Christian Standard | December 2019

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CHRISTIAN STANDARD CARR

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WELCH // WUSKE DECEMBER 2019

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Letter from the Publisher Sacred Responsibility, Sacred Trust I have many fond childhood memories of Christmas. I remember the silver tree we set up in our front picture window. We shined a filtered light on it that changed its color to red, green, blue, and yellow. My older brother would attempt to hypnotize me by setting me in front of it. I remember getting a Close’n Play record player one Christmas that didn’t survive the day. I remember sneaking up behind my deaf uncle, who had fallen asleep in my dad’s chair; we made a huge racket, convinced he was faking not being able to hear. He never even flinched. I remember the Rankin/Bass TV specials featuring Rudolph, Santa, and Frosty.

parents reading the Christmas story before we were sent off to bed on Christmas Eve. Church played a central role in my understanding of Christmas and life in general when I was growing up. It was a defining context in my life.

And it wasn’t just a Christmas or an Easter thing. A Sunday school teacher first challenged me that my decision to follow Christ must be a personal one . . . that it wasn’t enough to be raised in a Christian family. I remember speaking with my father about making my own decision. Back then, the minister still did all the baptizing at church, but my father insisted on standing in the water with me when our minister immersed me.

I also remember the church Christmas pageants, the candlelight Christmas Eve services, caroling, and flannelgraph stories of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph being visited by shepherds with angels overhead and animals surrounding the manger.

I remember Christmas choir cantatas at church followed by eating sugar-topped Christmas cookies in the fellowship hall. And I remember my

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While others were in Scouts, I advanced through the ranks of Jet Cadets. While they were joining school clubs, I was studying for our next Bible Bowl round-robin. I remember performing with my youth choir at the Lincoln Talent Rally—and winning—and I remember singing “Pass It On” around the fire at summer camp next to a girl I

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Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation (Required by 39 USC 3685)

had asked to the banquet on the last day. In so many ways, my formative life was shaped by the context of church.

This issue focuses on what we in the Christian church were once the best at: training our children to be disciples of Jesus. As the articles explain, the norms and resources for training have changed dramatically, and our church’s present and future will reflect it. As church leaders, one of our most sacred responsibilities is to be custodians of sound teaching and social engagement with our children. So, how are we doing? How much of our leadership energy is focused on being the very best in this area?

Focusing on children is intuitive during the Christmas season. Whether its preschool programs (with angels sporting wings made from clothes hangers, satin, and ribbon), piano recitals featuring carols, or choirs singing the latest arrangement of “The Little Drummer Boy,” the season focuses on children. That’s evident by the presents under the tree, the ugly pipe cleaner/ construction paper ornaments we’ve all made, and the family pictures on Christmas cards.

But the greatest responsibility we have as leaders—and the greatest gift we can pass along—is how we reproduce the eternal hope we have as believers and followers of Jesus.

I pray this issue helps us to focus on that sacred trust.

Jerry Harris is publisher of Christian Standard Media and senior pastor of The Crossing, a multisite church located in three states across the Midwest. @_jerryharris /jerrydharris

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Growing Up With Standard Publishing

By Margie Redford

IN E V ERY IS S UE 2-3 | L E T T ER F ROM T HE P UBL ISHER

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Jerry Harris

Best Practices: Children’s Ministry 37

A Passion for Reaching More [Megachurch] By Pam Siddle 40 Historic Church Savors Grow th [Medium/Large Church] By Justin Horey 43 Love and Longevit y [Small Church] By Melissa Wuske 45 The Team It Takes [Multisite Church] By Kathy Ives

6-7 | L E T T ER F ROM T HE EDI T OR Michael C. Mack

10-11 | e 2:EFFECTIVE ELDERS C h i ld r e n M at t e r . . .

A l l Ye a r L on g Gary L. Johnson

12-14 | ME T R IC S

7 trends in children’s Ministry Space Today

I ’ l l B e ( L i v i n g at) Home for C h r i s t m a s Kent Fillinger

By Dave Milam

15-17 | IM A GINE

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Family ministry: Re-Engaging parents to be the primary influencers of their children

By Becky Drish

D y i ng Ma l l B e com i ng Ma rket place for C hu rch to S er ve C om mu n it y

Mel McGowan

18-19 | MINIS T RY L IF E T he Je wel T r e e Daniel Schantz

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Curriculum Decisions

By Kelly Carr

25 years of changes and challenges in children’s ministry

By Teresa Welch

20-22 | HOR IZ ONS

Innovat ive Disciple Ma k ing Using Socia l Me dia Laura McKillip Wood

24-35 | F E AT UR E

G r ow i n g Up w it h S t a nd a r d P u bl i sh i n g Margie Redford

72-73 | IN T ER A C T

The Profound Impact of Parents Who Seek God

Letter from the editor

I woke up one chilly, December morning, the excitement of Christmas, still several days away, already percolating in my 8-year-old brain like the coffee brewing in the kitchen. It was still dark outside, but the kitchen light was on. In my footy pajamas, I wandered inconspicuously toward it. As I peered around the corner, first I saw the wall clock; it was only 4:30 a.m. Then I saw my mom, sitting at the kitchen table, head down, a small journal sitting in front of her. She was silently praying.

bookkeeping for her business, but first, always first, she spent time with God.

That memory is still etched on my mind.

Over the years I often caught my mom in her early-morning prayer ritual.

Our December issue focuses on ministry to children. We naturally think of kids at Christmastime, of course, but more importantly, we wanted to focus this issue on what publisher Jerry Harris calls the “sacred responsibility” of church leaders and parents to give children the surpassing gift of knowing Jesus.

Mom ran a drapery-making business out of our basement. Every weekday, several other women came to our house to work with her. It was a demanding, tiring job, yet every morning Mom woke up early to do some housecleaning, make lunches, often start dinner in a Crock-Pot, and do C H R I S T I A N S TA N D A R D

My mom wasn’t perfect, but she was an example for me and many others of someone who had an abiding connection with God. Her daily prayers undoubtedly included me and my three siblings, and those prayers—and the way she modeled spending time with God—has had a profound effect on me. I believe it is the foundational reason I am who I am today.

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might call the state of children’s ministry in our churches today. Though the articles come from various contexts, I see at least five common threads:

I was especially fascinated by something Becky Drish wrote: “Parents sometimes fail to lead because they do not believe they have what it takes or do not think it is their responsibility.”

I think that’s true. And I believe it implicates us as church leaders. It reminds me of the way Jim Petersen began his 1993 book, Lifestyle Discipleship: “Thirty years of discipleship programs, and we are not discipled.”

• the vitality of having a clear vision for children’s ministry that guides everything else • the importance of mode rn, kidfriendly, secure children’s facilities • the priority of using Bible-centered teaching materials, although churches use a wide variety of curricula, often adapting them, and many write their own

I’m overjoyed that many of the children’s ministries in our churches have undertaken, by necessity, the discipling and equipping of moms and dads so they can carry out their parenting roles.

But it also points to the vital need in our churches to get back to the basics of our mission to make disciples. Disciples who make disciples, including their own kids.

• the significance of having the right leaders, including volunteers and/ or staff, and a focus on multiplying leadership for the future • an emphasis on the involvement of parents/families in discipling and training children Let’s dive into that last one a bit more.

@michaelcmack

Several writers discussed the need, even urgent need, to equip and empower parents to engage in their role as the faith leaders in their families.

@michaelcmack @michaelcmack /authormichaelcmack

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e 2 : e ffe c t i v e

e ld e r s

Children Matter . . . All Year Long

BY GARY L. JOHNSON

“Christmas is for children,” declares one song of the season. We can see the truth of that statement in society simply by observing parents and grandparents as they buy gifts to make children’s Christmas wishes come true.

As elders, we understand the importance of children all year round.

We have a serious problem in the church that will directly impact the next generation and can claim the spiritual lives of countless people. Elder teams must respond quickly with strength and wisdom from God so we can avert this crisis.

The Problem Elders need to be keenly aware we are losing the next generation. Record numbers of young people are walking away from the church and the Christian faith.

Dr. Gary Johnson served 30 years with Indian Creek Christian Church (The Creek) in Indianapolis, retiring earlier this year. He is a cofounder of e2: effective elders, which he now serves as executive director.

In a January 12 post at Cold-Case Generosity (coldcasegenerosity.com), J. Warner Wallace wrote that a variety of studies reveal that 50 to 70 percent of

/e2elders @e2elders

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young Christians walk away from the church by their late teens and early twenties. Similarly, Daniel Cox reported at FiveThirtyEight (fivethirtyeight.com, October 10, 2017) that 79 percent of young people begin walking away from their faith in their adolescent and teen years—long before they leave home for college, work, or the military. Like it or not, once we reach the next generation, we fail to keep the majority of them in the church, and sometimes, even in the faith.

People born between 1995 and 2015 are known by such names as generation Z, post-millennials, the selfie generation, and the app generation. Here’s the important thing to remember: People born during those years comprise almost one-third of the earth’s population, and we can safely speculate that the majority are not Christian. This generation should matter to us.

The Solution Problems call for solutions, and elders must lead by example. Elders can help solve this very real problem in three specific ways.

Invest: To reach the younger members of generation Z, we must invest in our children’s ministries. The return on investment (ROI) has both short- and longterm benefit. When we make children’s ministry one of the largest portions of the annual church budget, we are more likely to reach—and keep—increasing numbers of young people in the faith. When children’s programming receives ministry dollars for staffing, high-quality facilities, and more, it demonstrates children matter. Instead of receiving “the leftovers” of ministry resources, elders must make certain children’s ministry receives significant funding. The potential ROI is great in this life and the next.

Involve: If we are to spiritually reach and keep generation Z, elders must personally involve themselves in children’s ministry. A landmark study several years ago showed that intergenerational relationships are essential to reach and keep children in the faith as they grow into adults (see Sticky Faith: Everyday Ideas to Build Lasting Faith in Your Child, by Kara Powell and Chap Clark, Zondervan, 2011). Such relationships should include parents, grandparents, and other older adults. Yet, children need more than C H R I S T I A N S TA N D A R D

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loving relationships—they need to hear truth. As children grow, elders must build bridges of trust that bear the weight of truth.

As children become teens, they must experience authentic relationship with elders. Generation Z will have tough questions that demand biblical answers. Studies show that unanswered questions are a leading cause of young people leaving the church and the faith. When we fail to create environments where children and teens can ask serious questions, young people grow more skeptical of the Christian faith. Allow them to ask any and all questions. Listen to them. And whether we think we answered their questions effectively or not, engaging with them will show we love them unconditionally.

When children’s ministry staff and volunteers see elders actively involved with the next generation, they will be encouraged and better understand that children matter to the elders.

Invite: Elders should invite the children’s ministry staff and key volunteers to their meetings from time to time. Enjoy a meal with them. Ask them about their ministry. Take an interest in what they do. After dinner, pray over them, their marriages, their ministries, and more. As you lay hands on them and pray, ask God to empower them to reach and keep the next generation in ways never before accomplished in your congregation. Invite these kingdom workers into relational community with your elder team.

Children’s ministry is facing great challenges, and it’s essential elders turn their attention to this tremendous need. Jesus said there is no greater love than when a person lays down his life for a friend (John 15:13). What if we—as elders—sacrificially make children’s ministry a great priority in our personal lives, as well as in the church? What if we taught and showed every child how to love God with all of his heart, mind, soul, and strength (Mark 12:30)? I firmly believe that if children learn to love the Lord, there is greater likelihood they will live for the Lord all of their days.

Someone helped us come to know the Lord. It’s time to pay it forward. Children matter—and not just during Christmas.  D E C E M B E R 2 019

Me trics

‘I’ll be (living at) home for christmas’

BY KENT FILLINGER

This Christmas, you might be looking forward to your adult children returning home. Or maybe they’re home already.

A Pew Research Center report found that 15 percent of millennials (ages 25 to 37) were living at home in 2018, nearly double the rate of older baby boomers when they were in that age range.

In fact, a smaller percentage of people in the rising generations are checking off the four major life events that historically have signified “adulthood”: leaving home, getting married, becoming a parent, and getting a job. And the percentage of adults in the 25 to 34 age range who had accomplished all four major life events fell from 45 percent in 1975 to 24 percent in 2016, according to Kassira Absar in “Delayed Adulthood: The Millennial Falsehood,” at www.apmresearchlab.org.

The Census Bureau dubbed this new stage between childhood and adulthood as “emerging adulthood.”

Other researchers have called it “prolonged adolescence.”

Kent E. Fillinger serves as president of 3:STRANDS Consulting, Indianapolis, Indiana, and regional vice president (Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan) with Christian Financial Resources.

It’s not my intent to bash or belittle young adults (millennials), but rather to share the research data to identify relevant trends impacting culture and the church. Let’s examine each of the four traditional markers for adulthood to check their status today.

/3strandsconsulting 3strandsconsulting.com

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Leaving Home?

“The rise in young adults living at home is especially prominent among those with lower education,” according to Pew researchers Kristen Bialik and Richard Fry. “Millennials who never attended college were twice as likely as those with a bachelor’s degree or more to live with their parents (20% vs. 10%)” (from the article, “Millennial Life: How Young Adulthood Today Compares with Prior Generations,” February 14, 2019, www.pewsocialtrends.org).

And 25 percent of young people aged 25 to 34 living in their parents’ home—or about 2.2 million—neither go to school nor work.

