Generations In Faith Together

Redefine and Rename Sunday School ?

Sunday school: two words that bring memories of struggles with getting enough volunteers and trying to get parents involved but also two words that evoke some pretty happy memories of years past from my own experiece as a child and as a parent with three young boys.

So what are we to do in today's congregations to encourage this once dynamic ministry model to include all the ages in a whole new way?

For the time being, I'd like to submit my Ten Top Reasons to Not Kill Sunday School quite yet:

1. Death is permanent. Resurrection, renaming, reclaiming the way its’ done makes more sense.
2. Kill sounds like a sentence to carry out. The history of Sunday school alone affirms it had and continues to have a valuable place in the congregation.
3. This is one of the few places where lay persons get involved, equipped, and get tools to grow in their faith in leadership roles. If it’s gone, and decisions remain in the sole hands of the ordained, what will become of Christian education?  What about the body? How does it recognize the sense of a call?
4. Want a new name? Christian education is the heart of the church. Just call it what it is and go from there. Start with Faith Formation.
5. It’s not really dying. It is in true need of a little care and attention from church leadership. A new look and way to do it would help too.
6. Most pastors have not attended nor do they participate in Sunday school. It normally means Children’s Ministry, an important place (if not the most important place) to start! Shouldn’t there be a requirement to go for a while and experience it first before you kill it?
7. Seminaries require a minimum of one Christian ed course to earn a divinity degree. Doesn’t that mean it has very little priority? Let’s rethink how we teach in seminaries.
8. Google “Sunday school” and you will encounter hundreds of faith-based resources and publishing companies providing tools to teach the Christian faith. People continue to seek the resources.     They know Sunday school means Christian education.
9. If you told the average lay person sitting in the pew on a Sunday morning that you were going to kill Sunday school, they’d be in shock. Most know no other terminology. For some it would be evoking powerful memories and may be the very reason they are sitting there in the first place.
10. It’s the number one place in the congregation where adults of all ages are role models for the young. It provides a place for the lay to feel called. The relationships built there are lifelong and vibrant. Think twice before you kill the one thing that can actually grow the church!

What do you think?

 

The Musical Brain

So I’m looking for something in the dollar store today and see this book about your brain on music.    

So I bought it. Who could resist…a dollar!

A quote from the chapter on religion in the book, The World in Six Songs, by Daniel J. Levitin:              

Rabbi Hayyim Kassorla says, “God designed us, He knows what we need. He dictated that we should sing songs of religion and belief because He knows they help us remember, they motivate us, and they bring us closer to Him; He knows that they are what we need.”

One more reminder the Faith Inkubator’s Scripture songs  are such a valuable tool to be used for faith formation. I have been singing these songs for about 17 years now and they have been so embedded in my brain, that I don’t just sing the Scripture, I feel it. There’s 120+ covered in the 75 Bible Song theme lessons and 90 in the Head to the Heart theme lessons.                                                                    

And all the verses cover close to the entire three year lectionary cycle. It’s a journey !

I totally agree with the Rabbi, singing helps me remember, motivates me and without a doubt brings me closer to God. It makes me all the more thankful I’ve been singing for a good reason!

This was truly a dollar well spent.

Daniel J. Levitin’s website: Click here 

 

Making Time for Family

We know making time for family is important, yet time and time again our busy schedules impede families actually having time to sit down together for mealtime or anytime for that matter. Today while I was eating breakfast, I was watching the Today Show. Matt Lauer was interviewing Laurie David about her new book, The Family Dinner. Two things she said caught my ear: "Highs & Lows" and "Rituals".

Laurie talked about the importance in taking time to sit down together as a family whether for dinner or another time and have intentional discussions. Sound familiar? Of course it does if you have been seeking tools to place faith formation in the hands of parents. A major step is to provide tools for building relationships and having faith talks at home. If you are trying to get the message across in your congregation about the importance of developing faith practices at home, I suggest you show this clip from the Today Show: Click here.

After viewing the short interview, ask parents if they have made time for one another at home every day. Highs & Lows is step number 1 of the FAITH5, a faith practice incorporated into all Faith Inkubators resources. Conversations following the watching of this clip have the potential to open the door to a discussion on the importance of adding a faith piece to the daily family conversation.

