Parents

5 tips to help parents lead kids spiritually

September 26, 2016 By jeremyechols

Your role is important in the development of kids who seek the Lord, but its not designed to be the only spiritual leadership that kids get. In conversations at camp this summer, a lot of kids ministry leaders expressed the feeling that parents just expect them to handle the spiritual training of kids. Here are 5 tips to help parents lead kids spiritually.

Challenge parents to have a plan for reading the Bible with their kids. This can be a planned devotion book on a subject or it could simply be reading a chapter in the Bible each night. Sometimes in our home, we re-visit the Sunday lesson by reading it again in the Bible or re-reading it in another format like the Jesus Storybook Bible.
Use curriculum apps in the classroom to equip parents to follow-up on the lesson from church. Encourage parents to use an app to re-watch video from Sunday’s lesson or do an activity. This will help parents ask something other than “did you have fun” after church and it will also get kids back in context of the lesson so their memory is jogged to answer questions about the lesson.
Share articles or podcasts that you encounter. Sometimes it may benefit all parents in your group to read about a topic, or other times you may can provide a specific article to a family with a particular question. Here are some good episodes to share with families from 3 of my favorite sources:
1. Kids Ministry 101 blog
  1. Praying Through the School Year
  2. Calling All Dads
2. Lifeway Kids Podcast
  1. When Are Kids Old Enough to Hear That Jesus Died on a Cross?
  2. Family Worship
3. CentriKid.com
Provide milestone experiences for kids and parents. Getting parents involved as leaders, helpers, or supporters at VBS, kids camp, retreats, and other service opportunities will have an impact that lasts long past the event. Find intentional ways for parents and kids to be together and then provide catalysts for conversation … you don’t always have to create the special moment, just provide a situation where it can happen.
Invest quality time with parents in your ministry. Do coffee, have lunch, or just check-in with parents. Your investment and your personal attention may be the spark that helps a parent re-ignite their fire to lead their kids spiritually in the home. Pray with a parent for their kids. You will learn of prayer needs and issues you never could have known about if you hadn’t asked. Your support will mean a ton. Probably more than you will ever know.

Use your platform to influence parents and kids in your ministry so families grow together and spend time at home talking about the things of God. This causes deeper learning and can help move Bible lessons from single stories they hear at church to transformational encounters with God’s Word in their homes with their parents.

Recruiting the Orange Team

February 26, 2016 By isaackierstead

When people ask me who the craziest color team is at camp, most people assume I will say the Blue 5th graders or all of those little Yellow 3rd graders. The Truth- the Orange team! Few teams are more excited for I Can’t Wait, make more noise during their cheer (even if they don’t know ALL the words), or cover me in more shaving cream during OMC. But what happens when you are having trouble finding those adults for your team?

Here are few tips to help you find the Orange Team you are looking for:

Ask them!
I know, it seems simple but this is the best place to start. When I say ask them, I don’t mean putting a slide up during the opening of the service or typing a paragraph in the bulletin. Although these can help, take some time and be very intentional about who you ask to come to camp. Share with them the impact that they can have on the kids and the amazing responsibility that they are given at camp to be a role model to these kids as the Gospel message is preached. By sharing with them that you trust them with this responsibility and the importance of this position, you will be able to find volunteers that share your excitement for sharing the Gospel with these kids in an atmosphere full of fun!
Play OMC!
After a Sunday service, have lunch with your kids, parents, and volunteers and then play a great game of OMC. Let your volunteers play and don’t forget lots of shaving cream, pool noodles, and tasks cards. This is a great way to have fun with the different people who are part of your ministry and also give them ways to interact with the kids outside of the Sunday School room or the Worship Center. At the end, don’t forget to tie it back to the Gospel!
Team Assistants!
Do you have any students in your ministry that love children? If they are a Junior in high school through college, they are able to serve as Team Assistants. Team Assistants give your students a chance to serve alongside you as a chaperone for your kids but they also get to be a part of our camp team for the week. Whether it is helping out at Recreation or Track Times, they will see a glimpse into what it is like to be a camp staffer.

We can’t wait to see you and your group leaders at camp this summer!

Help Kids Celebrate the Season

December 21, 2015 By vincentthomas

I love Christmas. I love the smell. I love buying gifts for people. I love to decorate. I love to wrap presents. I love to surprise neighbors with small gifts. I love the lights. I love that December is the perfect time to celebrate and I love what we celebrate. December comes with lots to do, a busier than normal schedule, and sometimes some stress. How do we make sure we create special moments for our kids and teach them what we are celebrating? Here are a few practical ideas to make memories in your family or ministry this Christmas and to help kids celebrate the season:

Read. Wrap a book for your kids to open each day. Use this as a time to share a moment with them while they learn about the birth our Savior.

Pick one night a week. Protect this time and use it to do something together. Make a craft, go look at lights while listening to Christmas music, drink hot chocolate and watch a Christmas movie. Do something on this night that is unique to the season. Encourage families in your ministry to do this by sending them home with something to talk about or an activity to do related to what they learned on Sunday.

December Daily. Make a book and let your kids document something fun they did everyday in December. It’s not too late! These have become a tradition in our family. I make one every year and each December we pull them out and look at the last few years. This is a fun way to remember fun things you did and of course see the growth and change from one year to the next.

