• 7:30 am – I picked Evan Doyle up at his house and we stopped at the gas station for coffee. We’ve been doing this for several years.
• 8:15 am – The early service. We started earlier than normal (8:25). Big church starts at 8:15 but for some reason we never start the early children’s church on time! We did “the normal” (songs, prayer time, and all that good stuff). I taught a Thanksgiving lesson on the 10 Lepers and we played the Twinkie Rush. Kids love the Twinkie Rush!
• 9:45 am – Sunday School started. Beth and Luci showed up at church and I walked Luci to her Sunday School class where she was greeted by Mrs. Janet. I gave her a smooch (Luci, not Mrs. Janet) and Beth and I headed to our Sunday School class. Yesterday was the last lesson in my series on the book of Revelation. I started this verse-by-verse series in May. We did 10 minutes of prayer and share time, 20 minutes on the lesson, and 15 minutes asking review questions from the book. I pulled out my Eggspert from the resource room – the big kids loved it!
• 10:45 am – The bus kids showed up with a bunch of new church kids for round 2 of kids church. We did everything the same as the first service, except for the pastor ran over and I had to stretch the clock. Been there, done that?
• 12:45 pm – We made it home for lunch!
• 4:30 pm – We had our annual praise dinner at the church. It was well attended.
• 6:00 pm – Our praise service included great worship, special music, and testimonies. The auditorium was packed. I also baptized a 10-year-old in my ministry. What an ending to a great day!

So, enough from me. How was your weekend?

Right now I am reading Strengths-Based Leadership by Tom Rath and Barry Conchie. I took the Strengths Finder 2.0 test online several weeks ago and bought the Strengths Based Leadership book that same day.

Although I am still reading this book, I can tell you the gist of the book in a few bullet points:

• The best leaders in the world don’t try to copy other leaders. They discover their own strengths and build on them.
• The best leaders in the world discover the strengths of their team (employees, volunteers, or whatever) and allow them to focus on what they do best.
• The best leaders in the world know the needs of their team.

This is a great book. I plan to buy it and work through it with our team at KidzMatter. I will leave you with this thought: You cannot be anything you want to be – but you can be a lot more of who you already are.

Click here to get the book for yourself!

According to the Corporation for National & Community Service (did you know there was such a place?) more than 61 million Americans volunteer their time.

Want to know where they serve? Here you go:

Religious 36%

Educational 27%

Social Services 13%

Health 8%

Other 7%

Civic 6%

Sports/Arts 4%

Let this serve as a good reminder to all of us that people like to feel needed. I bet there will be some people at your church this weekend who would like to volunteer – but they might be waiting to be asked!

Last year I asked Mike to talk write an article about his office at the church. Though I have never been in his office, I have heard about it and the picture (see it on this page) is awesome.

Mike just launched a blog. I’ll be checking it out often and I think you should too. It is at www.mikejohnsonblog.com. Go check it out for yourself. Mike has a lot to say and we we will grow if we stop and listen.

I have created a three question survey that shouldn’t take you more than ten minutes. If you haven’t taken the survey, will you consider taking it right now? When the results come in, I will organize them and publish them on this blog and in K! Magazine.

To take the 10 minute survey, click here!

Thanks for contribibuting to this research.

The Barna Reseach Group has helped the church understand the spiritual condition of today’s kids. I won’t repeat all of his findings but you should read Transforming Children Into Spiritual Champions (Regal). Raising a Modern-Day Joseph affirms this research.

The bottom line is this: it’s not a good picture. Kids are growing up in the church and heading for college with a low commitment to the church, an unbiblical worldview, and decreasing Bible knowledge. At the same time that the spiritual condition of children is declining, involvement in extracurricular activities like sports, piano, and dance is increasing. More and more parents are choosing these activities over other children’s ministries in the church.

There are clear benefits to children being involved in sports and other similar activities. Better health and self-esteem are two such benefits. However, I see an increasing number of parents in the church choose these activities over programs like Awana, Pioneer Clubs, Missionettes, Royal Rangers, or even worship services.

At my church we have Awana. It provides what kids need so desperately—a biblical foundation upon which to build the rest of their lives. It is also one of the best tools we offer parents who want to grow spiritual champions.

I recently wrote a blog post called “What Bugs Me About Little League.” I said it bugs me that so many parents in my church idolize Little League and let it trump Awana night. When faced with the choice of baseball practice or Awana, baseball practice wins. Within hours I was bombarded with comments from children’s pastors that both understood my concern and respectfully disagreed.

Most of those who disagreed took the position that engaging in the community is just as important as involvement in the programs of the church. Carmen Fleck from Bachelor Creek Friends Church said, “The Bible says we are to be salt and light to our communities … sports is a great way to do that. I think sometimes we Christians become ‘too Christian’ and remove ourselves from the community, thus never becoming salt and light.”

Jonathon Cliff from Trinity Church said, “You are assuming that ‘church’ provides the only form of spiritual formation in a child’s life. I’m a children’s pastor, and have struggled for years with the twinge of bitterness when families choose other activities over the ones I’ve planned, and prayerfully organized for their own children, but sometimes spending time together as a family, enjoying sports, can be more beneficial to the life of a family than anything I could ever plan at church.”

Here is my concern. Most Christian parents agree that they want their children to be spiritual champions as adults. However, they lack the strategy to hit those results. Part of the plan must include a commitment to God, His Word, and programs of the church intended to help parents grow godly kids. When anything and everything trumps the plan, the plan is destined to fail. Any strategic planner would tell you that a plan is only as good as one’s commitment to executing it.

Conclusion

It is indeed an exciting day in children’s ministry. The last five years have brought so many changes to the face of children’s ministry. The next five years will be equally as exciting. Children’s ministry leaders must keep their ear on the rail and commit to keeping a keen eye on new trends. Upon discovering them, each must ask, “What impact does this have where I live?” You don’t have to (nor should you) embrace each, but you are wise for keeping them on your radar and embracing the ones that will make you and your ministry stronger.

More and more kids of divorce are saying good-bye and transitioning between parents. As much as we don’t like this, kids are living divided lives between two homes. In The Switching Hour (Cokesbury Press), I read that 18 to 20 million children live with one parent, with 1 million children each year affected by divorce. Those are staggering numbers.

This has a huge impact on the way the church ministers to kids. In January 2009, I was team-teaching a seminar with children’s ministry champion Jim Wideman. He was talking about every-other week being the new every week in children’s ministry. He said, “If you have something that’s going to take four weeks to teach, you had better plan on eight weeks.”

On a side note, children’s ministry leaders must also ask if they are ministering to the needs of kids of divorce. Church-based programs for divorced adults seem to be flourishing, but churches with programs focusing on the needs of children of divorce are rare. It’s easy to give adults the attention they need, because they are bigger, louder, and speak in a language that other adults understand. Ministries like DivorceCare for Kids (www.dc4k.org) will help your church minister to kids who are transitioning between parents week after week.

If I asked you to describe the current state of children’s ministry in America, what would you say? We all have different perspectives and I’m dying to hear yours.

I have created a three question survey. This survey will help me get a pulse on what is happening in the world of children’s ministry. Don’t worry, I won’t hog all the results to myself. I will publish them on this blog and in K! Magazine.

To take my 10-minute survey, click here!

What are you waiting for? Go ahead and take the survey now while you’re thinking about it! Thanks!