“In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, ‘Greetings, you who are highly favored! the Lord is with you.'”
“Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. you will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”
“‘How will this be,’ Mary asked the angel, ‘since I am a virgin?'”
“The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.'”
“‘I am the Lord’s servant,’ Mary answered. ‘May it be to me as you have said.'” Then the angel left her.
(Luke 1:26-38)
“In those days, Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. [This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.] And everyone went to his own town to register.”
“So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”
Hi friends! Several weeks have passed since I’ve last posted. Like you (I’m sure), we have been busy getting ready for Christmas. Here’s a snippet of what’s been going on in my kidmin world as we’re making final preparations:
For Everyone
Our Worship Arts department selected “For Everyone” as our theme & sermon series for Advent. We are learning how Jesus came for EVERYONE. Each year our Children’s Ministry provides Advent devotionals for our families, so we wanted to try our best to factor this theme into our decision regarding our selection. Originally, the theme of “Born for the World” was tossed around, so we chose one that fit that theme (even though it was reworded to “For Everyone”). We landed on this devotional from Creative Communications. We have heard a few parents tell us this was the best Advent devotional we’ve selected so far. Yay!
Deck the Halls
On the first Sunday in Advent (Sunday, November 30th), my church held an all-church event where our entire congregation (including children) were invited to come out to decorate the church, make crafts (including an Advent wreath) and enjoy a meal together. Started last year, Deck the Halls is one of the few all-church events we offer throughout the year and it’s so much fun!
Sunday Programming
All of our kidmin Sunday programming for Christmas will obviously center around the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. For younger children (toddlers & preschoolers), the lessons will be simple, as this might be the first time many of them hear about the Christmas story. Since many of our older children (elementary students and preteens) have heard the Christmas story before, we are being intentional about helping them personalize the story in a different way, while having lots of fun of course. I’ve incorporated some ideas from ideas I’ve collected on Pinterest. You can check out my kidmin Advent & Christmas board here. There are over 230 ideas!
Worship Time
Each year, our Pre-K children – 5th graders lead the worship for our family Christmas Eve services, so on each Sunday during Advent (during their regularly scheduled kids’ worship time), they practice the songs they will sing. This year, we added our 3 year-olds to our worship time and they are just precious. Songbooks, CDs and a video showing the motions are provided to families so that children can rehearse at home.
Christmas Eve Services
Every year, our church holds four (4) Christmas Eve services, with the first two being designed for families. Children’s Ministry works closely with our Worship Arts department to plan and implement these two services, which will include:
a welcome/call to worship given by yours truly
lighting of the Advent wreath by two families
our 3 year-olds – 5th graders leading the families in worship
several older students sharing a special reading
a solo by one of our older students
a family friendly (and shortened) sermon
candlelight ceremony (we provide battery-operated candles for children)
Just a few things we’re doing to get ready for Christmas. I’d love to hear (and see!) what you’re doing. How are you getting ready for Christmas?
Technology is all around us. There’s no escaping it. As a busy woman, mom of two teenagers, and aunt of younger elementary children, I am all too aware of the screen-driven world we live in. Sometimes, I look around a crowded room and see everyone’s face staring at a screen (TV, mobile phone or tablet). It’s can be hard to convince everyone to put down the devices and actually talk to each other – voice to voice, eye to eye.
When I was offered the opportunity to review Growing Up Social: Raising Relational Kids in a Screen-Driven World, I couldn’t wait to dive in.
About the book:
-Softcover
-209 pages
-Parent Resources
-discussion Guides for every chapter (perfect for a bible study!)
Is technology bringing your family closer together or driving you farther apart?
Children today are no longer playing hide-and-seek outside or curling up with a good book—instead they’ve been introduced to a world of constant digital entertainment through television, video games, and mobile devices. And while technology has the potential to add value to our lives and families, it can also erode a sense of togetherness and hinder a child’s emotional and social development.