Building rituals in congregations and at home are essential to a healthy faith life.

I hope you take time to view this clip and then begin to dream how you can use it to encourage families in your congregation to give it a try, add a prayer and blessing and see what a difference it can make.

 

The FAITH5™ Check-In

It has become crystal clear over the past 16 years that the core of all Faith Inkubators resources is the FAITH5™. It’s the developing and fine tuning of this faith practice during small group time over the years that has changed the way we do ministry. The FAITH5™ is not just done once a week anymore. It’s once a week with your friends and family in a small group setting and then everyday at home with your family.

Over the past few years we have begun to help churches find ways to set expectations for practicing the FAITH5 during small group time. And we have added an emphasis on taking it home. As a result, we have been receiving story after story about the impact it has had on the lives of families. The feedback we receive confirms a growing awareness on the part of the congregation that faith formation doesn’t just happen once a week. It happens at home too!

Parents are beginning to understand what Martin Luther tried to do years ago by placing the Small Catechism in their hands.                                                                                           They are taking on an active role as faith guides for their children.

Another truth is becoming clear the more I hear feedback and begin asking churches what’s working and what’s not. The church is challenged when it comes to holding families accountable and having some type of system in place for feedback and for a “check-in” time. It’s one thing to set expectations for small group time where you can do the planning, but how can you hold parents accountable?

Here are a few answers I received recently from congregations when I asked what steps they were taking to help parents be accountable for practicing the FAITH5™ in their homes:

1.    1. We have a six session parenting course that runs about one every 5 weeks. During small group parenting discussions we always ask, “How does the Faith5 accomplish what you want for your family?”

2.    During Lent we did the Faith5 challenge. Each family got a calendar, and was challenged to do the Faith5 at least 5 out of 7 nights. If they did so, then they cut that week’s calendar off the bottom of the sheet, and brought it back signed for a prize! We did small bags of cookies and cheap Oriental Trading cross pins, “We Love Jesus” footballs, etc. Every week I reminded the families that if they had not turned in their calendar, all they had to do was start that night and they would get all the previous week’s prizes next week. That way no one lost!

3. Each week during small group we use the phrase “bring it on home” to remind them that they should!

4. We model it in the sessions and encourage it at home and talk about successes. It’s hard to get families to grasp this point!Good question! I am not sure we hold them accountable exactly. We encourage it in a variety of ways, but we aren’t doing anything to track who is actually doing it at home. The church did a “Five for 40” push during Lent this year. “Faith5™ for 40 days.” It was great to do this as a church-wide event and families signed up saying they would make the commitment. We encourage it each Sunday morning by giving the kids a take home sheet: on one side it shows the handout of the day’s He Qi artwork along with the scripture verse. On the back is an outline of the Faith5™ with a few extra tips on doing it at home. We also just finished recording a DVD that shows different families talking about it and doing the Faith5™ at home.

5. We hold families accountable to practicing the FAITH5 by asking the children to bring their journals every week so we can share the week's highs and lows. 

 

Hope you are able to gain insights and gather a few ideas from those seeing the fruits of placing an emphasis on the FAITH5™ .

Have a story? We’d love to share it!

Send it to me at dstreicher@faithink.com . Thanks.

 

 

 

Early Language Learning and the FAITH5

Although languages can be learned at any age, there is proof that the younger you are when you are exposed to the language, the easier it is to learn it. If learned at an early age it also becomes second nature. Early Advantage is a language learning program for young children. The organization lists the top ten benefits of early language learning:

1.    1. Higher test scores

2.    2. Better and more advanced reading skills

3.    3. Greater confidence

4.    4. Gives brain a boost

5.    5. Natural sounding, native-like accent

6.    6. Greater opportunities for college and careers

     7.   Bigger view of world

8.    8. Greater grasp of one’s first language

9.    9. Building and keeping cultural connections

10 10. An all-family activity

From my language teaching experience and background, I often draw analogies between learning a foreign language and learning the language of faith. I believe that many who come through the doors of our congregations are not fluent in the language we speak in the church. Faith is a language we who have been raised in the church understand and are comfortable with, but the numbers not experiencing this is greater than ever before in our world. Therefore; I feel it is safe to say that many are learning faith for the first time and as a second language much the same as a foreigner learns English when they come to live in our country. It makes life better and it is definitely something they want their children to learn.

