Tag Archive - Children’s Ministry

Children’s Ministry Environments: Children’s Hospital, Kids Museum, or Disney?

March 9, 2012 in Uncategorized with 4 Comments

There is a lot of talk in the children’s ministry world about creating attractional environments for kids. This is for good reason. At the very least, “Let the children come…” means removing every hindrance that stands in the way of connecting kids to Jesus. Attractional environments–fun and safe kids’ facilities, excellent hospitality, and exciting kids events–are children’s ministry’s front door.

But attractional environments for kids come in all shapes and sizes. Which one is most like children’s ministry? Here are three options:

1. The Children’s Hospital. A few weeks back, I had to take Lucy to Kosair Hospital for some tests. I have a love/hate relationship with the place. I hate having to be there, because it means usually means that my child or someone else’s is sick or hurt. On the other hand, I’m always intrigued by the children’s hospital, because it is one of the most kid-friendly environments in our city. Waiting in the lobby for an hour before a test is more pleasant at the children’s hospital, because there is an interactive video projection game in the lobby. Draining a staph infection goes more smoothly there, because you can play games on an iPad and Rapunzel is showing on the ER television. The entire place is designed to build a child’s trust so that healers can provide care. Do you see the connection to kidmin? Our environments are like the children’s hospital. Attractional environments build a relationship of trust so that kids can be lead to the Healer.

2. The Kids Museum. I was talking about how to create attractional environments with a seminary class recently. One of the students objected, “That sounds like Nickelodeon.” Without thinking, I answered, “No, it’s more like PBS Kids.” Sure. There is an entertainment factor, but there is an goal in mind that is larger than selling a product or a character. Like the interactive exhibits at the kids museum or the skits on Sesame Street, we have an educational goal in mind. My friend, Dave Ainsworth, put it this way: Attractional environments lead kids to hands-on, real-life, engaging discovery. Thinking through this has helped me to see why it’s important to do more than theme your environments in a kid-friendly way. You must also use the kid-friendliness to teach. We need environments that lead kids to engage with the Truth of the Bible. I wrote a bit about how we do this at SojournKids in the December/January edition of K! Magazine in an article entitled, ”God Has the Best Imagination” (pages 48-51).

3. Disney. We visited Disney World for the first time as a family this past year, and we loved it! There are so  many things to love about Disney’s attractions and amazing hospitality, but we fell in love with Disney for the way they took care of our Lucy. Lucy has special needs and a very unique diet. Disney asked about special needs before we arrived, and, when they discovered Lucy’s diet, they took care of her.  Whenever we ate at a park restaurant, the chef met us at the front and showed us menu items that would work best. Their excellent hospitality allowed us rest and simply enjoy the Disney experience. After all, that’s part of their mission, right? They want you to lay down your worries and get lost in the Disney story–where dreams always come true. Tim Keller has written about how excellence and higher quality production communicates something about God’s transcendence. In other words, the excellence of an attractional environment can help lift eyes above temporary things to the bigger story God is telling. In another context, Paul Miller said it this way, “Disney is right. Because of the intrusion of a good God into an evil world, there are happy endings. Some of God’s last words in the Bible are, “Behold, I make all things new” (Revelation 21:5 KJV).

  • Do you think it is important to have an attractional environment for children’s ministry?
  • Do you agree with these three analogies?
  • What other analogies would you suggest?

Photos courtesy Jared Kennedy (at Louisville’s Kosair Children’s Hospital), Art Sparks at Louisville’s Speed Art Museum, and Amy Embry (at Walt Disney World)

Making God Famous for Kids! – Pt. 2

March 1, 2012 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments

In my previous post, I wrote about the central role God’s fame must play in the formation of our children.  In this post I want to show you how we seek to apply this truth both in our children’s ministry and in our homes.

In our children’s ministry:

Lesson Summaries: We train our teachers to summarize each Bible lesson in three or four sentences. We keep God at the center of these lessons by making him the main character in these story summaries (e.g., Goliath hated God’s people.  God chose David to fight Goliath.  David trusted God.  God saved His people by killing Goliath.). Our preschool teachers are encouraged to review these sentences at every point in their class schedule—welcome, story, snack, craft, etc.

Singing to God: We sing to God every week, and we choose music that praises God for his attributes—his goodness and greatness. Kids need to praise the mighty Creator for all of His dazzling greatness!

