C., Capitol Hill Baptist Church. The church has recently put their self-written Praise Factory curriculum online for free. When I got back to town, I received a note from Bill and Courtney Bell informing me that they’d found the site and some helpful things there. Bill and Courtney used the curriculum when leading the children’s ministry at a previous church. Later, I saw a brief review of the curriculum at Ministry-to-Children.com.
Well, I knew it had to be good, but this week is the first that I’ve been able to take a look at the site myself. Here is the run down. The Praise Factory Curriculum is designed to teach systematic theology to children. It provides a complete scope and sequence for 2 year-olds through fifth grade divided into three age divisions. For each division, complete lesson plans, musical scores, mp3 sound tracks, and parent resources are provided. Here is the run down: Continue Reading…
Tuesday/Thursday Book Club:
Perspectives on Family Ministry
Family Ministry Assumptions, chapters 2-3
In his remaining introductory chapters, Jones give an overview of some assumptions that are common to leaders within the family ministry movement. While there are varying views of how a family ministry should be organized (reviewed in the second half of the book), there are at least two common assumptions. Here they are:
1. The task of training children in faith is too significant to be surrendered to professionals. Ministers, elders, and deacons should equip parents, but the task of training children (like the task of dating one’s wife) is too significant to be surrendered wholly to professionals. From a biblical standpoint (Deuteronomy 6:6-7; Psalm 78:1-7; 1 Thessalonians 2:11-12; Ephesians 6:4; Colossians 3:21), parents are the primary faith trainers of their children. According to the Barna research group, Christian parents commonly agree with this assumption, but the majority generally rely upon their church to do all of the religious training. According to the research, the majority of parents do not spend any time during a typical week discussing religious matters or studying religious materials with their children. They do not feel equipped to do so. Sadly, very few student ministires are talking about how to partner with parents to disciple children.
2. The “teenager” is a cultural invention. Believe it or not, the term “teenager” was never used until 1941. Of course, the fact of adolescence is ancient. After all, the book of Proverbs is written to address the young adolescent man. But, according to Jones, the social function of the adolescent years changed during the latter half of the twentieth century. “What emerged for the first time during these decades was a distinct adolescent culture that differed radically from the culture of parents and other adults.” The teenage years were no longer viewed as an intermediary life-stage with adulthood as the goal but a distinctive “youth culture” or “orientation” that resisted movement toward adulthood. The 20th century church responded (some would say accommodated) to this phenomenon with a preponderance of age-focused ministries. They began as para-church ministries (the YMCA, Young Life, Youth for Christ) then church youth groups began to imitate the para-church ministry models. Youth groups developed “their own distinct expressions of Christian community, disconnected from the faith of their mothers and fathers.” The Family Ministry movement in its various forms seeks to address and deconstruct in various ways the departmentalizing and compartmentalizing of the church’s people.
So, what do you think? Do you agree with these two assumptions? How is your church addressing them. More to come soon as I continue to work through Dr. Jones’ book.
More Tips and Encouragement from SojournKids:
“I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart” (Psalm 9:1a)
Question #1: Who made you? God
Question #2: What else did God make? God made all things.
Question #3: Why did God make you and all things? For his own glory.
This kicks off the first week of “Memory Mondays.” Each week I’ll post Scripture and Bible doctrine memory work from the previous Sunday’s children’s Bible lessons. Here is the challenge! Learn the memory work together as a family. Then, kids, come to our Sunday gatherings next week and recite the memory work to Mrs. Kelsey Barnes (St. Matthews campus), Mr. David Kidd (Germantown campus) or me to receive a reward.
I tapped out of the latest edition of the Children’s Ministry Think Tank. I have lots of excuses… preaching, web site crashes, etc. But none of them are really that good, because the latest topic is a really important one. So, even though I didn’t make the posting deadline, I thought I’d go ahead and answer the question here… and provide a link to thoughts from other children’s ministers.
Think Tank #3 Questions About Baby Dedication
What is your church’s practice of baby dedication? Does it integrate with a family ministry strategy? Are their membership requirements for the parents? What do you include in the ceremony?At
At Sojourn, our dedication service is a time we set aside to celebrate the children that God has given us. Member families from our church community come to go public with their desire to bring up new children by God’s grace and according to his instructions.
Our service is simply called a Dedication. Some churches think about it as a baby dedication, but it is better called a Parent Dedication. This is not a water baptism, but it is a heavy thing–serious business for the parents involved. The dedication is a covenant–a holy commitment made between the parents, God, and our church community. It is serious business for our church as well. We don’t believe that God made children the responsibility of the nuclear family in isolation. Continue Reading…