At Faith Inkubators, we introduce a faith practice called the FAITH5 as a common thread throughout all of our resources. What is practiced and modeled in the congregation every week is set as an expectation for families to practice in the home. The first place one learns a language is in the home.

The younger the family, the better the chance to learn a second language. Compared to the list above, here is my own list of the top ten benefits of learning the language of faith at an early age:

1.  1. Higher percentages of good relationships between parents and children

2.    2. Better and more opportunities to read the Bible

3.   3. Greater confidence in relating real life stories to God’s work in our lives

4.    4. Gives brain a boost because love abounds

5.    5. Conversations about faith being part of one’s life becomes second nature

6.     6. Greater opportunities  and desire for reaching out to others

7.    7. Bigger view of God’s love

8.    8. Greater grasp of “church language”

9.    9. Building and keeping cultural connections in the body of Christ

10 10. An all-family activity happening every night in every home.                                             

      Do you speak the language of faith in your home?                                               

 

An “Aha!” Moment in Leadership

Are you a pastor, on staff, or a volunteer in a leadership role in your congregation? I have had the privilege to have this role for the last 15 years. Something that has bothered me about my relationship with those around me is that I have loved each and every person I come in contact with, but have not felt we were friends. It has been a hard concept to explain, but I find I am not alone with this feeling.

I have often said that if home is church then the church can be a home also. In that context, those around me in the congregation are my family. I reflect on my relationship at home with my family. When it comes to my children, I love them dearly and unconditionally. I would do just about anything for them. But many times I have felt that being their friend is not helpful. My role as a parent, from my perspective, has been to love them, nurture them, let them know there is always a place to call home and come back to, and ready them to live apart from me in a healthy way so they may live independently and continue on their own faith journey in a community like the one they were raised in.                                                                                            

Is this not the role I have in the congregation also? My role with my children clearly is more of a leadership role. It’s to point them in the right direction and be there to support and help. My role in the church is the same for God’s children. What a gift (and a relief) to recognize that loving one another unconditionally is not always synonymous with being a friend.  Some may argue this point with me, but honestly as a leader in the church, is it not a role I should take very seriously? And do I not need to set limits and make rules? Am I not the one responsible for building relationships and nurturing one’s faith?

In my own family, I have learned that building those relationships is the healthy thing to do. Providing a time and a place for this lies in my court as the leader in my home and in the congregation. Over the past 8 years, I’ve learned that establishing rituals and traditions as Vibrant Faith Ministries suggest is valuable. And I have learned that using the outline for the FAITH5 as Faith Inkubators encourages has become that ritual and tradition in my house with family, in small groups in the congregation, and in meetings.

I recently called the learning team together for a meeting. When I invited the first person to share Highs & Lows, someone else spoke loudly and said, “Whenever Debbie is here we don’t start without Highs & Lows.” That person is correct. I also will not have a meeting without reading scripture, relating it to our lives, and closing with a prayer and a blessing. I believe without setting expectations and intentionality, we can lose focus on why we really gather in the church community. It is through sharing the FAITH5 and modeling as a leader in the congregation that I have learned to love others and I believe they, too, have begun to build deeper relationships. Unless I have the opportunity to know what’s happening in your life and what to pray for, I don’t know you.

Pastors, staff, and volunteers in leadership roles, we are called to love God’s children. Our challenge is to love them unconditionally as we love our own children.

In John 15:14, Jesus says, “You are my friends if you do what I command you.”         

Our goal should be to help others know that Jesus is their ultimate friend, not me. (Arghhhhh!)Tough lesson to learn, but I have discovered well worth it to be blessed to be the one who can help others understand what Jesus commanded and feel very blessed to know that I have a friend in Jesus.

No Time? No Excuses!