More and more parents are providing homes for their aging children to live in, but fewer parents are positively influencing those children to attend church. From 2000 to 2018, the share of those aged 18 to 34 who never attend religious services has more than doubled to 36 percent (see “Cradles, Pews and Shifting Politics,” by Gerald F. Seib, Wall Street Journal, June 25, 2019). Only 27 percent of adults under age 30 attend a worship service weekly (see “Less God, Less Giving?” Karl Zinsmeister, Philanthropy, Winter 2019).

Church leaders like the ones who read this magazine obviously will see a problem in this, but society at large should be worried, as well.

Americans who attend worship services weekly and pray daily are more likely to volunteer in their community, be involved in community groups, have stronger links with their neighbors, and be more engaged with their own families. They also make more charitable contributions—even to secular causes— than the nonreligious.

The trend toward decline in church attendance and participation over the last two decades should heighten concerns for churches. That said, parents with adult children still living with them should take C H R I S T I A N S TA N D A R D

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advantage of their proximity and work to revive their children’s faith. It’s never too late to renew the biblical model of parents training their children to follow God. Besides, when they’re living with you, you have a captive audience.

Marriage and Parenthood?

More than half of Americans today do not consider marriage and parenthood as determinants of adulthood—this is a shift from the historical norm. Instead, they place a greater emphasis on education and employment.

Young people today are delaying marriage compared with prior generations. In the 1970s, 8 in 10 people married by the time they turned 30. Today, it’s not until age 45 that 8 in 10 people have married. In 1968, the typical American woman first married at age 21; for men it was 23. Today, the average ages are 28 for women and 30 for men.

The percentage of adults who never marry is increasing with each successive generation. If current patterns continue, an estimated one-in-four of today’s young adults will have never married by the time they reach their mid-40s to early 50s (from “Millennial Life,” Bialik and Fry).

Delayed marriages and no marriages for young adults will naturally result in fewer babies being born. Last year, births were at a 32-year low in the U.S. Interestingly, the birthrate among older women, aged 35 to 44, increased last year (from “Cradles, Pews and Shifting Politics”).

These trends obviously will have major implications for our nation, but from a spiritual perspective, staying single negatively impacts church attendance, participation, and religious affiliation. According to D E C E M B E R 2 019

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Pew Research, 43 percent of married couples attend a religious service at least once a week compared with only 27 percent of those “never married.” Twenty-eight percent of married couples attend some type of religious education at least once a week compared with 18 percent of those never married. And 55 percent of married couples identified themselves as “Evangelical Protestants” compared with only 18 percent of those never married.

The landscape of “lost people” will continue to look much different moving forward. This should cause churches to expand their focus and change their strategies to reach the growing segments of people outside the church who are single or married and have no children.

Education and Employment?

Young adults today are better educated than prior generations. More women than men complete at least a bachelor’s degree.

“Over 60 percent of college-age people get some type of financial help from their parents. It’s no wonder when you consider the average cost of a 4-year degree is over $40,000,” according to Nate Calvert (“4 Reasons Delayed Adulthood Is an Increasing Trend,” natecalvert.com). “We’re seeing a larger and larger percentage of college-age adults getting financial assistance from home.”

Students who borrow money today leave college with an average debt of more than $30,000. This debt will impact their ability to live on their own, get married and have children, and give to the church and other related ministries and causes.

More young men are falling to the bottom of the income ladder. In 1975, only 25 percent of young men had incomes below $30,000 a year (in 2015 dollars).

By 2016, that share rose to 41 percent. Between 1975 and 2016, the share of young women who were homemakers fell from 43 percent to 14 percent.

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Responding to the New Face of Adulthood New realities require new strategies. Reaching this generation of young adults requires a different approach from prior generations. The churches that target one demographic—nuclear families with two parents and children—will be relevant only to a small subset of society. It will limit a church’s evangelistic opportunities and effectiveness.

Here are four action steps your church can take today: • Invest in a demographic study to identify who lives in your surrounding communities.

• Evaluate your church’s ministries and primary messages to see if they’re designed for the majority people groups living in your ministry region.

• Decide on ministry changes or additions that are necessary to better reach those people groups living in your community.

• Start making those strategic changes one at a time while explaining the “why” behind the changes before, during, and after to your congregation.  D E C E M B E R 2 019

I m ag i n e

Dying Mall Becoming Marketplace for Church to Serve Community

BY MEL McGOWAN

Grand Cities Mall was nearly dead. It’s a typical story in a small city. Online retail has caused local stores to shut down. Even big retailers have left the mall in Grand Forks, North Dakota. But the owner of the mall, Land of Hope—the managing group serving Hope Church in relationship to the Grand Cities Mall—wants to change that story.

Mel McGowan is cofounder and chief creative principal of PlainJoe Studios. He is a leading master planner and designer of churches in America.

Hope Church originally rented a storefront space in the mall in 1996. It was supposed to be only temporary because the church owned seven acres on the south side of town where it planned to construct a building. As more and more retailers left though, Hope felt a calling to stay.

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/visioneer

@visioneer

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“Gradually . . . we realized that we wanted to be a part of what’s going on here,” said Paul Knight, who serves as lead pastor of Hope Church and sits on the board of Land of Hope. “We believe we can create a community here that will be honorable and exciting for the Greater Grand Forks area.”

So, in 2015, Hope Church purchased the mall property.

Knight told the Grand Forks Herald that shoppers today are driven by experience and not just purchasing products. He said the change in the retail market is similar to when Henry Ford invented a car almost anyone could afford, and it put people selling horses out of business. The emergence of online shopping and the dominance of companies like Amazon are the modern-day equivalent.

“This is one of those big, iconic changes for our nation,” Knight said. “We’re redoing how we do business. Stores that offer good service, a human touch . . . those are going to be the kinds of places you go to.”

Developing a Dream Design Knight and his team, along with city leaders, met with PlainJoe Studios for a design intervention.

Together we dreamed about possibilities for the property. We created a master plan for 27 acres of pure experience . . . what we’re calling the Midtown District. In our dream design, we take large amounts of ugly parking spaces and some empty stores and replace them with a community haven of green space that will include a park, trees, and a pond.

I love looking at the before and after pictures because of the stark contrast between big, old-looking blobs of gray and the green, natural beauty C H R I S T I A N S TA N D A R D

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where the campus of Hope Church will be developed. The mall will remain, but with a new mix of tenants and possible additions like a coffee shop, restaurants, a city library, and more.

‘Being Where the Action Is’ Paul Knight is my hero. Hope Church could play it safe and keep renting until the mall completely shuts down. Or they could follow the crowd by jumping ship and moving to the property they originally purchased. They could have called us to design a new building just for them. But, instead, they are following God’s prompting to generously serve their community.

Hope’s mission is “to reach people who do not know Jesus and lead them to become his fully devoted followers.” Many churches have a similar mission statement, and yet many such churches reach no one for Christ in their communities.

They may have great programs and build up followers in their church, but still miss the point of what we are called to do.

“When we look at the New Testament, Jesus hung out in the marketplace; he went to the center of the city,” Knight said. “We love this idea of being where the action is.”

Hope’s strategy is to reach wide, teach deep, and unleash compassion. And since its beginning in 1979, they’ve done just that. I have no doubt they’ll continue to do so in the new Midtown District.  C H R I S T I A N S TA N D A R D

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Ministry L i fe

The Jewel Tree

BY DANIEL SCHANTZ

“Don’t bother to buy a Christmas tree,” my wife, Sharon, said as she peered out the window at our neighbors who were struggling to get an oversized tree through their front door. “No one is coming to see us this season, so what’s the point?” She sounded disappointed.

“Yeah, you’re right,” I agreed. “I think this is going to be the Christmas that wasn’t.”

This Christmas would be a special trial for me— my first since I retired after training student-leaders for world service for 43 years. All that time, I “lived” in the classrooms of Central Christian College of the Bible in Moberly, Missouri.

Students inspired me with their dreams, amazed me with their creativity, humbled me by their absolute faith in God, surprised me with notes and comments, and made me laugh a thousand times a day.

At Christmastime, students often gave me small, thoughtful gifts, and every Christmas I would invite some classes to our home for refreshments and fellowship. Sharon would make her big, sticky pecan rolls, served with wassail and hot chocolate.

Daniel Schantz is a professor emeritus of Central Christian College of the Bible, Moberly, Missouri.

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Other groups would drop by unannounced to sing carols on our front porch.

“We wish you a merry Christmas, Schantzy, we wish you a merry Christmas. . . .”

But no more.

This year it would be just the two of us, sitting in an empty living room, feeling sorry for ourselves.

One afternoon I trudged up to the attic where I caught sight of an old wooden box—a treasure chest I had made to illustrate the theme of the book on the first day of Proverbs class: “For wisdom is better than rubies, and all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her” (Proverbs 8:11, New Kings James Version).

It was filled with plastic and glass jewelry purchased from craft stores and thrift shops: rubies and sapphires, emeralds and diamonds, opals and agates . . . pearl necklaces and bracelets, and big, gaudy diamond rings. It all looked amazingly real.

I fingered the jewels and thought how my students loved this chest of “precious stones”! A girl would drape the pearls around her neck, slip the garish diamond ring on to her finger, and squeal with joy.

“Whoa, look at this rock! Am I the Queen of Sheba, or what?”

After lunch I was helping Sharon with the dishes and staring out the window at a dappled willow tree I had planted last summer some 15 feet away.

It looked like a small palm tree, but the pink and green leaves had now fallen, leaving the golden branches quivering in a cold breeze.

As I pondered the tree, I had an idea. When Sharon left the house for some afternoon shopping, I opened the treasure chest and pored over the jewels.

Most of the plastic ones had a small hole in one end, for stringing into a necklace. I attached a long piece of fishing line to each jewel, then tied them to the limbs of the willow tree, until the tree shimmered with light from the afternoon sun: sparkles of red and green, blue and amber, and dazzling white.

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When Sharon returned home, she fell in love with the tree. “It’s better than any pine tree we ever had,” she said. Every afternoon the sun shined through the gemstones and projected dancing points of light on her kitchen walls. At night, the headlights of passing cars made the jewels wink on and off, like stars.

One evening while watching the colored light show, I thought of the song “Jewels” we had sung on Sunday evenings at church: When He cometh, when He cometh, to make up His jewels . . . his loved and his own . . . like the stars of the morning . . . little children, little children . . . are the jewels, precious jewels . . . bright gems for His crown.

I said to myself, “My students are my jewels, my children. They are no longer in my daily world, but wherever they are, they are a part of me, and I am a part of them.”

Then I thought of all the Christian colleges, and all of the students being trained to serve in churches, missions, children’s homes, and schools. I thought of the teachers and staff quietly transforming uncut jewels into valuable gemstones who will reflect the glory of God into the dark corners of the world.

And I recalled Daniel’s words, “Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever” (Daniel 12:3, NKJV).

I no longer felt alone. My work did not end when I retired. My students are busy training others.

Merry Christmas to all those who are training leaders for Christian service.  Submit your own 500- to 700-word essay telling of an experience through which you learned a vital ministry principle by emailing it to cs@christianstandardmedia.com with “MinistryLife” in the subject line. See more information at www.christianstandard.com/contact-us/submit-articles.

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Ho rizo n s

Innovative Disciple-Making Using Social Media

BY LAURA MCKILLIP WOOD

The smell of fresh bread and pastries wafted around Eugene* as he stepped through the bakery door in Banja Luka, Bosnia. Shelves of baked goods lined one wall, and people quietly spoke with the cashier as they made their purchases. Eugene noticed two young men his age standing near him.

One man wore a jacket with the name of a band on it. “I like that band,” Eugene said. After chatting for a moment, Eugene sat down with David and Petar.

They drank coffee and talked about their shared love of music. As they prepared to leave, they set up a time to meet again.

Laura McKillip Wood, former missionary to Ukraine, now serves as the registrar at Nebraska Christian College in Papillion, Nebraska, and works as an on-call chaplain at a nearby hospital. She and her husband, Andrew, have three teenagers.

This chance meeting began a great friendship.

Eugene, a recent Bible college graduate, had just moved to Banja Luka that day in February 2018, so he was excited to make friends. The trio began meeting on a weekly basis. Eugene eventually shared his faith with the two men. They listened politely, but neither expressed interest in knowing more about Christianity. David and Petar just weren’t concerned with spiritual matters.

/laura.wood2 @woodlaura30 @woodlaura30 lauramckillipwood.com lauramckillipwood@gmail.com

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Discipling Seekers After identifying people who are interested in learning more, the team sets up face-to-face meetings and encourages them to talk about what is going on in their lives and why they are interested in matters of faith. This is when the DMM strategies come into play.

Searching for seekers This may sound like a solid method of lifestyle evangelism, but it did not produce the hoped-for results.

“This is why our media program is so important,” Eugene says.

He and his teammates use an innovative method of reaching out to seekers in their region. The Media to Disciple Making Movements strategy utilizes social media to find people interested in spiritual topics and establish relationships with them using methods from the Discipleship Making Movement (DMM).

Eugene and his teammate Anna create videos, pictures with Scriptures, and thought-provoking quotes that they post on Facebook. Ninety-eight percent of Bosnians have Facebook accounts, and Eugene and Anna can tailor posts to reach just the people in the Banja Luka region. The videos he creates share the stories of Bosnian Christians describing how they came to follow Christ and why. When people are interested in learning more about Jesus, they click on the post to respond, which redirects to the group’s website, where they see more testimonies and can request information. This process efficiently finds people who are seeking God. C H R I S T I A N S TA N D A R D

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“DMM gets people together in natural social networks to study the Bible,” Eugene explains. “They read Scripture, talk about what it means, and what it would look like if they applied it to their lives.”

