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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 early. We are all praying for Covenant Presbyterian in Nashville as they confidently draw near to the throne of grace that they may receive mercy and find grace to help in their time of need (Hebrews 4:16). This picture of my mom and niece was taken during [...]

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 should we do summer ministry? Isn’t summer a time to recoup from the past year’s hectic programs? Isn’t summer a time to spend with family and friends, enjoying the relationships He has given us, and getting our “tanks” filled back up by enjoying each other’s company, laughing, [...]

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 to gather people together; it’s expensive; the church calendar gets filled up with other events, etc. While these reasons and others may tempt you to not host regular trainings, I want to share four reasons why I think training your children’s ministry volunteers is one of the most [...]

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 whispered, “Who’s that person sitting on the right side?” My husband responded, “That’s my wife. She didn’t know you only sit on the left side.” Does your church have hidden “codes” that make a person feel unwelcomed? It’s easy for church members to get accustomed to the [...]

Home and Church Resources for Easter— Holidays are one of the best times for us to connect home and church as we partner in the discipleship of children. Easter is coming quickly as evidenced by the amount of candy, baskets, bunnies, and eggs we see in stores! Our families aren’t going to find good resources there to teach their children about why we celebrate Easter. As children’s directors, we can take the lead in finding good books, themes, and activities that will help our families celebrate the resurrection of Jesus! We can then share these resources for events at [...]

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 a little girl, this was truly magical. As an adult looking back, I now see something else even more wonderful was taking place—I was growing to love God’s people and His Word in ways that have shaped the rest of my life. Of course, the decorations were [...]

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 asking myself this same question as I’m starting to plan for VBS. I’ve probably organized 30 summer VBS programs over the years, and each time I still get excited picking out the curriculum and the theme. However, after that many, it can become an exercise in routine without much thought [...]

The 5 P's of Volunteer Recruitment— Do you feel like recruiting volunteers is a never-ending task? Do you dread the “no’s”? Do you feel like people avoid you because they think you’re going to ask them to serve? These are all too familiar to most Children’s Ministry leaders. Volunteers serving out of duty rather than delight is a stark contrast to most Children’s Ministry leaders’ experiences! As Children’s Ministry leaders, we delight in seeing the gospel shared, praises sung, friendships built, and fun happen while serving, and it’s hard to understand why everyone doesn’t see it that way. So, [...]