As we begin planning for the fall and I wonder how we can communicate to parents the importance of setting priorities and making time for family, I am reminded of a great article that my friend, Vanessa Beaudry wrote a few months ago:

I just don’t have time!” How many times have you uttered this sentence in the past week, month, year? Sometimes it is a sigh, other times a cry. But sometimes, it’s just a whine – and as far as I’m concerned, the faith life of our children is a “No Whine Zone.”

I am writing this article from the viewpoint of a mom of a very active, very normal 9-year-old boy who attends Christian school, and who is also taken to church and Sunday school every week. While I’m not intending to come across as overly harsh, I am advocating a revolution – a grassroots revolution of parents who simply are not going to leave the fate of their children’s eternal souls to chance – to begin spending 15 minutes a day with your child (the time it takes to stand in line at Starbuck’s for a latte, or to floss your teeth, or to watch half of a sitcom on TV), sharing highs and lows, praying together, reading God’s Word, or just laughing together.

For many of us parents, daily devotional time with our kids really is a revolutionary idea. We are all so very “busy,” aren’t we? – but somehow, we find time to chauffeur kids to soccer practice and ballet lessons, to school and to friends’ homes, not to mention dealing with our own jobs and activities. What if one day everyone at your child’s school said “I just don’t have time to take my child to school any more.”? Would they just not go? Now, I know this is an overly dramatic example, but I use it to make the point that we always find time for those things that are important to us. Isn’t your child’s spiritual life important enough to spend 15 minutes a day on it?

One of the key concepts at Faith Inkubators is sharing faith every night in every home. I can speak from personal experience on how much of a difference just 15 minutes a day with Mom, Dad or both parents can make in a child’s life. So, be bold – start the revolution in your own home this year. Turn off the TV, the iPod, and the PC. Sit down together, open the Bible, and take the plunge. Take time to pray together; look into your kids’ eyes and listen to the heart cries they need to share with you. It may feel a little awkward at first, as everyone gets used to the idea and forms a new habit. But trust me – once you get started, the kids will find you and ask to have their daily time with you. Try it – it works. Do it as if their (eternal) lives depend on it.

Thanks Vanessa for these words of wisdom from a mother whose youngest just turned 21 yesterday. Time goes by all too quickly to not get your priorities straight!

Debbie Streicher is National Director of Children and Family Ministry. She can be contacted at dstreicher@faithink.com.

Flexibility and the Aging Church

“The older you are, the less flexible you are.” A friend and I were talking while we were exercising at Curves. Someone who looked to be about age 60+ overheard our talk and said, “It’s so true, the older you get, the less flexible you are, that’s why I’m here working out.”

We grinned and agreed, but what we were talking about wasn’t the physical body. It was the church body. We were expressing opinions about the seemingly less flexible way of thinking of the aged 50+ members in our congregation.

 

As I continued to run in place and go from station to station at Curves, I began to think more about the body. What the woman said about her body being less flexible does seem to be true of the “church body”. If we can become more flexible physically by exercising regularly as we grow older, what type of consistent emotional and spiritual exercise would it take to remain flexible in the church to adapt in a changing world?

Bodies change as they age. It’s a given. I know. I’m 55+!

Mainline denominations know. They’re dying!

 

It takes work to get energized and to meet the daily needs of change in our bodies.  Stretching and exercise gives us energy and helps us stay flexible. What would it take to be a little more “flexible” in the congregation? My guess is the answer is the same: stretching, bending, and exercise.

 

The definition of flexibility is: The popular term for the ability to easily bend an object or the ability to adapt to different circumstances.

 

Consistent daily and weekly exercise is the key. In fact, we have to exercise even more frequently as we age to remain flexible. The more we bend and stretch, the more flexible we become and the easier it is to adapt to our bodies as they change.

 

In the context of the church body, it would make sense for us to become familiar with what causes change as the church grows older. What would happen if we became more flexible in our thinking on a regular basis?

 

In the church, building relationships is important.

Some individual steps to take when beginning to exercise the church body:

1. Stretch beyond the circle of people you already know and get to know at least 5 more people who are younger than you are and 5 more older.  
2. Bend over and say hello to the 3 year old.
3. Stretch your hand out to someone you’ve never seen before, and if they don’t speak your language, smile!