Each Bible study involves reading a passage of Scripture and discussing five questions: What do you like/ not like about this passage? What does this passage teach us about God? What does it teach us about man? If this passage is true, how will your life be different? Who can you share this with this week?

The DMM method is simple, reproducible, and anyone can lead it. This movement has grown around the world because people can easily take this way of studying the Bible to their social networks and replicate it.

Eugene emphasizes the importance of both media and the DMM elements in their work. He points to his meetings with David and Petar as an example.

They met consistently for months, but it seemed to result in no spiritual growth.

“It’s easy to make friends and hang out with them, and those friendships have their own value,” Eugene says. “However, those friends may or may not care about spiritual things. In a country with this many D E C E M B E R 2 019

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Seeking More Seekers people, it’s hard to filter through all of them, one coffee at a time, to reach those who might really be interested.”

As an example of how targeted media ministry differs from traditional ministry, Eugene tells the story of Omar.

Since Bosnia has a large Muslim population, the team launched media campaigns geared toward people celebrating Ramadan in 2018. Muslims who become Christians often report seeing visions of Jesus or dreaming about Jesus and feeling led to Christianity as a result. Because of that, the team marketed media content toward people who may have dreamed of a man in white or a man in sandals, or who had similar dreams or visions.

“Omar contacted us and said, ‘I am him! I’m the one who’s had a dream or vision of Jesus!’” Eugene says. The team met with Omar and found out he had been seeking to know God better but did not know where to start. Through subsequent meetings with Eugene’s teammates, Omar is now studying the Bible and learning more about Jesus every day.

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Not only have Bosnians learned more about Christ as a result of this team’s work, but word is spreading to neighboring places as well. Someone from an organization called Croatia for Christ heard about their strategy, and Christians there are now learning how to use the Media to Disciple Making Movements strategy to reach out to their communities. Bosnia is strategically located and connected to parts of Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East; the potential for growth to other parts of the world is huge.

What about David and Petar? Eugene reports that their friendship has lapsed. When Eugene returned to the United States for a few months to raise support, they simply drifted apart. God might possibly use the seeds planted in the pair, but Eugene has no way of knowing.

Regardless of this, Eugene and his teammates plan to continue to use innovative strategies to find spiritually sensitive people through their media campaign and Disciple Making Movement strategies.  *All names have been changed, but the stories are true.

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growing up with standard publishing a brief history (and the continuing legacy) of this innovative and influential publisher’s true-to-the-Bible children’s ministry resources

by margie redford

“I grew up on Standard Publishing.” Thousands of adults today could make this claim—including me! My home church, First Christian Church in Columbiana, Ohio, was a strong advocate for teaching biblical truths and sound doctrine. The leaders turned to The Standard Publishing Company for both their children’s Sunday school and Vacation Bible School materials.

Thanks to my mother’s careful saving of important documents, I still have numerous certificates of promotion printed by Standard Publishing. They form a spiritual timeline of my years growing up in the church and a Christian home.

So what drove this small publishing house to become such a leader in children’s ministry materials? What variety of teaching materials were produced to grow children in God’s Word? And how does the children’s ministry of Standard Publishing continue today?

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an early leader in Sunday school curriculum The Sunday school movement began a rapid upward surge in the early 1870s. This movement contributed greatly to the growth of the church and local congregations. The Standard Publishing Company, incorporated in 1872, was established to serve churches that were determined to follow the Bible as the Word of God. New Sunday school publications were developed to meet the needs of every age group from cradle roll to adult. The first Uniform Lessons for Sunday School were published in 1873, including Girlhood Days and Boy Life. In 1876, Sunday School Standard became the first of Standard’s take-home papers for children. In 1879, The Little Child, a take-home paper for Beginner children, was announced.

Buds of Hope followed in 1885 and correlated to the Uniform Sunday School Lessons. This paper later became The Little Beginner, then Four and Five, and now Heart Tugs.

The development of other age-level materials for both teachers and students was similar.

With the turn of the century came more innovation. First published in 1907, Training for Service was by far the most widely used teacher training text of its time and is still available today. Herbert Moninger, editor of this excellent survey of the Bible, promoted it abroad. At one time it was claimed that in Japan, 100,000 people were studying Training for Service.

A year later, Standard pioneered full-color printing. Recognizing the impact of art in Christian education, Standard commissioned oil paintings of all major events of the Bible. A collection of nearly 800 pieces visualized Bible scenes for learning.

In the earliest Sunday school curriculum, great emphasis was placed on the primary-age child.

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welcome to VBS! No one knows for sure just when the first Vacation Bible School was held, or who held it. But in 1923, Standard Publishing produced the first printed materials specifically designed for use in Vacation Bible School. The first course was a 5-week program that provided material for three age levels—Kindergarten, Primary, and Junior. Over the next nine decades, 10-day and then 5-day courses became popular, and Standard provided VBS materials for toddlers through adults.

Phyllis J. Sanders, who worked at Standard Publishing for 38 years, became known as the face and voice of Standard’s VBS programs. As director of the department, Sanders worked tirelessly with a dedicated team of editors to develop themes and Bible lessons that would impact churches, children, families, and communities.

Standard’s VBS materials were sold in the United States and Canada, and missionaries used the materials in other parts of the world.

The array of VBS materials included teacher guides, student books, visuals, music, and crafts.

Mission packets accompanied many VBS programs. Puppets and drama scripts engaged children of all ages. Theme-related snacks, games, and service projects were suggested. Scene setters, promotional items, and gifts abounded.

Directors and teachers were trained through printed guides and workshops. Follow-up programs helped kids and families continue to grow in God’s ways beyond the time spent at VBS.

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Men of great insight saw the need to develop curriculum for upper elementary children, and in January 1909, the first year in each of the three elementary courses was completed: Beginner, Primary, and Junior. The purpose of the graded lessons was to meet the spiritual needs of students in each stage of their spiritual development.

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Through the years, Standard’s VBS programs reached more than 40 million children. Deonna Lierman, who worked side by side with Sanders for more than 30 years, summed up Standard’s VBS success: “Phyllis and the VBS team just wanted to put the best materials into the hands of people who had a heart for Jesus—and He did the rest.”

children’s Bibles, books, and more!

With both Sunday school and Vacation Bible school curricula established, Standard turned its attention to the development of another growing need in Christian education—Bibles and Bible story books for young readers. The Standard Bible Story Readers, by Lillie A. Faris, were introduced in 1925. Churches, schools, and families purchased more than a million copies of the series. In 1962, these graded readers were updated with new art and a new name—Basic Bible Readers. Graded reading books continued when the popular Happy Day Books line was introduced.

The plethora of children’s books published by Standard over the years is astounding. Some of the books have been hardback for little hands, such as Baby’s First Bible. Others were paperback, including cutout, coloring, dot-to-dot, and puzzle books.

From 1991 to 2006, Diane Stortz served as editor and then director of the New Products department. Under her leadership, the Happy Day Books series took on a new look and approach, affordable for both Sunday school classrooms and home use. A number of other titles taught captivating Bible stories and important faith concepts. In 1998, The Young Reader’s Bible was released, featuring Scripture references, maps of Bible lands, colorful illustrations, and a glossary of terms and unfamiliar Bible words.

“Be sure the children know that their lesson stories and memory verses are from the Bible.

Handle the Bible with care.

It is God’s book.”

Sound advice? Yes. And it comes from How to Conduct a Primary Department, by Florence McCafferty, Standard Publishing, 1919!

Reflecting on the array of ministry products printed, Stortz says, “Many of the products we developed are still available and have new life because other publishers recognized their value and purchased the rights to them. Tyndale House has done a beautiful job with the sticker line and the Happy Day Books line, and B&H Kids has brought The Young Reader’s Bible, My Good Night Bible, and a number of other children’s books back into the marketplace for new generations of kids and families.”

tools and training Throughout its history Standard has been a leader in equipping teachers with both the tools and training needed for teaching God’s Word effectively. Teachers looked to Standard for certificates, postcards, bookmarks, and attendance charts—tools that made Sunday school fun for kids and easy for connecting with families.

Packs of gummed seals in time were replaced by self-adhesive stickers—and there were plenty of them to use for attendance, crafts, and recognition!

Looking for another way to help teachers visualize scenes from the Bible, Standard Publishing developed flannelgraph Bible stories. Suedebacked figures were easy to punch out and adhere to a flannel board. Known as Pict-O-Graph, Standard’s packets included instruction manuals with sketches of sample scenes to use in telling the Bible stories.

To meet the needs of Christian education beyond the Sunday school hour, Standard created materials for children’s worship, kids’ clubs, midweek Bible study programs, and family together times. When reproducible curriculum became popular, Standard provide d those re source s too, making it easy for teachers to use and costeffective for churches to purchase. The backcover copy on one of the reproducible graded

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Route 52 books reiterates Standard’s core values for children’s ministry: “There’s nothing more important to teach our children than how to build a relationship with God, and there’s no better way to do that than to teach kids the Bible.”

Training teachers and leaders continued to be a priority for the company. Beginning in the 1960s, Key to Christian Education was published quarterly. The journal contained training articles for all age levels, from toddlers through adult. In the 1990s a video series, Design for Teaching, was introduced. The training kits included 15-minute VHS videos and reproducible assignment worksheets.

By the mid-1970s, Standard was focusing on another important area of children’s ministry—the inclusion of children with special needs. Standard partnered with Jim Pierson, who served as a consultant to churches in the area of special education. Dr. Pierson’s tips for including students with disabilities were printed in VBS and Sunday school curriculum and several books.

shaping hearts with God’s Word continues Released in July 2005, HeartShaper Children’s Curriculum continues Standard’s legacy of providing true-to-the-Bible materials for teaching God’s Word to children. Lessons for toddlers through preteens integrate age-appropriate Bible skills to help children grow in handling God’s Word. The curriculum also includes activity adaptations for teaching children with different needs and abilities. Additional training and family resources are offered at HeartShaper.com.

In 2015, Standard Publishing’s Sunday school curriculum (for both children and adults) and several other church resources were purchased

by David C Cook Publishing. Standard’s children’s curriculum continues to be published and sold today.

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“I think the real strength of Standard came in the breadth of its coverage,” Lloyd said. “I have never ceased to be amazed at what I discover about how prolific and how impactful Standard Publishing has been in its efforts to provide materials for churches. Its efforts to simply teach God’s Word ministered not only to the needs of Christian churches and churches of Christ, but also to churches outside of the Restoration Movement.

“The people at Standard were ingenious in their efforts to provide everything possible for children to learn God’s Word. This is seen, for instance, in the way Standard provided mothers and fathers with materials that helped them to be directly involved in home education for their children from nursery age on up.

“Alexander Campbell expressed his concern that parents would ignore their responsibilities for teaching their children by allowing the church to take over that role,” Lloyd continued. “Standard made sure that both the church and parents had material in hand that would help their children’s spiritual growth. Only God knows the number of individuals and the number of families that have grown in grace and knowledge of the Lord because of Standard Publishing.”

So did you grow up on Standard Publishing? I’m grateful and blessed because I did! 

Margie Redford has been a children’s curriculum editor for Standard Publishing (now part of the David C Cook family) since September 1991. A graduate of Kentucky Christian University, Margie married Doug Redford in 1976. The couple have served together in various located ministries since that time—Doug preaching and teaching and Margie working in the areas of children’s and music ministries. Doug and Margie live in Cincinnati, Ohio. They have three children and five grandchildren.

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Jim Lloyd, library director at Cincinnati Christian University, knows a lot about the Christian education materials produced by Standard Publishing. He has been collecting and archiving the company’s products for 35 years!

A Leader in Children’s Ministry Significant and Fun Fac ts from Standard Publishing

e arly

1870s

Rapid growth in the Sunday school movement.

1872

1873

Standard Publishing incorporated.

Uniform Lessons for Sunday School published

by Standard, including Girlhood Days and Boy Life.

1876

1879

Sunday School Standard, the first take-home paper for children, published.

The Little Child, a take-home paper for Beginner children, announced. Buds of Hope followed in 1885 and correlated to the Uniform Sunday School Lessons.

1907 The first edition of Training for Service, written by Herbert Moninger, published. Later editions were edited by C. J. Sharp, Orrin Root, Eleanor Daniel, and Jim Eichenberger.

1908 Standard pioneered full-color printing; a collection of Bible oil paintings was commissioned. The collection was added to through the years and ultimately included 92 oil paintings by renowned American artist Cleveland L. Woodward (1900–85).

Born in Glendale, Ohio, Woodward was a lecturer on biblical art and instructor in oil painting.

1909 The first year of Sunday school lessons in each of the three elementary courses completed: Beginner, Primary, and Junior.

1914 The first set of religious outline pictures for children to color are printed.

1925 The Standard Bible Story Readers, by Lillie A. Faris, introduced.

1919 Absentee and invitation postcards printed in full color to boost Sunday school attendance.

1920 Bible Picture Story Cards introduced. The pocket-size, take-home cards summarized the Bible story heard in class, along with its Bible art.

1923 Standard Publishing produced the first printed materials specifically designed for use in Vacation Bible School.

1934 A Daily Bible Readings Plan for Junior age and above started.

1936 The first slogan stickers printed: “Make 1937 a Sundayschool Year.”

1947

‘

Standard pioneered in the production of filmstrips. A special offer included a Viewlex Projector with two filmstrips each quarter for $10 down and $10 per month for one year.

1948 Bible Storytime Records introduced. The 45 rpm picture disc records featured full-color labels with titles such as “When Jesus Was Born,” “The Wise-men,” “Poky Caterpillar,” and “Little Brown Seed.”