Read the Christmas story from the Bible. This one seems obvious but I think sometimes we over look it. No matter the age of your children or the children you are ministering to, they need to hear it. Read it, sing about it, act it out, and tell it as you move characters around in your nativity scenes. This is the reason we celebrate and can be a seed planted in your child’s heart that can lead to other conversations throughout the year.

Pass it on. Give hope to someone. As a family or as a Sunday school class, let your kids brainstorm something they could do for someone else. Let them come up with the idea and talk about why we should show kindness and serve others.

Don’t let the busyness of this season steal your joy and the opportunity to make it special for your own kids or the kids in your ministry. Pray now that this holiday season will have deeper meaning for your ministry. We at CentriKid pray that this holiday season will create times for intentional conversation, opportunities to serve others, and some special memories for your families and ministries.

About the Guest Blogger:

Emily Echols lives in Nashville, Tennessee where she coaches high school softball and teaches private softball lessons with young girls. Originally from Texas, she has been involved with education and coaching for over 10 years. Emily loves being a mommy to Madison (4 years old) and wife to CentriKid team leader, Jeremy (their 14 year anniversary is tomorrow!).

The Role of Kids Ministers in Spiritual Formation

September 28, 2015 By jeremyechols

There are so many roles parents pay “specialists” to fill outside the home. Things like music lessons, sports training, and after-school tutoring – but there is also a tendency for this mindset to apply to spiritual growth and discipleship too. Many kids ministry leaders that I’ve spoken to this past summer have expressed how they feel the expectation to handle the spiritual formation of kids while they are at church.

The role of kids ministers in spiritual formation at the church is important, but discipleship happens best when parents lead spiritually.

Parents need to hear this … yes. But kids ministry leaders cannot just sit back, fold their arms, and bemoan the fact that parents aren’t getting the memo. Church leaders have to understand and identify their function in spiritual formation of kids under their care.

3 Roles of Kids Ministers in Spiritual Formation

stand-in — You must sometimes stand in the gap to fill that role for kids with no home support. In every community there are broken families and unreached families. The way to reach these families may be through your role of spiritual investment in the kids, who will go home and talk with mom & dad about what they are learning.
cheerleader — There are families who may be under your care who excel at discipling their kids. Find every opportunity to encourage them for choosing to talk about the things of God with their children, and you may even see ways to partner them with other young parents who are hungry to grow in spiritual leadership with their kids. These families deserve your encouragement and affirmation, but you can still be available to them as a resource for conversations they are having with their children.
catalyst — Most often, I believe you’ll encounter families with a general idea that they should be doing something at home, but lack the vision, drive, or discipline to do it. These families are in danger, and they need your influence to help spur them towards spiritual growth. They are at risk of raising “cultural christians” instead of disciples. Don’t get discouraged – they won’t always “get it.” But seek out new ways to encourage and challenge them to lead their kids with an investment of their hearts, their words, and their time at home.

The role of kids ministers in spiritual formation cannot be overstated … you have been called by the Lord to shepherd families in your community. Know that shepherding different ones will look differently -but all of these families can benefit from your time and investment.

Taking Camp Lessons to School

August 21, 2015 By isaackierstead

The new school year has started and you are already taking your kids 100 different directions making it hard to remember the lessons that they learned this summer. How can you help your kids remember to be a disciple of Christ when they can’t even remember their lunch? I have been hugely blessed to grow up in a Christian home, so here are a few ways that my parents reminded me and my sisters how to be disciples of Christ. Try applying some of these to your family’s life as you grow in your faith.

1. A Disciple Encounters God Through His Word
My 8th grade sister’s favorite part of the day is lunch because she gets to talk to her friends and also see if mom packed her any surprises! At camp, we learned that a disciple encounters God through His word and that we are supposed to ingest it like food. Every once in a while slip a surprise snack into the lunch bag and write on a simple verse and note on a napkin that your child can read and be encouraged. On the ride home, talk to your child about how they used that verse during the day or how they were able to share it. Make this into a fun game and you will be surprised how fast your kids look forward to getting a Bible verse in their lunch box.

2. A Disciple Embraces God Through Prayer
Getting to school can sometimes be a hectic production of grabbing homework, packing lunches, and being sure all the kids are in the car. Once you are in the car, take time to say a prayer before dropping them off. The peace that comes from praying before you open the doors and start another crazy day will create a firm foundation for your kids. I still remember my dad praying for my oldest sister and I before we jumped out of the car for school and knowing that God was there with me no matter what happened that day.

3. A Disciple Engages with God Through Giving
As the kids go back to school, be sure that you are staying plugged into your church. We talked about how a disciple can give both their time and talents to Christ. Show your child that Christ is a priority in your life by being at church. You are the example that your kids will follow and when they see you giving your time to God, they will follow.

4. A Disciple Engages with God Through a Christian Community
Friends are a huge part of school and your children’s lives! Be intentional with those friends and their families. The friends your kids have will shape them and it is important that you invest in their friends.Creating a community of families that would hang out together has been a huge part of my walk with Christ. Having that group of Christian men that I could look up to and the support of so many people has encouraged me to grow as a disciple of Christ.

Parents, you are the number one example that your kids will be following. Starting school can be just as daunting a task for you as it is for them. Be sure to take some time to invest in your kids and their spiritual growth as you both grow as disciples of Christ.