Classroom Management—Who’s in charge around here, anyway?— Besides the children pushing around toy cars and building towers with blocks, three other things are always at play in our classrooms: the effects of sin, the effects of the work of grace, and the hope of supernatural power. When things are going rough, too [...]
Save the Date for LEAD Retreat— At CDM, we love connecting people to people and people to resources. My favorite time to do this is at our annual children’s ministry retreat. One quote that was shared with a children’s ministry team member after this year’s retreat was, “It’s the one place [...]
Creative Ways to Teach the Apostles Creed— The Apostles’ Creed is a great tool to teach children about God, what we know to be true about him and the promises he makes to his people. The structure in which the Creed is written–Father, Son and Holy Spirit–also provides a helpful framework for [...]
Don’t Neglect the Catechizing of Your Covenant Children— Teaching by use of a catechism has fallen on hard times in the church today. I have known conservative evangelical Christians who think learning the catechism is a thing only the Roman Catholic Church does. Even many Presbyterians only contemplate catechism as a series of [...]
Honest Grief and Hopeful Joy— It’s been one week since the tragedy at Covenant School in Nashville. The grief is still fresh, and we all feel deeply for each family impacted. Worship felt a little sweeter yesterday, and Holy Week will have special meaning as we remember the six lives taken too [...]
The Importance of Summer Ministry— If you’ve yet to watch my short 3-minute video on the importance of summer ministry, click here to watch it and get a quick overview of what I’d like to share with you here. First, in the midst of our very busy schedules, why in the world [...]
The Four E's of Why You Should Train Your Volunteers— When I talk to children’s ministry leaders around the country about volunteer recruitment, I always say one of the best ways to recruit and keep volunteers is to train them! There are many reasons why training volunteers can be challenging: it is hard [...]
Welcoming New Families to Church— I once visited a church where my husband was speaking. We arrived early, and I sat on a pew on the right side. When people came in, everyone sat on the left side. I was the only person on the right side the whole evening. A student [...]
Stories and Stickers: Growing up with Reachout Adventures— Every summer for one week my little church in south Mississippi would be transformed. Some years it became a mountain campsite, others years it was a seaport, still others an Olympic stadium, or even an outpost in the far-flung reaches of Outer Space. As [...]
Why VBS? A Summer Discipleship Opportunity— Lately, as I have been working on some personal health goals, I keep getting asked, “What is your why?” It has been a good question. Slowing down to think about what motivates me to do the hard work on these goals has helped me to identify the most important reasons, and it has helped me stay focused. I’ve been [...]