1980 Year of the Sunday School, a celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Sunday school movement, spearheaded by Standard Publishing. The water tower on Standard’s property was painted to look like a birthday cake, and an anniversary packet of materials was offered to Sunday schools.

(The water tower was toppled in 1985 as it was no longer needed.)

1987 Introduction of new group-graded Sunday school curriculum, which included audio tapes.

1956 Standard hosted the first National Christian Education Convention.

l ate

1950s — e arly 1960s

Development of flannelgraph figures. One of Standard Publishing’s pressmen renovated an old press so it would run glue instead of ink. After the adhesive was applied to the back side of a printed sheet, the sheet passed through a section containing rayon fiber. The fiber adhered to the glue. Standard Publishing patented this process, and flannelgraph was born!

Key to Christian Education journal began quarterly publication. The journal contained training articles for all age levels, written by dedicated editors such as Wilma L. Shaffer, Dana Eynon, Norma Thurman, Judy Trotter, Orrin Root, and James I. Fehl.

Frances Hook illustrated a series of pictures of Jesus for Standard Publishing. The images were used for Sunday school take-home papers, Vacation Bible School materials, and children’s books.

1998 The Young Reader’s Bible introduced.

1973 Julie and Jeff 2s & 3s Sunday school curriculum debuted. It featured learning centers with guided conversation prompts for teachers, activity pages, a colorful take-home paper, and a set of wipe-clean storybooks correlated to the syllabus.

2005 HeartShaper Children’s Curriculum released. The classroom-based curriculum integrates Bible skill at all age levels.

children’s ministry

A Passion for Reaching More megachurch

by Pam Siddle

Dwight L. Moody once said, “If I could relive my life, I would devote my entire ministry to reaching children for God.” We have a similar commitment at Crossroads Christian Church in Grand Prairie, Texas, and God is using our children’s ministry to attract families to worship with us and ultimately reach more children for him.

Here’s how we’re doing this.

facilities

Having a visually appealing, kid-friendly building is very important. Families love seeing areas designed specifically for children, and the kids are excited to be there. Our members also love having areas that are appealing and specific for kids. It makes it easy for them to invite friends and families with children to church.

We want Sunday to be the most exciting day of the week for children, so we’ve designed our facilities to reflect somewhere every child wants to go—Disney!

On our previous campus, we designed and built an authentic castle as our children’s building.

It had a drawbridge and a medieval armored knight; all of our team members wore authentic costumes. The entire community talked about the church with the castle, and kids wanted their friends to see the castle where they went to church! It drew a lot of people to our church.

A drawback, we learned, is it limited the themes we could use. It just seemed awkward having a western-themed VBS in a castle!

When we moved to our current campus, we decorated and themed all of our children’s areas with wall murals and three-dimensional elements

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that appealed to kids and their parents. Kids feel more comfortable when they enter a fun, kid-friendly, welcoming environment. It shows parents that kids are a priority for us, and it demonstrates our passion for reaching kids and their families for Christ.

Our nursery area is called Giggleville, and we believe it is the happiest place on earth. The name brings a smile to people’s faces and helps them picture precious, giggling babies. Each room in Giggleville has soft pastel colors and wall murals of different baby animals such as bunnies, lambs, ducklings, and puppies.

Crossroads Station, our preschool area, is located just off the main lobby and features a train theme. The preschool’s entryway looks like a train platform. Inside, there is a working model railroad with six running trains that include, of course, Thomas the Tank Engine. Each room is decorated with bright colors that have an international flavor and feature animals and sights you’d see as a train passes by.

Our 4-year-olds enjoy what we refer to as Texas Hall. Each room includes imagery—including landmarks and sports teams—from a different city in Texas: Dallas, San Antonio, Fort Worth, and Houston.

From the outside, the children’s building looks like an art deco-styled movie theater. Upon entering, it looks like Main Street at Walt Disney World. The building includes a snack bar, ice cream shop, lots of classrooms, a two-story themed playground called the Park (with incredible, interactive play features), a huge theater

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that features stadium seating and three screens, a smaller theater just for kindergartners, a multisport gymnasium, and gaming stations.

This building was created for one purpose: to connect kids to God and to one another (Matthew 19:14).

than 100,000 eggs. After the egg hunt, kids can play on inflatables or join family members for a movie in our outdoor amphitheater. Local food vendors participate, which is the only associated charge. This event has brought thousands of people to our campus who wouldn’t otherwise come to church; many of them now attend on a regular basis.

Parents today are more concerned than ever about the safety of their children, On the evening of October 31, as an alternative to Halloween, we have a family event called the Hallelujah Carnival. We have loads of games where we hand out lots of candy. (We also have candy stations!)

There are more than 30 inflatables, multiple petting zoos, pony rides, a huge cakewalk, face painting, balloon animals, and lots more. We also have areas designated for preschool and elementary children.

CROSSROADS CHRISTIAN CHURCH Grand Prairie, Texas 2018 Weekly Attendance: 6,785

In December, we host a Christmas Lights Spectacular with thousands of outdoor lights synchronized to music. Food is available for purchase inside our children’s building, plus there are lots of family-friendly Christmas activities such as crafts, movies, and photos with Santa!

2018 Baptisms: 532 Founded: 1970 Senior Pastor: Barry Cameron Website: crossroadschristian.org Facebook: /crossroadscctx

Our movie theater-style children’s venue lends itself to family movie days and nights several times during the year. These events are free for our community and church family.

Twitter: @crossroads_tx Instagram: @crossroads_tx

Special events and programs have also helped us attract families with children from our surrounding communities.

Families are looking for fun, safe, high-quality, family-friendly events, so we try to offer such programs throughout the year. During the summer, we have a weeklong event called Kids Nights Live. This event is similar to Vacation Bible School; we do it in the evening and invite 4-yearolds through sixth-graders. We also have a basketball camp and sports camp for kindergartners through sixth-graders during the summer.

One example is a Saturday event we hold on Easter weekend. It is specifically geared toward families with children who wouldn’t normally come to one of our morning services. We host an outside service with a similar message to the one shared in our Sunday-morning services, but it also includes an Easter egg hunt with more

Some years ago, children’s sports leagues began scheduling activities on Sundays, causing whole families to miss church. Aside from that, many parents are seeking athletic opportunities for their children that will also teach good sportsmanship and character values. For these reasons, our church now offers a phenomenal

events + programs

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Kids feel more comfortable when they enter a fun, kid-friendly, welcoming environment.

It shows parents that kids are a priority for us, and it demonstrates our passion for reaching kids and their families for Christ.

sports program year-round for children ages 4 to 14; this program not only teaches values, but resolves the conflict with Sunday-morning church attendance.

Sports are huge in Texas. Crossroads Sports focuses on our church’s mission statement—connecting people to God and to one another. It’s a great way to get to know other church members and introduce friends, co-workers, and families in the community to Crossroads. Our high-quality program includes first-class uniforms, equipment, sports facilities, and fields. Our trained coaches and referees teach inspirational life lessons and encourage each athlete to perform to the best of his or her ability. Crossroads Kids

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Sports include basketball, soccer, flag football, volleyball, cheerleading, and tennis.

Through our children’s facilities, special family events, and kids’ programs, we are able to make more connections with kids and families in our community. Our desire is for our children’s ministry to make a greater impact in the lives of families in our community and reach more children for God. As George Barna once said, “In the race to a child’s heart, the first one there wins.”  Pam Siddle has served as children’s minister at Crossroads Christian Church in Grand Prairie, Texas, for 27 years. She is married and has one daughter and two grandchildren.

/steveandpam.siddle

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Historic Church Savors Growth medium / large church

by Justin Horey

Leading an effective children’s ministry is a lot like baking a cake. It’s important to have the right tools, a complete recipe, and all the necessary ingredients. Even with all of those things in place, the process can still be messy. But as First Christian Church of Monticello, Kentucky, is proving, the results can be sweet.

“Raccoon” John Smith, the renowned 19th-century evangelist, started First Christian Church in the tiny frontier town of Monticello in 1831.

By the time senior minister Joe Tipton arrived at the church in 2011, Monticello was home to just 6,000 residents and First Christian was averaging about 100 in Sunday worship attendance— with less than 10 children present most weeks.

Tipton recognized immediately that the church’s children’s ministry (birth through fifth grade) would need to change if the church wanted to grow. In his view, “If we can reach the kids, we can reach the parents.”

the tools

Within a year of Tipton’s arrival, First Christian created a new children’s ministry area called Kids Garden by relocating some of the adulteducation classrooms and removing a number of existing walls. It created a large, open area designed specifically for kids. The results were dramatic: When Kids Garden opened, the children’s ministry doubled in size almost immediately—from 8 or 9 kids to 20 or more.

ing 40 to 50 kids each week, and Kids Garden was at capacity. A church that had once struggled to find more than 10 children on a Sunday had suddenly run out of space.

At that point, Tipton and the church leaders created a “dream team” to pray and explore solutions to the church’s facility needs. Realizing the decades-old building could not accommodate any further growth in the children’s ministry, First Christian purchased the property next door and built a $2 million children’s facility that opened in October 2018.

Upon its completion, the children’s ministry started growing again—from 40-50 up to 7080 kids each week—and it’s easy to understand why. Among other amenities, the new building includes an indoor playground visible from the street. It also features a simple, secure check-in system at a centralized location that makes for an easy pre-service drop-off process and gives parents a sense of security.

Tipton believes the secure, centralized checkin area is a factor in the strength and growth of the children’s program at First Christian. Prior to 2012, children were located in different parts of the church building on Sunday mornings.

Visitors and first-time guests often struggled to figure out where their children should go. Today, the centralized check-in has resolved that problem.

For the next four years, from 2012 to 2016, the the recipe church experienced consistent growth in its chil- Of course, the facility is only one part of the redren’s ministry. By 2016, the program was draw- vitalization of the children’s ministry at First

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Christian. The congregation recently began using The Gospel Project for Kids as its children’s curriculum. It’s a “Christ-centered, chronological journey through Scripture” intended to show children how the whole Bible points to Jesus.

church bus driver picks up and drops off at least 10 of the 75 or so children who attend church on Sundays, and though the driver isn’t ministering to the kids in the classroom, he knows them all. That kind of involvement helps solidify the The LifeWay curriculum is a three-year program, children’s connection to the church—especially and First Christian is about halfway through it. since many of them come from what Tipton calls Children’s director Anita Bowman, who was in- “pretty rough backgrounds.” On a recent Sunstrumental in selecting the program, said she day morning, two children’s ministry workers appreciates it because it teaches biblical literacy, even provided birthday cake and gifts to a pair and because “it teaches that kids are responsible of twins who weren’t going to have a celebration at home. for their own faith.”

The curriculum provides “Big Picture Questions” each week intended to reinforce the Sundaymorning lesson by guiding at-home discussions between parents and children. Bowman shares those questions via a colorful handout she gives to parents after the Sunday service. She also posts the questions to the church’s dedicated children’s ministry Facebook page (www.facebook.com/fcckids), where parents can share and discuss the questions with one another.

FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH Monticello, Kentucky

the people

2018 Weekly Attendance: 315

Tipton and Bowman have led the transformation of the children’s area at First Christian, but they are hardly alone. The children’s program currently depends on 15 to 20 volunteers each week, and those volunteers are personally invested in the kids under their care by shepherding and loving them throughout the week.

Children’s ministry volunteers regularly reach out to parents to help reinforce the weekly lesson and encourage a partnership between those families and the church. FCC members are also active in the community and local schools. All of the local athletic chaplains attend First Christian Church, as do many of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes sponsors in Monticello. The congregation also blesses the children of the city through its “FCC Loves Monticello” initiative—a program that serves teachers with practical acts like providing food for faculty in-service days.

Naturally, the children’s ministry team has its greatest impact on Sunday mornings. The

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2018 Baptisms: 42 Founded: 1831 Senior Pastor: Joe Tipton Website: firstchristianmonticello.com Facebook: /FCCMonticelloKY Twitter: @FCCMonticelloKY Instagram: @fccmonticelloky

Like many churches in the region, First Christian also offers children’s programming on Wednesday nights. Dinner is available to everyone who attends, and it is provided free of charge to children who need it. Attendance on Wednesday night is about half that of Sunday, providing staff and volunteers in the children’s ministry

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The children’s program currently depends on 15 to 20 volunteers each week, and those volunteers are personally invested in the kids under their care by shepherding and loving them throughout the week.

another opportunity to teach and disciple a significant number of kids.

the results

Some 200 years after it was established, Monticello is still a modest city. Likewise, Tipton is humble in his assessment of the changes that have transformed the children’s program at First Christian Church.

“A lot of what we’ve done is not cutting edge, but it’s cutting edge here in Monticello,” he said.

And the results are undeniable. Attendance at the church is running about 300 today—about 200 more than when Tipton arrived in 2011. Few

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churches anywhere can claim to have such a significant impact on the surrounding community, reaching roughly 5 percent of the city’s population each week.

By evaluating and improving its facilities, implementing all-new curriculum, and recruiting a committed team of talented, committed workers, First Christian Church has cooked up a children’s ministry program that blesses young people and entire families. 

Justin Horey is a writer, musician, and the founder of Livingstone Marketing. He lives in Southern California.

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Love and Longevity small church

by Melissa Wuske

JR and Debra Stephen have been volunteer leaders in the children’s ministry at Versailles (Indiana) Church of Christ since the mid-1980s. It’s a small congregation with “more older people than younger” right now, JR said. About 20 children regularly attend, and he described the church as “a close-knit family.” As a children’s leader, that closeness is an asset: “Everybody pretty much knows everybody, and you get to know the parents well.”

