Illustrating Hymns for Young Hearts My love of hymns began at a very young age. Both my parents have a great love for hymns and had a large impact on my desire for singing songs of praise that are packed with deep biblical truths. Growing up, I also had the opportunity to attend [...]
Children and Worship: The Conversation of 2 Pastors Part of our Grow Virtual Conference was a question-and-answer session between Stephen Estock and Josh Johnson. These two pastors discussed children and worship and the character of God seen in His name Yahweh. Please enjoy some of that conversation here. This is not verbatim, [...]
The Legacy of 3 Pastors Who Encouraged Discipleship of Children I have loved reading and hearing stories about the impact of three influential men who died recently. I know there are many more faithful pastors who have blessed the children, but losing these three in the same week has encouraged all of [...]
Navigating Grief with Our Children As parents, we often look forward to and even prepare for all the “firsts” in our children’s lives. Whether it’s first steps, first “big kid” bed, first day at school, or first job, we know those days will come. We anticipate them. We even prepare them for [...]
The Importance of Involving Kids in Church My husband Tom and I have 3 college-age and adult kids. A couple of years ago, when it was our son Joshua’s turn for a high school graduation party, we sat down and made a list of folks to invite. We covered family, and friends, [...]
Advent is Not Only the Beginning In churches across the world, the anticipation of Christmas is an exciting and busy time of year. There are cantatas to sing, children’s pageants to watch, cookie exchanges to bake for, “Secret Santa” to shop for, poinsettias and wreaths and boughs of evergreen galore. It is [...]
The Importance of Children Being Involved in the Church When we think of serving within our churches, what sort of things immediately come to mind? A year ago, I would have given the easy answers. There are pastors, elders, deacons, ushers, greeters, maybe the set-up team, treasurer, secretary, Sunday School teachers, youth [...]
Seasons of Nurturing Volunteers Psalm 1:3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. Seasons are a wonderful guide to our ministry year. You plan events and activities for each [...]
Intergenerational Relationships in the Church This year will be my tenth year getting to serve with my church family in children’s ministry. As more time goes by, I see over and over how I can do nothing without Christ and without my church family. The body of Christ is powerful! Can I [...]
Preparing for Advent “Are we there yet?” my seven-year-old daughter will inevitably ask, a mere fifteen minutes from home in an hours-long trip. No, child, it’s still the beginning of the trip. You will have to wait. In the life of a child, the anticipation of Christmas—parties, presents, and candy—is the ultimate [...]