Excellence in Everything: We strive for excellence in everything we do — to the glory of God.  We want our teaching, singing, and administration to be done with excellence because it is a reflection of God’s excellence.This means listening to one another and providing regular, godly critique. We communicate a lot not just in what we teach, but in how we teach, lead and organize.

In our homes:

God Moments: Teaching moments happen all the time. They can happen while driving down the road, walking through the zoo, or sitting around the kitchen table. As parents, it is a part of our nature to capitalize on opportunities to tell our children what they should do or how they should grow in character. But we often overlook opportunities to teach kids about God’s fame. “God Moments” are those opportunities in the course of everyday life that we can redeem by turning our kids’ attention toward the beauty of God and his work in our world and lives. These “God moments” aren’t something to be scheduled, but instead must be discovered while going through life with your children. Therefore, we must always be on the lookout for these moments and be willing to take time and redeem them when they arise.

Family Worship: Scripture is clear that parents should be their children’s primary source for biblical teaching (Deuteronomy 6, Psalm 78). We encourage family worship (or family devotions) as a practical means for fulfilling this God-given role. By family worship, I don’t mean a rote one-hour worship service in your living room every night. I just mean setting designated weekly time for the family to gather to pray and study the Bible together. In our family, that means being intentional about having excellent children’s music in our minivan, reading a Bible story around the dinner table once each week, and praying blessings over our kids before they go to bed at night. I’m encouraging weekly family worship, because most families have a regular weekly routine based around their work and school schedules. So, designating a weekly time and putting it in your weekly calendar is the easiest way to make teaching your kids about God regular and consistent.

Making God Famous for Kids!

February 9, 2012 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments

One of my responsibilities is to oversee our weekly children’s ministry volunteers as they serve during our Sunday classes. One week, I was observing a classroom that was learning about the children of Israel crossing the Red Sea. After the lesson I sat down with the kids over a bag of goldfish and asked, “Who was your story about today?” One child answered immediately, “We learned about God!”

I dismissed that as a ‘typical Sunday School answer,’ so I followed up, “Yes, but didn’t you also learn about Moses? What did Moses do?” The child answered back, “Moses didn’t do much. He just prayed and lifted up his stick! But God dried up the Sea so the people could cross. Then, he drowned all of the Egyptians! God was awesome!”

That kid got the point of that week’s lesson better than I did. Continue Reading…

The “9 Things” Book. Win a copy!

April 11, 2011 in Uncategorized with 4 Comments

9 Things They Didn’t Team Me in College about Children’s Ministry by Ryan Frank (Standard Publishing, 2011).

I am really thankful for the ministry of Ryan Frank.  He is a superstar in children’s ministry.  Ryan is the Executive Director of KidzMatter Ministries, an Executive Director of Awana Clubs  International, and the publisher of K! Magazine.   He has served as a children’s pastor for fifteen years, and he also serves on the Board of Directors for the International Network of Children’s Ministry and the American Children’s Ministers’ Association.  But the reason Ryan is such an amazing superstar is because he ministers with gospel humility and grace.

The title of his newest book is 9 Things They Didn’t Teach Me in College about Children’s Ministry.  I didn’t actually take any college or seminary classes on children’s ministry.  So, for me, he could have put just about anything in this book. :)  I’m really thankful for what he did put here.  The book is profound.  It majors on the simplicity of the gospel, humility, and love for people.  But it is also practical.  It applies these profound truths where the rubber meets the road, that is, to practical, everyday kidmin stuff like recruiting volunteers, managing conflict, and making budgets.  I’ll be having all of our Campus Kids Directors read it.

You can win a copy of the book.  I’ll give away a copy to the person who becomes fan #140 of SojournKids on Facebook.  Click here to become a fan!

Here is a brief summary of some highlights from the book: Continue Reading…

Last Sunday: Jesus Welcomes Children

April 5, 2011 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments


This week, Sojourn celebrated the birth of 32 new babies, and their parents gathered with our community to commit to raise their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.  In SojournKids, we studied the story of how Jesus welcomes children from Matthew 19:13-15.  We learned that:

  • Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me.”
  • Jesus loves and welcomes little children.
  • Jesus gives his kingdom to needy people who cry out to him.

You can download the SojournKids At Home sheet here.

 

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