1. make parents part of the team

The couple have been through many seasons of ministry with the church: Families have moved into town and then away, staff have been hired to work with the young people and then moved on, kids have graduated and left the area, and culture continues to change as technology influences the lives of kids. Through it all, kids have been the couple’s passion. JR drives a bus for the local school system and the couple have 11 grandchildren.

It’s important to “keep adults involved,” JR said.

Don’t be shy. “Ask them [to help]—they like to be asked. Give them a job; that way they’ve got a ministry to do.” And show appreciation—a few kind words or a cookout go a long way toward encouraging adults to join in the ministry, he said.

Seeing adults following Christ helps childlike faith mature into a life of walking with God.

Their partnership is the key to their decades in volunteer ministry.

It can be tempting to focus almost exclusively on making things fun because children have short attention spans and the church desires to bring in more and more of them, but JR warned against that. “You don’t have very long to teach them,” he said. “Always have the Bible study time. I wouldn’t give up the Bible study time for outings. We use those outings for outreach.” Before you know it, he said, kids grow up and that critical time to build faith has passed.

“She’s my backbone,” JR said. “She organizes and does a lot of the planning and teaches the young ones.” What they both have in common is a selfless heart for service and a love for watching young people grow in Christ.

Longevity in ministry has taught them many lessons to share with other small churches.

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“The biggest thing is it takes a team effort, not just me and my wife. It takes a lot of people helping,” JR said. “One of the benefits [of a smaller church] is . . . a lot of [parents] will help.” The church’s VBS had more than 40 adult volunteers teaching and serving kids this year.

The Stephens said many parents over the years have taken off work to chaperone trips and help with events.

2. don’t sacrifice the Bible for fun

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When you take time to teach children lessons from God’s Word, they will learn, JR said. “They like it more than people think they do.” For the Stephens, the work is worth it “when you see them growing—they’re faithful, they’re enjoying, they’re learning.”

3. keep the momentum going Even in a small church, children’s ministry is “a busy job,” JR said. Relying completely on volunteers, with no paid staff in the children’s ministry, can be difficult at times. People who serve in the ministry have other commitments, especially with more people working more hours these days.

been working to adapt to families’ needs, including starting Wednesday-night activities a little earlier so kids can get to bed on time.

4. keep an eye on cost “Resources are the biggest challenge,” JR said.

“Everything costs so much.” He said the best way paid church staff can support volunteer leaders is to use church funds to help keep costs down for families.

Recently, JR and Debra took children from their church to the Indianapolis Zoo. “We were able to cover the cost of everything,” said JR. “All they had to do was take a sack lunch.” That helps families, especially those with multiple kids, and it makes it easier to invite friends.

5. hand it off to the next generation

VERSAILLES CHURCH OF CHRIST Versailles, Indiana

2018 Weekly Attendance: 75 2018 Baptisms: 5 Founded: 1958 Senior Pastor: Randy Thieman Facebook: /Versailles-Church-ofChrist-156211384391522

“It’s [also] hard to keep kids occupied these days,” he said. The key is to “keep it moving. If you slack up for two or three months, they become uninvolved.” Sustaining momentum has as much to do with parents, he’s found, as it does with kids: “Everybody’s tied up with everything else.”

Some events are well-attended and others aren’t, but it’s important to connect with families and keep trying to engage them. The church has

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After years of volunteer leadership for the children’s ministry, Versailles Church of Christ is currently looking to hire a youth minister.

“It’s kind of a slow process finding the right person,” said JR, noting it can be difficult “for a small congregation . . . to afford that type of position.” Also, with a close-knit congregation, finding the right person is vital.

“We’re just trying to reach the younger generations,” including kids, teens, and young adults, he said. “I enjoy doing it, but I’m 60 years old.

They listen better if you’ve got someone more their age.”

After more than 30 years in children’s ministry, JR and Debra can look back and see God’s work in generations of kids in Versailles. They’re still in contact with some former kids who are still following Christ in their 40s.

The couple say seeing children from the church grow up and remain faithful makes it all worthwhile. 

Melissa Wuske is a freelance editor and writer. She and her husband, Shawn, and their son, Caleb, live and minister in Cincinnati. /melissa.wuske melissaannewuske.com

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The Team It Takes multisite church

by Kathy Ives

The best thing about being part of a multisite God. Clarity matters in all churches, but I know kids’ ministry team is the built-in support and from experience it is ultra-important in multisite fellowship with multiple leaders. environments.

Most of our locations have their own kids’ directors, and together we make a fantastic and diverse team. Our directors are fully invested in kids and families, and they understand not only our church dynamics but the complicated nature of kids’ ministry. Together we discuss new creative ideas and solutions at regular meetings. On top of that, our newer directors learn from and are coached by more seasoned leaders.

As one of the kids’ directors at Community Christian Church, a multisite church in Chicagoland, I also appreciate that our church has a single, consistent goal: To reach people where they are and help them find their way back to God. With our focus on this vision, and with our kids’ ministry team’s customary spirit of cooperation, we are able to wade through the unique challenges that we encounter as a multisite church.

Two “big ideas”—clarity and reproducing leaders—have helped us stay on track at Community.

the need for clarity

Clarity is one of the most significant challenges for multisite children’s ministry: clarity of vision, structure, process . . . pretty much clarity of everything. Clarity should include a clear plan and vision, and consistent communication regarding the plan. Clarity matters for many reasons; among them, here at Community, it helps us run efficiently and gives teams the freedom to help families and kids find their way back to

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Here are three significant things we’ve learned to do to sustain clarity: 1. Develop a clear reporting and care structure that is communicated to all teams. Communication is as important as the actual structure. We have struggled with this over the years.

The structure may be in place but not everyone knows what it is. If you do not have clearly defined role descriptions or reporting/care structures in your kids’ ministry—from volunteers to pastors to central support—you will want to sort that out right away. If you are unsure whether your current structure works as it should, overcommunicate with your team until you have a better solution. It’s better to have a less-thanperfect structure than to have no structure.

2. Decide what needs to be the same at every location and what can be different. We created an official list of ministry constants; it’s a tool that includes these sorts of things: • all locations use the same curriculum • locations must have secure check-in for kids • all locations use the same logos and graphics A list like this is important. Multisite locations will look different to some extent. You and your team need to determine what is nonnegotiable for your ministry. At Community, we decided a family that attends any of our kids’ spaces should recognize they are at Community. At the same time, we want every kids’ ministry to be

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relatable and scalable based on location. Every kids’ director has latitude to be creative and make their kids’ ministry a custom fit for their location, so long as they stay within the agreedupon constants.

COMMUNITY CHRISTIAN CHURCH Chicagoland, Illinois 2017 Weekly Attendance: 5,904

The second-greatest challenge for multisite children’s ministry is the need to reproduce leaders.

Every church deals with a challenge I call “not enough” . . . not enough volunteers, not enough leaders, not enough staff. I hear this from almost everyone. It doesn’t matter if you are a multisite or single-site church. The children’s ministry always needs volunteers and leaders. If you are launching a new site, you may feel the “notenough” syndrome most acutely. Our teams that launch new locations are created from our existing locations. It is not unusual for your best and more dedicated leaders and volunteers to decide to join the launch team. That hurts.

We have identified two actions that help us combat the “not-enough” syndrome:

Campuses: 10 2017 Baptisms: 228

1. Communicate a bigger vision. I emphasize to my team members at every level that we are not just making Sunday happen at one site or at nine sites, we are reaching people who are far from God. Team members need to hear the why every week, and frankly, so do I. This is just another example of communicating vision and being clear about priorities.

Founded: 1989 Senior Pastor: Dave Ferguson Website: communitychristian.org Facebook: /communitychristianchurch Twitter: @getcommunity Instagram: @communityhpftwbtg

3. Have a plan for communication and training.

Our team of kids’ directors meets two times each month. It seems like a lot (and it is). These meetings are in addition to monthly all-staff meetings, coaching huddles, and location-specific meetings. It can become a large load on our kids’ directors. We know we are meeting-heavy, and I wish this could change, but any change that results in less clarity or throws our teams out of alignment would be foolish. Face-to-face conversations between locations are crucial for our growth, stability, and ultimately to our mission.

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the need to reproduce leaders

Teach your team—and impress upon yourself—to live with palms wide open; encourage volunteers and leaders to go where God calls them to lead.

We talk about and encourage this because we are on mission to help people find their way back to God. We believe it even when it temporarily leaves us shorthanded at one location. This is the big vision and it needs to be communicated all the time.

2. Develop a reproduction strategy. We have a system for reproducing leaders, and it is ingrained in all that we do. At Community, the reproducing big picture is defined as the “leadership path.” This path can take a person from apprentice to leader to coach to church planter.

The genius for kids’ ministry is that our leaders are well-equipped during apprenticeship so they

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I emphasize to my team members at every level that we are not just making Sunday happen at one site or at nine sites, we are reaching people who are far from God.

can succeed in their role. Our leadership path is embedded into our reporting and care structure so it becomes second nature. Apprentices and leaders are coached tactically and spiritually. In this system we equip volunteers and work with them so they can eventually grow into leaders we can send to the next church location or leadership position.

To make this model sustainable, we continually fill our leadership pipeline with more apprentices who may move into leadership. Our leaders are trained in recruiting and apprenticing as a regular part of our leadership training rhythm.

In addition to keeping the pipeline full, we believe this process moves people closer to God as they serve the world around them.

I am currently coaching Alex, a kids’ director who came up the leadership path. She apprenticed and became a kids’ small-group leader,

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then apprenticed again and became the kids’ director at one of our locations. She is still being coached and cared for as she learns to lead in her own space. I am sure when she started on this path, she was not planning a future in kids’ ministry, but as she moved along and developed, this became a clear choice for her. Because we were coaching and apprenticing with the bigger vision, not only has she gotten the opportunity to lead, but we have moved the mission forward.

If you are not in the habit of reproducing leaders, consider making it something you do as part of your ministry’s weekly rhythms.

Learn more about reproducing leaders in the book Exponential by Dave and Jon Ferguson.  Kathy Ives serves as kids’ ministry champion at Community Christian Church and also as Kids’ City director at their location in Naperville, Illinois.

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7 TRENDS

in children’s ministry space today by dave milam In a society in moral decline, it’s critical for churches to have the most effective tools to disciple the next generation. We also live in an age of shrinking church budgets, ever-expanding demands, and fierce competition. So, whether you are a parent or a children’s ministry worker, the following seven trends will help you navigate the challenge of serving the American church in a post-Christian world.

1. advanced security protocols Imagine time-traveling to 1953. On a stroll down the main street you might see locals sipping Coca-Cola on the corner and children actually playing outside. The phrase “children’s ministry security” didn’t exist back then. And if it had, churchgoers might have assumed you were talking about that cross-armed deacon who served as the Sunday school teachers’ bodyguard—proudly protecting them from undisciplined children carrying slingshots in their back pockets and speaking out of turn.

The Barney Fife era of church security has given way to the high-tech sophistication of James Bond. Handshakes have been replaced by regular and routine background checks of every volunteer. One-way nursery viewing mirrors have been replaced by cameras in every classroom—with parents stalking their children on video monitors in the lobby.

Long corridors of classrooms have been replaced with a “single point of entry” into the children’s environment.

This TSA philosophy of one central secure checkpoint (minus long lines, government agents, and full-body scans) has become the preferred method for checking-in kids across the country. It is one of the fastest-growing trends these days. And though there are still multiple avenues of exit for children, should there be an emergency, this single checkpoint creates an added layer of protection against child predators and active shooters.

Back in 1953, who’d have thought we’d one day be talking about this?

In an emergency, your children’s ministry may need the ability to quickly lock down and secure its environment until help arrives. And with a single point of entry, it can quickly barricade itself against intruders to protect children and workers. Churches with multiple points of entry may struggle to do this quickly and effectively.

Security of children at church is paramount these days.

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2. simple, clean theming The evolution of environmental design in children’s ministry is stunning: emerging from a one-room Sunday school of the 1780s to a long corridor of classrooms in the 1950s; rooms that housed flannelgraphs of the 1970s and puppet stages in the 1980s gave way to a static, theme-park design in the 1990s.

The 2000s saw an all-out attempt to lure young families to church, with the children’s ministry environments adopting completely immersive, theme-driven designs. Entire church wings were transformed into Ranger World, Kids Town, Space Odyssey, or Noah’s Ark. It’s been a gradual transition of late, but we’re starting to see a shift in the overall philosophy of design.

Think about it. A child’s attention span changes faster than a NASCAR pit crew can swap out tires. Investing hundreds of thousands of dollars to convert your kids’ wing into Walt Disney World may create a buzz for a year or two, but it won’t be long until volunteers start to dread wearing those ranger costumes every Sunday morning. Since budgets are tight, your church is likely to be stuck with an expensive, worn-out design until the next capital campaign rolls around.

These days, it’s critical to choose an environmental look with a long shelf life and a high level of flexibility.

In coming years, you’ll notice children’s spaces in churches beginning to look more like an interactive kids’ museum or children’s hospital. They’ll start to have a sophisticated, clean, flexible look as opposed to the highly dimensional, static theming of the ’90s. In fact, you’ll even notice the increased use of simple, readable fonts instead of playful typefaces like comic sans (which, for the record, should never ever be used . . . ever . . . under any circumstances).

