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Category: Ministry Leadership

Covers topics such as leadership skills, sustainable leadership, women in leadership, leading teams, developing leaders, meetings

What I’m Working On This Month (September 2026)

Kathie Phillips Leave a comment

Happy September! We are approaching my favorite time of year (fall) and I couldn’t be more thrilled! We’re also winding down my busiest time of year (February – September), and I am ready for a little bit of a slower pace. With our ministry year kick-off happening in just a few weeks, I still have quite a bit of a workload to work through before that can happen. In fact, some of what I’m working on is carrying over from last month.

Here’s what I’m currently working on:

Finishing September Curriculum Edits

I am a little behind on this, but since our program year starts post-Labor Day, I do have a little bit of time to finish (and I mean a very little bit).

Promotion Sunday

On September 13th, we’re promoting our kids to the next class based on their age or grade, so we’re busy making final preparations for that. (Here’s a more detailed look at how we prepare.)

Meeting With My Key Leadership Team

Last month, I shared how I’m building a leadership team called “Team Champions”. The team is complete and our first meeting is scheduled for this Sunday. We’ll review our purpose, dream about the future, look at the next three months’ curriculum themes, and brainstorm how we’d like to bring those themes to life. I’ll share more details in a future post about who is on the team and a few goals I have for us.

Meeting With Our Spiritual Formation Director

One of my key roles as Next Gen Director is to provide families with opportunities for connection and spiritual formation. Each year, I meet with our Community Life/Spiritual Formation Director to brainstorm classes/workshops that would be beneficial to families with kids and students. This has looked different over the years, but since we have a new Spiritual Formation Director, this is all brand new to her. I’m looking forward to putting our brains together!

Supporting Our 6th Graders as They Transition Into Student Ministry

Helping our 6th graders successfully transition into student ministry is one of the ways our Next Gen staff team collaborates, so my presence at our 6th grade move up event is important. I’ll have a pretty low-key role, but being a familiar face to students and their grown-ups helps to make the transition go as seamlessly as possible.

I’m sure your September to-do list is just as long (if not longer) than mine! Now it’s your turn. What are you working on this month?

What I’m Working On This Month (August 2026)

Kathie Phillips

Happy August! August is usually a busy month for me, and this time around is no different. Here’s what I’m currently working on:

Promotion Sunday

In early September, we promote our kids to the next class based on age or grade, so we’re busy preparing for that. Stay tuned for an upcoming post with a more detailed look at how we prepare.

Building a Key Leadership Team

One of the key missing pieces of our children’s ministry is a team of leaders who can step into the next level of leadership. I’ve decided to call these folks “Team Champions”. I’ll share more details in a future post, but my goal is to have each of our ministry areas represented with the intent of strengthening our ministry overall and better serving our volunteers and families. Very excited about this and who I’m inviting to serve in this way!

Summer Volunteer Schedules

During the months of July and August, we invite parents and other members of our congregation to serve with us while our school year leaders take some much-needed time off. This year’s call-to-action has yielded a great response (honestly the best I’ve seen in years), with most of our serving opportunities being covered. However, we have a few opportunities left, so I’m working to secure coverage for our remaining needs.

Next Gen Team Meeting Schedule

Our Next Gen staff team will resume our monthly meetings in a few weeks, so I’ll be working on outlining our meeting content for the next few months.

Blog Refresh & Content For the Next Three Months

Speaking of content…After several years away from this platform, I am eager to jump back in and have mapped out my blog content for the next three months. Now comes creating that content so that I stay ahead of the game. I am also playing with a few layouts to give the blog a fresh look. Stay tuned!

A Few Loose Ends

As summer winds down, I have a few loose ends to tie up – things such as providing our VBS debrief/evaluation notes and budget analysis to the planning team, submitting work orders for a few needed projects for our kids’ area, finishing September curriculum edits, preparing back-to-school family resources, and tidying our resource closets (we have several). I’ll be sharing a resource closet must-have list as a free download very soon, so stay tuned for that as well.

Lots of things keeping me busy! Now it’s your turn. What are you working on this month? Any specific content you’d like to see me cover?

An Inside Look at Our VBS Sensory Room

Kathie Phillips

We’ve been doing VBS at our church for a very long time, and sometimes it can be challenging to breathe new life into a beloved program. This year, I gathered our planning team for a theme brainstorming meeting before we began the planning process. We chose Group Publishing’s “Rainforest Falls” VBS program, so our meeting yielded ways to make the theme come alive.

One of the ideas that bubbled to the top was to incorporate a rainforest-themed sensory room for kids who needed a short break from the camp experience. My daughter Kennedy, who originally proposed the idea, developed it into something that blew our minds. We won’t be able to offer VBS without a sensory room ever again!

I asked her to share more about the room with all of you.

Designing the Space

During the beginning of the initial brainstorming of the room designing process, there was one thing I had in mind: create a calming place for any kids who need to rest and recharge during camp. As a teacher, I had a few general ideas in mind as to what could be included in the room that would help to achieve this mission including lights, decor, and various activities.