In Growing Up Social, Gary Chapman and Arlene Pellicane will empower you with the necessary tools to make positive changes…starting today. Through stories, wit, and wisdom, you’ll discover how to take back your home from an over dependence on screens. Plus, you’ll learn to teach the five A+ skills that every healthy child needs to master: affection, appreciation, anger management, apology, and attention.
•Equip your child to be relationally rich in a digital world
•Replace mindless screen time with meaningful family time
•Establish simple boundaries that make a huge difference
•Discover what’s working for families that have become screen savvy
•Learn healthy ways to occupy your child while you get things done
Now is the time to equip your child to live with screen time, not for screen time. No phone, tablet, or gaming device can teach your child how to have healthy relationships—only you can.
What I Liked:
I read Gary Chapman’s book, The 5 Love Languages, many years ago & loved it, so I had high hopes for this book. I enjoyed the content that spoke specifically to social media and how it affects not only children but adults, things such as:
“The training necessary for growing up social isn’t found on a phone or tablet. There’s no app or video game that can replace interactions with other human beings. Social skills must be practiced in real life, beginning for a child in the home.”
“The more a child is involved in screen time, the less time there is for interaction with parents, siblings and friends.”
“More and more children are being taught how life works from a screen instead of the real-life classrooms of responsibility, chores, and family relationships.”
“If your children are not interacting with the family in a way you consider healthy, it’s your responsibility to make a change.”
“…technology works best when it’s a tool in your life. It becomes destructive when it becomes the main hub where most of your life is experienced.”
“Physical presence matters. You cannot communicate intimacy through texts, emails, or tweets. The deepest form of affection is given face to face in real-time.”
“If we leave our children unattended with their screens, we must be prepared to accept the consequences.”
Many of the tips offered in the book were practical and easy to implement. I think it equally balanced emphasized being intentional in taking proactive measures as well as measures to change bad habits that have formed.
What I Think Was Missing:
The middle section of the book spoke to five “A+ skills” that every healthy child needs to master. While this was great stuff, I felt like it didn’t belong in this book. It would’ve been great in a separate book. I also felt like some of the content was repeated several times throughout each chapter. In addition, some of the stories shared in the book seemed a little idealistic to me.
My Recommendation:
Overall, the book had some good points that parents today should take notice of. You can check it out for yourself by entering to win a copy by emailing me at kidminspiration@gmail.com. Deadline to enter is 11:59pm Friday, November 14th.
About the authors:
Gary Chapman- author, speaker, and counselor—has a passion for people and for helping them form lasting relationships. He is the bestselling author of The 5 Love Languages series and the director of Marriage and Family Life Consultants, Inc. Gary travels the world presenting seminars, and his radio programs air on more than 400 stations. For more information, visit 5lovelanguages.com.
Arlene Pellicane– is a speaker and author of 31 Days to Becoming a Happy Wife and 31 Days to a Happy Husband. She has been featured on The Today Show, The 700 Club, and Family Life Today and formerly served as the associate producer for Turning Point Televisionwith Dr. David Jeremiah. Arlene lives in Southern California with her husband, James, and their three children. Find out more at ArlenePellicane.com.
Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.
Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.
Training and equipping our kidmin leaders is of utmost importance if we want them to lead well in their ministry area and to have longevity in serving with us.
There are many challenges when it comes to volunteer training, however.
How can we make it beneficial to rookies and veterans alike?
How can we make it appealing so that they’ll actually come out for the event?
Are there some creative elements we can incorporate to make it fun and memorable?
What can we call it other than ‘training’?
How do we make it both informative and engaging?
There are so many resources available for kidmin leaders to take advantage of to train and equip volunteers. One of the best resources, in my opinion, are workshops that I attend. Many times when I travel to national workshops I am unable to take staffers or volunteers with me, so I try to find ways to share what I’ve learned in various contexts. Usually, I purchase audio recordings from the places I attend and pass them along to others. However, I felt compelled recently to try something different.