Recently, Christ’s Church in Mason, Ohio, moved toward a more sophisticated look with their updated children’s space. The environment is fresh, flexible, and timeless with clean sans serif boldness paired with whimsical and playful graphics.

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Christ’s Church Mason, OH

3. interactive, analog-based experiences Do you remember the seesaw? For generations, young children tormented each other on this sacred playground apparatus. In its glory days, the seesaw typically paired two people who trusted one another. But today, the seesaw is virtually extinct, probably removed by hordes of raging PTA moms with fists raised, chanting, “protect the tailbone; ban the seesaw.”

I suppose a 5-foot free fall might have been a bad idea.

These days, young children have migrated from outdoor play to the glowing sirens of technology. Screen time is at an all-time high for kids. And although technology and media have offered creative ways to engage learners in the past, churches are beginning to employ high levels of kinesthetic learning and hands-on imaginative play that beckon them away from screens. In some ways, the days of flannelgraph are back.

Creating relational play environments is a major trend in children’s ministry. Group games, Lego walls, and interactive magnet boards are becoming more popular, and none of these require an endless supply of batteries. Traditional indoor play structures have lost some of their sparkle, and churches are looking to create unique group-play experiences for their guests.

Environments such as the Phase Family Center in Atlanta are leading the way. This early learning environment, which opened over the summer, boasts a small-town vibe with high levels of analog, imaginative, relational play. Children can build their own sushi roll, stock grocery shelves with a magnetic, farm-fresh inventory, sort mail in an interactive postcard chute, and weigh ingredients with an analog scale in a smoothie shop.

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Family Phase Center Atlanta, GA

4. large-group/small-group layout For nearly 200 years, churches embraced the Sunday school classroom as the best way to train the next generation. After all, it worked for grandpa. Until the 1980s, church learning environments mirrored the public school, with a center hall dividing a sea of classrooms. Each room was equipped with a chalkboard and overhead projector—classroom learning at its best.

But with the dawning of megachurches, stage-driven environments became the most effective way to manage colossal crowds of kiddos each Sunday. The seeker-sensitive model became all the rage, and many churches began to emulate this mega-philosophy to help accommodate growing attendance. As a result, small teaching environments nearly vanished.

These days churches are adopting a balanced large-group/small-group strategy as the most effective model to disciple and teach children. In fact, many churches are even remodeling their facilities to accommodate this philosophy.

5. identifiable family entrances Imagine you are a single mother with three kids—one still in a stroller—arriving at a church for the first time. Could you guess which entrance is closest to the kids’ check-in?

You must first navigate the parking lot, and then the church building. If you must also navigate a maze inside the building to locate the kids’ check-in, then obviously you entered by the wrong door . . . and the church has some work to do.

A growing number of churches are creating identifiable family entrances because they believe the guest experience begins in the parking lot. It’s not enough to curate a slick children’s environment inside the walls of your building if first-time guests must endure an annoying guessing game.

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6. special needs ministry There’s a growing trend of churches offering sensory environments and targeting assistance for the families of special-needs children. That’s an important change, because the need has never been clearer.

“Children with autism are almost twice as likely to never attend church or other religious services,” according to a study by Andrew Whitehead at Clemson University. In addition, children with developmental delays, attention deficit disorder, or anxiety are also missing from the pews.

The National Center for Educational Statistics reports nearly 7 million public school students (about 14 percent) receive special education services. And among such students, 34 percent had specific learning disabilities.

The special-needs community is missing from the church because the church is not equipped to minister effectively. Thankfully, we’re starting to see improvements in that regard.

7. outdoor interactive environments Have you noticed that large, traditional, enclosed malls are struggling? Many are even closing, which is kind of sad.

In their heyday, enclosed malls pioneered a new shopping experience; but in 2020, they are a relic of a world that no longer exists. Designed to be a town within a town, indoor malls turned their backs on the local community.

Do you see any similarities in the modern megachurch building?

Times have changed in America. Modern retail now has an outward, community-facing presence. Outdoor shopping malls are linking with a community’s cultural centers, civic buildings, municipal parks, and restaurant clusters. Even though the weather can sometimes be dreadful, such areas continue to grow in popularity.

As society and its retail shopping sector have changed, so must churches. They can’t remain indoors and inward-focused anymore. In the coming years, you’ll begin to see more churches become more outwardly focused by creating community amenities on undeveloped acreage.

Churches will purposefully begin “anchoring to the community” by building parks, playgrounds, splash pads, and inviting outdoor environments for children and their parents.

The stakes are high. But even in this age of shrinking church budgets, ever-expanding demands, and fierce competition, these seven trends in children’s ministry space can help ministry leaders make the most of their investment in the next generation. And who knows, maybe one day we’ll be doing puppets again too.  Dave Milam serves as vice president of strategic design with Visioneering Studios, which provides services to churches that have architectural, construction, renovation, and real estate development needs. In his role, Dave comes alongside church leaders to breathe life and creativity into their ministry space, taking them from where they are to where they want to be. Dave and his wife, Anne, have four children and live in Keller, Texas.

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Family Ministry Re-engaging Parents to Be the Primary Influencers of Their Children

By Becky Drish

That gradually changed over the past 100 to 200 years. Now, many regular churchgoers look to the church to fulfill that leadership role.

As churches and children’s ministry leaders, we need to re-empower parents. Fortunately, that has begun to happen through a modern family ministry approach that has been making a steady, solid entrance into the children’s and youth ministry field over the last decade.

If you frequent children’s or youth ministry conferences, you surely have seen sessions dedicated to this approach. But there are many different definitions, philosophies, and models of how to best implement a ministry that reaches the whole family.

I recommend any person or church that desires to initiate a family ministry to research it before creating a position or revamping your current model. Six years ago, I read Timothy Paul Jones’s Family Ministry Field Guide: How Your Church Can Equip Parents to Make Disciples. The book resonated with my longing to see parents equipped and leading their children. I began researching possible family ministry strategies.

If engaging parents is your goal, do your research and then share your thoughts with your senior leadership and colleagues, because developing a family ministry is more than simply adding a program or position. It is a philosophy of ministry that should permeate the entire church.

develop a philosophy, not a program There is no neat and tidy “5 Steps to Creating a Family Ministry” checklist to follow. The reality is we are trying to have parents see themselves as the primary influencers of their children’s faith.

This culture change will take time, and it surely won’t happen by simply instituting a weekly program called “Family Ministry.”

This new thought process starts with church staff—particularly those who work in early childhood, elementary, and youth ministry—seeing themselves in the position of partnering with and equipping parents. That partnership must get beyond, “Drop your kids off with me once a week and I will teach them something about Jesus!” We need to equally emphasize, “Here is how I will equip you as a parent to continue this faith conversation at home.” Once this becomes the mindset of the children’s team, you will begin to see ways to equip and engage parents in all of your existing programs and events.

equip and empower Parents sometimes fail to lead because they do not believe they have what it takes or do not think it is their responsibility.

About 15 years ago, my husband took our second-oldest daughter to a father/daughter camp in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The camp was designed to spiritually grow each person and

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For hundreds of years, parents recognized their role as the faith leaders in their families.

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relationship. I remember looking over the material provided for the dads. It was simple, direct, and empowering: “You’ve got what it takes.” What a fantastic mantra to plant in a parent’s heart and mind. No, you may not be a Bible scholar or hold a degree in Christian education, but God made you this child’s father or mother. If you seek God with all your heart, he will guide your steps . . . and that includes leading your child.

After that camp experience, I saw my husband embrace his position as spiritual leader more confidently and more enthusiastically than ever before. Why? Because the camp equipped him with some basic tools and empowered him to spiritually lead his children. Equipped parents are empowered parents, and empowered parents lead.

What about the parents who simply do not view their child’s spiritual development as their responsibility? This is where we, as church staff, need to do a better job of communicating our role and the role of parents. It can be overt: “Parents, when you are doing your daily Bible time with your child, look up the story from Luke 10 that we covered in kid’s church today.” Or it can be subtle, such as social media posts throughout the week suggesting fun ways parents can engage with their children about biblical elements discussed in the kids’ service.

Equipped parents are empowered parents, and empowered parents lead.

I love it when parents pick up on these ideas and post a picture on their private social media platforms. This speaks volumes to the other parents, and it reinforces the idea of parents discipling their children throughout the week.

Equipping can certainly be formal, and many churches use spiritual milestones as topics for parent seminars held throughout the year. These may be centered around baby dedication, salvation, baptism, purity, and graduation, to name a few. But not every parent will attend a seminar. In fact, those who do probably are your “rock star” parents. But, if you offer a parent/child fun day event and throw in a 30-minute equipping class for parents (while the kids do something else), you can accomplish many things at once.

You can engage parents and children in intentional activities that allow parents to lead spiritually, and you can also give parents a small dose of equipping that instills confidence to keep leading. At the church I serve, we have used this strategy in elementary parent/child camps over the last two years. Only a handful of parents may sign up for a class held at church, but give them a fun day at camp with their kids and they will come in droves!

Most churches try to do too much with too few, so the last thing you want to do is heap more on your current children’s or youth pastor. They are busy leading kids and training volunteers . . . and now they have to equip parents? But this needn’t be burdensome.

Be strategic. Revamp or tweak existing events by asking yourself, “How can I bring parents into this?” For example, we were already in the process of planning all these camps, and I simply asked, “What if we brought the parents into this one?” For other camps, the engagement looked different. We gave parents the Bible teaching ahead of time, so when their kids returned home the parents were ready to talk with them about it. Prayer calendars are another great tool.

Look at your existing programming and events. Are there opportunities for families to do things together, or are they always sent in separate directions? Is your church having a middle school girls/guys night? Why not revamp it to include a parent for part of the event? Want to get your parents doing daily devotionals with kids at home? Do a Bible-reading challenge for a month; offer prizes and make it fun. Set up your parents to “win” and equip them with affordable resources that you make available in your lobby. Many parents want to do better but need a nudge or guidance about where to start.

Changing culture takes time. You need to be in it for the long haul and realize not every parent will embrace this new way of doing things. Some parents like having little to no involvement in spiritual leadership, so any kind of request that they engage with their children in this way will likely be met with resistance. Be patient and flexible. Move slowly but consistently toward creating a culture where parents see themselves as the spiritual leaders of their families and see the church as an involved and supportive partner. 

Helpful Family Ministry Resources Family Ministry Field Guide: How Your Church Can Equip Parents to Make Disciples, by Timothy P. Jones (Indianapolis: Wesleyan Publishing House, 2011).

The DNA of D6: Building Blocks of Generational Discipleship, by Ron Hunter Jr. (Nashville: Randall House, 2015).

Shift: What It Takes to Finally Reach Families Today, by Brian Haynes (Loveland: Group Publishing, 2009).

Becky Drish serves at The Crossing in Hannibal, Missouri. While she enjoys many aspects of full-time ministry, she particularly enjoys equipping and encouraging families to grow together in Christ. @bdrish

/becky.drish

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be strategic and look for existing opportunities

curRiCulUm decisionS

our recent survey reveals what christian churches are using today to teach our children . . . and how they are adapting them.

C

aring for the youngest in our churches is no small feat. There are many moving parts to manage: volunteers, lesson plans, parent communication, volunteers, safety strategies, worship services, volunteers, engaging activities, biblical instruction. And did we mention volunteers?

To equip those volunteers and provide for your young churchgoers, you need the right curriculum. Yet finding resources for your children’s ministry can be a series of trial and error decisions as you seek the most helpful lesson plans and activity options to match your church community’s context. You must consider your church size, budget, and the needs of the families who are a part of your ministry.

But you know this already.

Perhaps it’s helpful to hear what other Christian churches of all sizes, in all parts of the country, and in a variety of contexts are finding beneficial to their ministries. Then the next time you are searching for new curriculum for your church, you can gain from the experience of others and perhaps initiate some conversations with fellow children’s ministers to find out more.

by kelly carr

We reached out to small, medium, and large Christian church congregations in rural, suburban, and urban settings across the U.S. to find out what curriculum paths they have taken for their children’s ministries. Here are some of their responses.

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the most popular cuRriCulum is . . .

When we asked what curriculum Christian church children’s ministries are using, 63 percent said they use Orange resources exclusively or in combination with other curricula.

options and options Many ministers who choose Orange appreciate the wealth of choices it provides.

“Orange is replete with options for our 10 classrooms per week, so we easily pick and choose which lesson will work for each group without major adaptations,” noted Jenn Sykes, children’s ministry director at Diamond Canyon Christian Church in Diamond Bar, California.

“Orange curriculum has been the most flexible curriculum to use for our multisite children’s ministry structure,” said Charissa Stamm, children’s team pastor at Compass Christian Church in Texas. “They provide several different options from which we can choose or adapt to fit our needs.

We find that using this curriculum strategically aligns our campuses every weekend.”

quality resources Other ministries choose Orange for the quality of the materials they offer.

“The graphics/videos given are of outstanding content and quality!” said Jennifer Mehlenbacher, children’s minister at Kissimmee Christian Church in Florida.

Evan Denief, kid’s minister at Victory Christian Church in Franklin, Indiana, felt the same. “One of the many great features of Orange is the ability to buy special video ver-

sions of the storyteller Bible lessons. These videos are wellshot, well-scripted, and [are] produced with excellence.

They can be used as a great audiovisual supplement to your program, or if you have a small volunteer team, they can take the place of a live storyteller,” he said.

“I don’t know if anybody has perfectly married deep theology with beautiful contemporary graphics quite yet,” observed Wes Horton, kid’s pastor at Community Christian Fellowship in Siloam Springs, Arkansas. “Orange is closest at this point.”