Setting the Boundaries

Because I wanted this space to be more of a resource instead of a distraction during the program, I put some policies into place to ensure that the room was used to the best of its ability. I anticipated some campers coming into the space and not necessarily wanting to leave, so I placed an initial boundary on how long they could spend in the room during camp hours. After observing children using the space throughout the week, I discovered that 5-10 minutes was an ideal time frame for the kids to spend there. They always had to be accompanied by one of their adult or student crew leaders for the time that they visited the room. The space was also available to families briefly before camp and after for kids who wanted more time.

Cozy Corner

A cozy corner was a must-have for this space. In order to create this area, I laid down a soft washable rug and placed two comfy folding chairs with rainforest-themed plushies and pillows. Some stackable colorful cushions were also included for comfortable seating as well. This area also included some rainforest themed books and a set of Bibles for various ages.

Writing Station

The writing station included some rainforest themed notecards for campers to write a prayer or an encouraging note to a friend.

Coloring & Sticker Station

The coloring and sticker station was one of our most popular stations in the room for the week. This station included cardstock in various colors, rainforest-themed stickers, Washi tape, coloring pages, and rainbow scratch art paper cut into butterflies and other bugs. There was also an 8-cup caddy placed on the table in between the two stations that contained crayons, colored pencils, markers, pencils, and sharpeners.

Butterfly Wall

In an attempt to give the campers an authentic rainforest experience, I decided to create a butterfly search and find wall. This wall was designed using paper chain vines and a green plastic tablecloth. I printed out some real butterflies that could be found in the rainforest and taped them to the vines at various heights for the campers to see. I included a flip book guide for them to use along with some magnifying glasses and dry erase markers.

Other Activities

Because the space was designed for campers ages K-rising 6th grade, I wanted to include some other activities that everyone could enjoy, especially for campers who prefer more hands-on activities. Some of these activities included LEGOs, Magna-Tiles, a marble run set, and a rainforest floor puzzle.

Sensory Station

The final area in the room was the sensory station. This station included a color changing ball light, pom-pom sorting, a small rainforest/jungle playset with plastic bugs, and a few sensory bottles that contained rice, water beads, pony and letter beads, and beans. 

I hope this post inspires you to create your own sensory room for your VBS.

Have you ever thought about creating a safe and quiet place for your campers to recharge and refocus during the business of VBS programming?

An Unforgettable VBS Encounter and 3 Reminders

Kathie Phillips 3 Comments
(Picture credit: Kathie Phillips, Central Presbyterian Church 2026)

Our Summer Bible Camp (what we call our VBS program) wrapped up several weeks ago and I am still reflecting on the week that it was.

As I put the finishing touches on our team debrief and event summary, there are many things that stand out to me. One camper in particular made an impact on me that has changed me and how I’ll view kids with challenging behaviors.

During our Bible rotation on the first day, I observed a camper who was quite opinionated about what they were seeing and hearing. The Bible story was about how God created the world and people. Our senior pastor was dressed in a Bible-times costume as he and his wife led the story time, which included interactive elements.

The camper I observed had feedback on the story AND the costume and vocalized that feedback. I didn’t engage them, but remembering that a good percentage of our campers were not connected to a church, I thanked God that the camper was in the room and hearing Bible truths, possibly for the first time (even if they didn’t like the costume).

On the second day of camp, one of the camper’s adult leaders grabbed me because the camper was not following any of her instructions. I spoke to the camper briefly before having them rejoin their group. About 30 minutes passed before the same leader texted me that she took the camper to our sensory room because the camper needed a break. I met them there and sent the leader back to the rest of her group.

I began a conversation with the camper by saying, “It seems like you’re having a challenging day today.” Then they tried to change the subject, but I redirected them. I asked them why they thought it was a challenging day and their response was both heartbreaking and eye-opening. They responded, “Sometimes, I’m just not a good kid.”

I am thankful for the guidance of the Holy Spirit because without hesitation, I responded with, “Oh no! That’s not true. Sometimes you may not make the best choices but that doesn’t mean you’re a bad kid.” I was then able to recount the Bible story from Day 1 about how we’re all made in God’s image and how much God loved them. We continued our conversation while they did a few of the sensory activities before (again) rejoining their group.

Did the same camper still have behavioral challenges that week? Yes. But that encounter reminded me of a few things:

God brought that child to us for a reason. If all they walked away with was learning that they’re made in the image of God and that God deeply loves them, then all of the challenges that week were worth it.

Affirmation and truths from scripture should not be downplayed. Somewhere along the way, this camper believed that they weren’t a good kid. God’s Word tells us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139). I so wanted this camper to walk away knowing that.

Taking the time to see a kid, beyond their behavioral challenges, can be life-changing for you AND them. I think about my little friend often and continue to pray for them. Who knows what seeds were planted as a result of their week with us. I think back to seeing their playful smile when I saw them after that sensory room conversation. We became friends, even though we had to have a few hard conversations later in the week. God is writing a story for this camper’s life and I trust that every detail will shape them into the person God’s created them to be.

Each child who walks through the doors of our church, even the ones who require a little more love and attention, deserves to know that they are loved, welcomed, wanted, and seen. And if that’s what they walk away with after their time with us, I count that as a win.

(And side note: stay tuned for a detailed look at our Rainforest Falls Sensory Room…can’t wait to share!)

Let me know in the comments how an interaction with a child changed you for the better.

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