I attended Group’s KidMin Conference back in September and one of the workshops I took there was called “50 Ways to Bring the Bible to Life”. (You can pick up my notes here). I loved the premise and content provided, so I thought that it would be cool to teach my version to our elementary and preteen leaders. I absolutely THRIVE on preparing for events like this, so I was very excited about how it would come together.
When I began thinking about a catchy name for this event, I knew that it wouldn’t be called “training”. I mean, that screams excitement, right? NOT!! So after some careful thought, I landed upon Leader Lunch & Learn. This past Sunday, I hosted our very first Leader Lunch & Learn and it was great! Here are some details about the event:
I wanted this event to be (1) a time of fellowship (over a delicious lunch that we provided, of course!), for the leaders to get to know each other better in an informal, casual setting; (2) informative – leading a group of children requires our leaders to know what they’re doing; (3) practical – I wanted the information presented to be something that they could use right away; and (4) engaging – I wanted attendees to get share ideas (it’s always a good idea to have team members learn from each other) and practice what they’ve learned.
Keeping those four things in mind, the event began to take shape. I designed an invitation that was sent to adult and student leaders via email (I used Mail Chimp). I set up responses to go to a form I created on Google Forms – very easy to do. Then I used the workshop notes to come up with a time flow/outline for the 90 minutes that we’d have together:
Arrival
Welcome & Overview (5 minutes)
I welcomed everyone, thanked them for coming and gave them an overview of what our time together would look like.
Lunch & Fellowship (20 minutes)
Since we held this event immediately following our 2nd service hour, serving lunch was not an option. I landed on a simple, delicious lunch that was very affordable and easy to set up: I ordered a deli sandwich wrap platter and provided potato chips, fresh fruit, cookies, brownies, iced tea, lemonade and bottled water.
Introductions, Introduce the “Smarts”, Have team take “Smarts” Inventory (7 minutes)
Our elementary and preteen ministries are run separately, so many of the attendees had never met each other. We took a few minutes to introduce ourselves and then I had them quickly fill out the “Got Smarts” inventory (that was included in the workshop notes) so that they could discover their primary “smart”.
Review responses from “Got Smarts” Inventory, Talk about “Smart Chart”, and Ways to Incorporate these ideas into their large group & small group times (25 minutes)
After reviewing the responses from the “Got Smarts” inventory, we discussed what each ‘smart’ looked like and ways to incorporate each ‘smart’ into our lessons. Since each of our volunteers is very gifted and creative, I wanted them to learn from each other, too, so they tossed out additional ideas that were not included in the original notes. They had some great suggestions!
Group Assignment & Sharing
I wanted everyone to get some practice incorporating what they had learned, so I broke the group up into 3 smaller groups and assigned each group a Bible story: The Good Samaritan (Luke 10;30-37); Jonah and the Whale (Jonah 1); and Feeding of the 5000 (Matthew 14:13-21). Their task was to brainstorm ideas to bring the Bible to life by incorporating each ‘smart’ into that particular Bible story. Boy did they do an awesome job with that. When they shared their ideas, I was blown away! You can read their ideas here.
Wrap Up/Thank You’s
I closed our time together by reminding them to not be afraid to think outside of the box and infuse creativity into their lessons to help the Bible come to life for every student in their group. I affirmed them, thanked everyone for coming and reminded them to take home a special treat I had prepared for them. Since we were talking about ‘smarts’, it was only fitting to use “Smarties” in the treat bags.
Take-Home Treat (the front)
Take-Home Treat (the back)
As a result of preparing for this training event, feedback was so positive that we will offer a new topic every other month. I asked volunteers for suggestions on future topics and so we’re set for our next event, which will be held in January. I can’t wait!
Now it’s your turn – what does your volunteer training/equipping opportunities look like? Share what works for you below!