Horton noted that with his previous curriculum choice, he liked the lesson content but struggled with the visuals.

He worked with another staff member to reenvision every graphic to fit a more current, appealing style that went with their church. Horton said the recent switch to Orange has alleviated that effort, and he hopes it results in a good fit.

ministry model

Some children’s ministers choose Orange because they click with its ministry model.

Jessica Kemerly, director of CCKids at Christ’s Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana, appreciates the quality options that offer her support when she struggles to find volunteers. She added, “Orange takes a strong stand on partnering with families for the spiritual development of kiddos. This is a passion of mine, so that was an extra bonus for me!”

Dylan Bjorklund, associate & children’s minister at Plum Creek Christian Church in Butler, Kentucky, said something similar: “We use Orange because we are not just buying a curriculum, we are also buying a philosophy for children’s ministry.”

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The second most popular curriculum choice from our survey was for churches to write their own. We discovered that 20 percent of churches write all or part of their children’s lesson plans and activities.

the runner-up

“Currently we are writing preschool and nursery lessons that line up with our elementary series. I prefer to work in a team of people when doing this,” explained Michelle Warden, children’s ministry director at Highland Park Christian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. “We divide up the responsibilities to help make the load a little lighter. Then, when they get it to me, I go through and make the edits needed to make sure it all lines up and flows well.”

Andrea Hodges, children’s minister at First Christian Church in Johnson City, Tennessee, also relies on a team of writers for their new Wednesday-night program. Nathan Stang, elementary minister at First Church in Owasso, Oklahoma, goes the solo route by developing curriculum on his own, even creating a scope and sequence. Christina Armentrout, who oversees children’s ministry at Central Christian Church in Lancaster, California, incorporates her experience as a public school teacher as well as her years of studying the Bible to craft lessons for her ministry.

Tailoring their own curriculum ensures these children’s ministry leaders that the material will meet their congregation’s needs.

“We began writing our own curriculum 14 years ago with a team of nine writers—one who was dedicated to adding special-needs notes,” shared Jason Smith, family pastor of Eastview Christian Church in Normal, Illinois. “Since then we have hired a curriculum director who has refined the original content over the years.

While the initial writing process took two and one-half years, we have edited it quite a bit since the original version. It is a two-year cyclical curriculum with a graduated level approach throughout the age groups.”

Even if a church purchases material, it still might choose to add their own portions.

“We revise—OK, let’s be real—rewrite all of our curriculum,” said Dawn Willig, lead kids pastor at Mountain Christian Church in Joppa, Maryland. “We have a kids curriculum writer on staff who works 15 hours a week on revising our curriculum. We adapt it to something that fits all four of our campuses (big and small ones).

We also tend to double-check the theology and add more digging into Scripture every week.”

Mountain completely writes their own lessons for a special series once or twice a year, matching the children’s programming with the sermons being preached, Willig said.

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great adaptations Even when not writing their own curriculum, the majority of churches adapt the resources they purchase to fit their needs. In fact, only two respondents of our survey noted that they didn’t adapt. Some ministers noted slight tweaks, while others described heavy editing.

“Our kids team evaluates and adapts, as needed, so that the content and activities line up with our theological viewpoints, demographics, social environment, class size, and space,” said Leah Lynch, resource coordinator for kids and students at Kingsway Christian Church in Avon, Indiana. Their ministry uses a combination of Orange and Go! “We do adapt the material (if needed) to make it more child-friendly and engaging,” noted Geraldine Thomas, Sunday school superintendent for Central Christian Church in Atlanta, Georgia, which uses curriculum from Urban Ministries.

Megan Pinkerton, children’s minister at Canyon Springs Christian Church in Middleton, Idaho, uses Dig In. She noted, “We do several adaptations of the material. Most of the changes we make are for style (large group, small group). We have made only one theological change in the two years we have used this curriculum.”

adapting for resource needs Overall, children’s teams need to adapt to match their ministry size, available supplies, and the number of volunteer leaders.

“I don’t want to buy 18 things for one lesson, so I’ll rework activities for the supplies we already have,” said Jen

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Dunning, director of children’s ministry at Arundel Christian Church in Glen Burnie, Maryland, who uses Orange.

“At other times, I have to connect the dots for new teachers to show them how the activity goes with the topic of the lesson—they may not be as savvy at tying things together.

And sometimes it’s a stretch!”

adapting for educational needs

“We adapt all the time,” said Julie Nilsen, children’s pastor for Academy Christian Church in Colorado Spring, Colorado. “For our large church, customizing the crafts/activities is a must.” ACC uses both Orange and Tru.

“I appreciate a lot about Orange, but I can tell it’s written in a different part of the country,” noted Johanna Beachy, family life director at Manchester Christian Church in Manchester, New Hampshire. “Sometimes they make assumptions about stuff our kids would know already that they don’t. The reality up here in New England is that we’re still teaching a lot of them who Adam and Eve are and who Jesus is. In both the preschool and elementary level, we have to add explanations to stuff that our kids (and their parents!) don’t know yet. Finding a mature believer who is confident about teaching kids is a rarity here, so the videos are a great tool for our volunteer teams. Many of our volunteers are new to faith themselves. It’s an exciting place to be!”

“There are always way more resources available than we actually have the ministry size/volunteers to utilize,” admitted Samantha Pierce, next gen pastor at Verve Church in Las Vegas, Nevada. “I do our editing, and it’s mostly for time and based on how we can actually execute everything with excellence. For example, the curriculum offers multiple crafts and activities; we narrow them down to ones that will actually work in our environments.”

adapting for theological needs The most common adaption for Christian church children’s ministers is adding baptism as a topic. Among users of Orange curriculum, 12 percent specifically told us they add in baptism, while 5 percent of ministers who use other curriculum specifically add baptism.

“We have to add in baptism,” said Sarah Chapman, elementary director at Connect Christian Church in Concord, North Carolina, an Orange user. “We add to the curriculum by making sure we connect stories back to Jesus and offering the plan of salvation. I meet with my family ministry team to help when we need to supplement our curriculum.”

Phil Summers is not only director over the elementary-aged kids at True North Community Church in Bohemia, New York, he is also on staff with Orange. But even he has to adapt the curriculum. “Orange is pretty in line with our church’s approach to relational ministry and leveraging the stories of the Bible to see how God is working in us to change and impact the world around us. We do add things like baptism, Communion, and giving into our conversations with the kids.”

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Other ministries change the curriculum to make it more basic, because the majority of the children walking through their doors are starting from scratch—and so are their parents.

Becky Baker, kids director for Mission Church in Ventura, California, finds herself in a similar situation using Orange and The Gospel Project. “[We edit] both pretty heavily to match the culture of our church and community to meet our kids where they’re at,” Baker said. “Most of our kiddos don’t come from a foundation of faith in their families, and many come from really messy stories. Their parents/guardians are figuring this all out for the first time too! So, we take what we buy and view it through the lens of that kiddo to make it work for us. We primarily use the scope and sequence and videos from the publisher and modify or create everything else on our own.

We have two part-time curriculum coordinators who edit, adapt, and add to what we buy to create a format, style, and content that works for our families and volunteers.”

Besides adapting specific content, many churches find that a combination of curriculum options fits the different children’s services they offer: 30 percent of the churches we talked to use more than one curriculum (including writing their own as that additional option). Some choose a more seeker-friendly curriculum for worship services and then select a deeper dive for the Sunday school hour or Bible study class.

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top curricula used alone or in combination

63% 20% 17% 11% 7% 35% 29% 12%

Orange

church writes all or part of lesson plans and activites The Gospel Project Dig In Grow all others mentioned

of Orange users use additional curriculum or write some themselves

of Orange users adapt it for baptism content

70% of those who write their own lesson plans and activities do this along with purchasing curriculum for other services

30% of those surveyed use more than one curriculum (including those who write their own for one service)

96% of children’s ministers surveyed adapt the lesson materials they purchase

the best of the rest The Gospel Project by Lifeway rounded out the top of the list for children’s curriculum choices, with 17 percent of churches purchasing this curriculum alone or in conjunction with other resources.

One church, however, recently moved away from The Gospel Project because it became time-consuming to pick and choose from all the activities.

“They just give so many activity options (high/low energy games, low-prep activities, crafts),” said Jenny Ross, children’s minister at Catalyst Christian Church in Nicholasville, Kentucky. “I like the options, but it is work to wade through the 18-page lessons and cut about half the content.”

Other materials that got honorable mentions were: Dig In by Group, Grow, Gospel Light, and options offered through Children’s Ministry Deals—5 percent of churches used these for at least part of their services.

A few churches mentioned HeartShaper and Tru by David C Cook, while one-time mentions were given to Urban Ministries, Jesus Storybook, Faithweaver (Group), Disciplr (David C Cook), Hillsong, Go! and Empowered Living.

Mary Rosado, children’s minister at Timber Lake Christian Church in Moberly, Missouri, described the variety of resources she pulls from, then noted the additions her team makes to fit their ministry.

Then, in four words, she summarized our findings:

“curriculum is a springboard.”

So true.

With all of the moving parts involved in children’s ministry, we know you are acutely aware that curriculum is just one tool in your box. The best materials are meant to support the gifts and talents God has given you to serve his kingdom and move you forward.

Our prayer is that you will find the right resource fit to build you up, provide you with ideas, and offer the fuel you need to raise up the next generation of Christian leaders. 

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Kelly Carr, former editor of The Lookout, enjoys sharing and shaping people’s stories as a writing and editing consultant in Cincinnati, Ohio (EditorOfLife.com). @editoroflife_kellycarr

25 Years of Changes and ^ ges in Children’s Ministry Challen

by Teresa Welch Just 25 years ago, children’s ministry was commonly described as childcare with Bible stories and Goldfish crackers. Children were either kept away from the sanctuary or were made to sit quietly with parents during the sermon. Churches were waiting for children to grow up before investing in them fully.

Today, thankfully, children’s ministry is a spiritual greenhouse rather than a spiritual waiting room. Children are front and center and actively learning. Each child is given attention and spiritual nourishment to grow into a disciple of Christ.

Why this change?

It began when churches realized that building a firm foundation of faith begins in childhood.

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From birth to age 13, children quickly develop both cognitively and spiritually. These years are when you learn the most. The framework upon which we understand ourselves, relationships, the world, and God is formed by the time we become teenagers. Childhood is the church’s best opportunity to help create a lifelong disciple.

Parents and churches need only follow the command God gave the Israelites: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. . . . Impress [these commandments] 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.”

Develop a vocabulary of faith within your children (see Deuteronomy 6:4-9).

Children’s ministry plants seeds that develop roots; it’s where you see the firstfruits of faith. Do you want children to grow up to believe in God, to be bold in their faith and share the gospel with others? Children’s ministry is where those skills are taught.

The positive change of the last 25 years is because, in part, churches began hiring professionals trained like other ministry staff. Rather than relying on good, well-meaning moms whose children were growing up in the church and therefore felt obligated to be involved, churches have hired individuals with a mix of training in biblical interpretation, childhood development, spiritual formation, and administrative leadership.

Training for children’s ministry leaders and volunteers has expanded. Christian colleges now offer children’s ministry as a major. Conferences, workshops, and ageappropriate books and videos are readily available to train volunteers how to teach children about God. A quartercentury ago, lessons taught by volunteers often focused more on behaviorism than faith. A Bible story was taught and then children were told how to act as a “good girl” or “good boy.” Today, those who teach children understand how to connect a Bible story to a child’s life, giving them a vocabulary of faith. That vocabulary isn’t just words.

God’s story is part of the vocabulary.

childhood is the church’s best opportunity to help create a lifelong disciple

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Building the Foundation and Framework of Faith

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Before going further, I will issue this caution, however.

That churches now hire graduates with bachelor’s degrees in children’s ministry shouldn’t signal that only programs led by professionals can effectively and appropriately teach a child. That’s an overcorrection. Children’s ministry should incorporate parents and other mentors; leaders should train and resource them because the church extends way beyond four walls. Children’s programming doesn’t just happen between 9 a.m. and noon on Sunday or for 90 minutes on Wednesday night. It happens all during the week when parents live out Deuteronomy 6 by having faith conversations and leading in the discipleship of their children. (See “Family Ministry: Re-engaging Parents to Be the Primary Influencers of Their Children,” by Becky Drish, starting on page 54.)

Programming for Cultural Shifts to Make the Most of the Opportunities As we have already touched on, 25 years ago, most churches followed a fairly set pattern. On Sunday morning children would gather for an hour of Sunday school in a small classroom with a teacher using some printed curriculum.

During the worship hour, children would go with mom and dad to “big church” and then be dismissed to children’s church before the sermon . . . or would remain in the sanctuary for the senior minister’s sermon. Beyond that, churches might offer an evening “youth group” on Sunday nights or midweek.

That was the case in 1994, the year I walked into a church building as a children’s minister for the first time. At all but the largest churches, children’s ministry was just emerging as a subset of student ministry. Before then, the majority of churches had a youth minister responsible for children from birth through high school. Programming was designated to volunteers. Since then, the church has given more focused attention to raising up young disciples from infancy.

When I was starting out, I could count on consistent attendance on Sunday and Wednesday. But these days, “regular attendees” might come to church only twice a month. Gone are the days of perfect attendance awards.

Participation is inconsistent, at best. This more sporadic

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To capitalize on weekly programming opportunities, churches have transitioned from a single age-group of children with one teacher in a small room for an hour— where a teacher is expected to do all of the elements in a curriculum—to a large group/small group model.

