Effective Children's Ministry

Posts Tagged ‘communication’

Among a list of prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch (Acts 13:1) is mentioned Manaen.

I have read this book many times over the years, but this year, for the first time, I am reading from the New Living Translation. Here I saw what I had never registered before, that Manaen was a “childhood companion of King Herod Antipas”.

This man had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch , the one who had John the Baptist executed.

The thought occurred to me: “What was it that made the difference in those two men’s response to God?” According to James Orr, the Greek in Acts 13:1 suggests they were “foster-brothers”, brought up in the same environment. Yet Herod became so evil and Manaen evidently trusted God for salvation and later became a trusted and esteemed leader in the church. Even his name is gracious; it means “consoler”.

That made me sit up with a jolt – something made a difference to the outcome in the two men’s lives. With God’s help, we must make a positive difference in the lives of the kids we reach and teach.

It is an awesome responsibility – because we might just as easily make a difference the other way. What if we allowed ourselves:

• A dismissive response to a child’s interruption (“Later!”)  
• A sullen expression (“Why can’t we organize the activity the way I wanted?”)
• An over-competitive edge in the group games (“My team’s going to win this one, come what may!”)
• A careless attitude to preparation (It’s 11.30pm Saturday night. I’ve just got time to read over the curriculum for tomorrow.”)
• An angry response to difficult behaviour from a child. (“That’s it! I’ve had enough of you! Out!”)

Catherine and I knew and respected an old Christian leader. We still often quote one of his favourite comments: “You can be a blessing or you can be a blot. But you can never be a blank.”
What impact am I making on the children in my care? Am I turning them off from Christianity and Christ, or am I making it easier for them to see the beauty of Christ and the delight of the Christian life?

It might be through: 

• One fun day, with kid-friendly wholesome activities and a chance for the kids to see us as “real ordinary” people.
• One VBS, where the gospel message is consistently taught in such a way that kids are immersed in the message yet don’t feel spiritual indigestion!
• One smile, one look in the eyes that says: “I’m so glad you are here today. I do appreciate you.”
• One Sunday school lesson, well-prepared and clearly applied to young lives. (Come to think of it – maybe it will be through the lesson that, though well-prepared, was diverted by the Holy Spirit along an unexpected line, but the teacher was in touch with God and knew to go with the flow and respond to the child who asked a vital question or expressed a need.)

Any one or all of these might make that difference in drawing a child nearer to Christ. One connection we make with a child, by whatever means, might be the moment that tips the balance and sets them off on a personal pursuit of God that leads them to the Saviour.

With the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit, we can make that difference that turns a young life towards God and points that kid to the One who can change him or her from the inside out. We may never see the type of adult they become. But we can trust God to save them, keep them and help them to live for him.

What if some of the children in your meeting have no family in the church? What if Christian church life is a foreign culture to them? How can you relate Bible principles to their life experience? And how might you engage their parents with the Christian message, so that they feel welcome and comfortable in church?

Reaching beyond the church walls, out into a culture which is not familiar with Christianity, is not easy. But Gary Newton has tackled these issues in a thoughtful and thorough way, over at ChristianMinistry.com.

There is a lot of food for thought in Drop Off or Drop Out? Spare five minutes to check it out. And if you have longer, there’s a wealth of good things elsewhere on the site.

Catherine and I have always tried to improve our communication skills. One way to open ourselves up to learn more about this topic is to see how professional communicators think and work.

Nora Reed, in a blog post for professional logo designers, asks the question:

Is your logo design capable of making your customers SMILE? 
Simple
Memorable
Inviting
Limited in references
Exciting

What better goal could we have with the kids (or indeed teens or adults) we teach?

• Simple: one or at the most two teaching points clearly explained and repeated in different ways
• Memorable: using illustrations that make the link from what they know to what we hope they will learn; having physical activities and worksheets that reinforce the main teaching point of the lesson;  using music to sing the truths into their memories and hearts; modelling in our own lives the truths we want them to remember
• Inviting: a warm, caring, environment with fun, that draws them back week after week; where discipline is fair and every child has a chance to enjoy the class or meeting without hindrance; where they are known and welcomed by name.
• Limited in references: for the advertiser that meant not copying or echoing too many other products. That could confuse the customer and sully the uniqueness of the branding.
  For us it could simply mean what it says – not bamboozling our kids by referring to too many Bible references in one lesson. It’s okay to paraphrase now and again, in language the children understand. Of course, we always make it plain that the Bible is our source. As points 1 and 2 say, we want to be simple and memorable.
• Exciting: no need to spell out that one. If we are excited and enthusiastic, that will communicate to the kids. If we are fresh, varied and even unpredictable in our programme, that will excite them too.

There are many ways to make our children SMILE.  This is just  my first reaction to seeing  Nora’s tip for good communication. What would you like to add to the list?