The large group space is dedicated to interactive teaching of the story and theme for the week. There, children participate in age-appropriate worship complete with songs using hand motions, prayers, offering, and the Lord’s Supper. Children’s ministry teams are able to capitalize on the most gifted teachers, musicians, and other leaders to lead during large-group sessions.

The small-group time that follows ideally allows for a leader to meet with a group of six to eight children every week for intentional, relational discipleship as they review the story and connect it to the child’s life and experiences.

But the small-group model can be limited by the availability and/or development of volunteers.

Raising Volunteer Commitment and Opportunities Gone are the days of a dedicated volunteer teaching the same group of kids every week for an entire year—let alone year after year. This model of long-serving volunteers has been replaced by one that allows for any volunteer to be plugged in at any time.

Why? The commitment of volunteers reflects overall church attendance trends. Therefore, churches have created systems in which someone can serve once a month, month on/month off, or even less frequently to accommodate sporadic church attendance.

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attendance impacts programs and plans for children’s ministry. Teachers have to review material more frequently. Special events must be scheduled well in advance; even so, getting an event on a family calendar doesn’t always guarantee attendance. So, church must make the most of every opportunity that a child is present.

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But I wonder if there might be a second issue.

Volunteers are treated as individuals who won’t commit to week-in, week-out service. Churches have lowered the commitment level to the point that volunteers don’t feel obligated to commit when it seems as if anyone can do what they have been asked to do. Rather than seeing individuals for their giftedness and calling them to a level of excellence, we ask them to fill spots that require minimum effort. In an attempt to make it simple for people to volunteer, we’ve made it almost too simple.

We have raised the level of excellence in production of programs and in other areas. But with the rise of excellence, we’ve had a corresponding decrease of excellence in volunteers who commit to being part of that. We’ve become overly reliant on the excellence that ministry staff can control, and we have lowered our expectations to the lowest common denominator as it relates to volunteers.

I encourage children’s ministers to raise the level of expectation for volunteer commitment. Come alongside people and provide the needed tools; partner with them so they can grow in their volunteer leadership opportunities. Don’t make it too easy. Give them a challenge to rise up to and they will meet it.

give them a challenge to ri first step in raising the bar for volunteers is raising up to and thesye The the bar for yourself. Be vigilant when it comes to who will meet it! you’re asking to volunteer, and don’t cut corners when it comes to doing background research.

Protecting Children

The world is an ugly place. That’s more apparent than it was 25 years ago, or even 10 years ago. News of the brokenness of the world is unavoidable and unrelenting: sexual-abuse scandals in churches, shooters in schools, and other predators intent on harming children. There is so much for which we must prepare.

Children’s ministry must continue to change to account for those dangers.

Every church, no matter how small, should conduct background checks of every person who has access to a child.

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Why do all that?

A church building should be the safest of all places for children. We must strive to eliminate all opportunities for harm—from both external and internal threats. Security measures are necessities. When there are no safeguards, it puts children—and the reputation of the kingdom—at risk.

Continuously Improving Children’s Ministry When I look back 25 years, I see quite a few changes, many of them for the good. They have been created as an outflow of age-intentional ministry that is leading toward powerful discipleship with young people. Amen! Unfortunate culture shifts have led to some changes, but we must react responsibly.

The change that continues to excite me is the attention and intention given to discipling children. Kids are part of the church now, not just 10 years from now. They deserve our attention, excellence, time, money, and resources.

Children’s ministry shows us the possibility of what the kingdom could look like on earth. As Jesus said: “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these” (Luke 18:16). 

Teresa D. Welch serves as the program director for the Children’s Ministry major and vice president of institutional research and effectiveness at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. She continues to volunteer weekly in children’s ministry as a large-group teacher and kids worship leader at Carterville Christian Church. @TeresaDWelch

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All personnel and volunteers need training in recognizing the signs of child abuse and the mandated reporting of it.

Every church needs to have a plan and process for safety issues, including children’s check-in, guardian pick-up, and evacuation and lockdown procedures.

Interact A Lifetime of Service . . .

John Allcott Jesse is a hero of the faith [“Jesse Yangmi: A Lifetime of Service in Southeast Asia,” by Laura McKillip Wood, p. 13, October 2019]. His zeal and his love inspire me. I sometimes get weary with the struggles of living in Davao City, Philippines, but I can’t imagine living in jungles for so many years. Jesse, I look forward to meeting you “here or there or in the air.”

Go to the Cities . . .

Victor Knowles, President, Peace On Earth Ministries Thank you for challenging us in the September issue to go back to the cities [Letter from the Editor, by Michael C. Mack, p. 6]. Many of us are somewhat afraid of the big cities, but then I think of what God told Paul in Acts 18:9, 10: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” We need to remember that God has many people in the city that he wants to be brought to Christ. And Paul took these words to heart. Verse 11 says, “So Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.”

Higher Education Challenges . . .

Robert Klemm Two thoughts [about “Challenges to Higher Education in Independent Christian Churches,” by Bill Thompson, p. 58, August 2019]: (1) The noninstrumental brothers of our movement have larger thriving universities—Abilene Christian, Harding, and Lipscomb, to name just three. Maybe we need to adjust our models. (2) We are a fiercely independent crowd. Maybe we need to combine school resources into fewer schools to gain the enrollment to better serve the students. This might help provide motivation to churches and parents to send their young people to our schools. (By the way, maybe megachurches think they can do a better job than the smaller colleges.)

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Rural & Small Church Challenges . . .

Rob O’Lynn @DrRobOlynn Really appreciate @ChrStandard shedding some light on the challenges facing #smallchurches and #ruralchurches [October 2019]. Also honored to have been asked to contribute to this much-needed conversation.

Dick Wamsley Thanks for the excellent Christian Standard issue on “The Rural & Small Church Challenge.” I’ve read numerous articles on the demise of small rural churches, but you have provided help for those church leaders who want to see that trend reversed and how it might be done. I am praying for more young leaders to sense the call to be counted among them.

Rod Nielsen, La Porte, Indiana The discussion about small churches in the October issue of Christian Standard was quite interesting. You identified many realities that tend to keep small churches small. Richard Creek pointed out that fewer men are going to Christian college to become preachers. I asked the president of one college why this is. [He said] parents don’t send their sons to become preachers, often because they know it will be difficult for them to make a good living on a preacher’s salary. This is a real problem that will require tough decisions by small churches.

Indeed, “rural and small churches have limited financial resources.” That’s not because God has failed to provide. Except for extremely small churches, most could afford a good living salary for a Christian college-trained preacher if the body was committed to tithing. The problem is that too many of us keep too much of what God provides.

Patrick Mitchell @pmitchell82 Excited to see this one in print [“The Journey toward a Better Death: Reflections on Looking for Greener Grass,” p. 50]. Incredibly grateful to the people of Bunker Hill Christian Church for loving us and putting up with my foolishness over the years. And thanks to @ChrStandard for publishing. Love the fresh look!

Nathan Moore @NathanCMoore I really appreciated this article [“The Journey toward a Better Death,” by Patrick L. Mitchell]. Timely and well-written.

Give us your feedback! @chrstandard

@christianstandardmagazine

@christianstandardmagazine

cs@christianstandardmedia.com

For space, length, readability, relevance, and civility, comments sent to Interact may remain unpublished or be edited. We do read them all and prayerfully take them to heart. If we publish your comment, we will try to honestly reproduce your thoughts with those considerations in mind. Where we disagree, let’s continue to keep P.H. Welshimer’s words in mind to “disagree without being disagreeable.”

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Ministering in a Culturally Diverse Area

On April 17, 1960, Martin Luther King Jr. said in a Meet the Press interview, “I think it is one of the tragedies of our nation, one of the shameful tragedies, that eleven o’clock on Sunday morning is one of the most segregated hours, if not the most segregated hours, in Christian America.” Now, almost 60 years later, ample evidence exists that the American church has not advanced very far since Dr. King’s statement. In fact, Bryan Loritts told Christianity Today, research reveals that “8 in 10 (86 percent) churches have congregations with one predominant racial group.” This is actually an improvement from what previously was around 97 percent.

Our monocultural experience seems to still have quite a foothold here in America. Would Jesus be pleased with how his church and community look today?

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SPONSORED CONTENT

At The Solomon Foundation, we are blessed to partner with a variety of churches and ministries, each unique yet striving for the same goal of spreading the gospel and kingdom. We are committed to embracing people and communities of every culture, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status. We choose every day to live out our core values and the values of the kingdom in being a partner to all people and churches within our movement. It is our mission to continue to come alongside each ministry and person so that the kingdom of Christ will continue to expand, one unique and wonderful person and church at a time.

A difficulty in working alongside churches, however, is that many churches claim to be culturally diverse but actually aren’t diverse in the ways of the kingdom. This typically means they operate with two or three different cultures under the same roof, each using the same sanctuary at separate times. Separate, but still equal.

So, here’s the obvious question: Why is it so rare to find churches that are truly culturally diverse—in both cultures and languages—all meeting together under one roof at the same time? The simple answer: We enjoy our “separateness.”

Most of us choose where we live, the groups with whom we associate, and the churches we attend based on our own styles and preferences. Most Americans, regardless of their cultural origin, are simply not interested in adapting to the differences found in other cultures. We are creatures of habit and we like what is familiar to us.

But hasn’t God called us as Christians, both as individuals and as churches, out of our separateness to live and think outside the norms of what is comfortable and predictable?

How then do we move away from what is easy and comfortable and into a culturally diverse community, one unified by common belief rather than a common language, skin color, or cultural heritage?

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Cultural Diversity Defined The Solomon Foundation partners with University Christian Church, located in a very diverse section of Los Angeles. Three years ago, Rudy Hagood, who transitioned into the senior pastor position, decided University Christian would be intentionally culturally diverse. To achieve that, he knew all areas of the church would need to reflect the community’s diversity, including the church’s leadership, staff, worship team, and Sunday morning volunteers. This church is not just culturally diverse, however, it is also generationally diverse (just like the community that surrounds it). This church is determined to have something for every age group to experience and enjoy.

For most American churches, it can be difficult to achieve diversity such as this because diversity is often defined by our differences rather than our commonalities. And these differences can be either real or perceived. They are not just limited to race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or socioeconomic status, but sometimes to the very things that make each of us a unique creation in the eyes of God. To be diverse is to acknowledge that people are different, but also that our differences are what make us special and set apart in the community of God as we exist and live among each other.

Achieving cultural diversity, then, is more complex than simply noticing the diversity or differences that exist in society. Cultural diversity means focusing on the opportunity to practice togetherness, inclusiveness, understanding, and respect toward one another. To be culturally diverse is to go beyond mere acknowledgement, but also to accept and embrace the differences of others and to then incorporate those differences into life.

Challenges of Cultural Diversity As with anything, this comes with its own unique set of challenges and obstacles. Most of us believe we are somewhat culturally diverse and open to differences in others. But our understanding of diversity is usually birthed out of our own cultural path. Everything seems to begin with our skin color, language, food, music, and our preferences that form the culture of which we are a part. This is elemental thinking, though, because even within our own particular cultural identity, diversity and differences can be found. True, a dominant culture may exist, but we are all much more complex and diverse than we first realize. Try doing a DNA test and see what you find!

Here is the truth: We are all related to one another, and to be one, we must be willing to question our own perceptions and beliefs in an effort to draw closer together.

Questions provide the opportunity to recognize that we are not as different as we may seem. They also provide the opportunity to truly celebrate our differences rather than allowing them to separate us from one another.

Shepherd Church in Greater Los Angeles is another church that exemplifies what it means to be culturally diverse.

“When you walk into one of [Shepherd’s] three locations,” said executive pastor Tim Winters, “you’ll likely meet someone who looks and talks like you on [our] greeting, worship, or volunteer teams.” This is because Shepherd has been intentional in their efforts to be racially diverse in the life and everyday practices of the church.

Today, Shepherd Church is about 25 percent Latino, 25 percent Asian, 25 percent Caucasian, 20 percent African-American, and 5 percent “other.” Shepherd’s ministry staff members say diversity is important because Heaven is going to be a rainbow of color (Revelation 7:9, 10), so we had better get used to worshipping and living alongside others from different racial and cultural backgrounds during our time here on earth.

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SPONSORED CONTENT

How to Become More Diverse A church will become what its leaders are. The path, then, to becoming a diverse church must always start with leadership. Jesus’ leadership was important to his ministry; he was strategic and intentional in the diverse assortment of leaders he chose. In the Great Commission, he told us to make disciples of all nations. In effect, we are called to lead from a place of diversity and difference; we are charged with becoming a diverse community in the midst of a divided world.

If we believe embracing cultural diversity means only to experience the food, clothing, language, and music of a different culture, we are missing out on the fullness the cross affords. Jesus’ sacrifice should compel us to embrace other cultures as one people with multiple faces, languages, and cultures. Our churches are meant to be kingdom expressions of the new creation Jesus has initiated, each unique in ways that express that we all are fearfully and wonderfully made.

Given this, Christ followers are called not just to fit into or entertain other cultures, but to embrace the call to influence all people and cultures with the good news of Jesus. Start with leadership. Embrace questions. Challenge tradition. Seek strangeness at times and be intentional and seek out ways to break out of the comfort that we cling to as human beings. And if you need a first step in a new direction, start with this question: Is diversity merely a program we’re looking to deploy or is it our way of being?

For most American churches, it can be difficult to achieve diversity such as this because diversity is often defined by our differences rather than our commonalities.

Merry Christmas from Christian Standard Media