Studies show that you are never too old to reverse the reduced level of flexibility that comes with age. I’d like to believe this to be true of the church also. In relation to our aging mainline denominations, it’s not too late to reverse the reduced level of tolerance with today’s challenges. After all, it’s the world of our children and grandchildren.

What will our legacy be?

Bottom line: The more we exercise, the more energy and enthusiasm we have. It’s time we reflect on the body of the church. The end result of regular and consistent stretching and bending is energy and enthusiasm. Originally an enthusiast was a person possessed by  God. (“en theo” meaning “in God”)

Hmmm……what would it look like if the body of the church were “possessed by God?  Feel like stretching and bending a little? I dare you!

It’s sure making a difference in my life.

Debbie Streicher is National Director of Children and Family Ministry. She is located in Northern Virginia and happy to address any questions you may have regarding Faith Inkubators’ resources. Please contact her at dstreicher@faithink.com.

Life Lines (Faith Stories)

We’re vacationing in the Cayman Islands. I feel blessed and privileged to make the yearly pilgrimage here with my family. I have traveled to many places in the world, but here is where I feel the most calm and experience the most “quiet times” in my life. Each morning I get up and take about a two mile hike along the beach. It’s very rare that I meet anyone. It’s lovely. I am reminded of God, the Creator.

This year, there was something new on the beach. In the distance, I thought it was a tree full of blackbirds. As I got closer I realized it was a tree full of shoes. Lost flip flops, sneakers, Crocs, and all kinds of shoes were hanging on the tree. Someone had taken the time to hang each one. It is a strange sight to see on the beach. I was so taken by it that after my walk I rode a bike back to the spot and hiked across the dunes to get back to it to take a picture.

I couldn’t help but wonder about all the feet that had filled these shoes. And I couldn’t stop wondering how many stories accompanied these shoes. I will never know because I do not know who the shoes belong to, but I can guarantee there are many stories to be told. It made me reflect on the stories we hold inside and the opportunities we have to share them. I wondered about the people, their stories, and their faith. Where do they live? What’s important in their lives? Do they have a faith story?

From my experience, providing small group settings for people to tell about their lives and having a time and place they can be shared, has grown the number of faith stories told in our congregation. We call them Life Lines. It’s providing the opportunity to share when we recognize God’s work in our lives and give him the glory, honor and praise. I never realized the importance of verbalizing our own faith stories until I witnessed the impact they can have on the lives of others. I used to think they were to be kept quietly to ourselves but have discovered the opposite is true.

It all begins with sharing some Highs & Lows and praying together to praise God for the Highs and ask for His guidance for the Lows. Gathering once a week in community to take time to listen and care makes a difference. Listening to one another, praying, and blessing when we are together changes lives.

We are God’s hands and feet in this world. Next time you don your shoes, think about your faith story. Is it a story someone else needs to hear?                                              
It could be a life line for them.

Debbie Streicher is National Director of Children and Family Ministry. She is located in Northern Virginia and happy to address any questions you may have regarding Faith Inkubators’ resources. Please contact her at dstreicher@faithink.com.

 

 

   

 

FSL:Faith as a Second Language

If you were to approach teaching faith like you would teaching a foreign language, what new methods might you consider? After teaching languages and living in a number of foreign countries, I have come to see a direct parallel between learning foreign languages and learning the language of faith. 

Learning a Foreign Language
Learning English as a Second Language (ESL) is a struggle for most adults who didn’t grow up with the language spoken in their homes. Likewise, many adults in our congregations also struggle learning the language of faith. It's like learning a second language. If they didn’t grow up with it spoken in their home, it seems foreign. It’s not that they don’t want to learn. It simply isn’t their native language, and learning it can make them feel uncomfortable.

Expectations
Families coming through the church doors may feel like they are entering an unknown culture. Immigrant parents often count on schools to teach English to their children. Similarly, parents drop their children at our church doors, counting on us to teach faith to their kids. Immigrant parents do not feel qualified or equipped to teach the strange new language. The same is true for many parents and the language of faith.

Fluency Sets a Standard
For immigrants, standard of living and income levels improve dramatically as they become fluent in English. Becoming fluent in the language of faith can also improve the “standard of living” in homes. Although you can’t measure the “income” in a checkbook, the resulting benefits to the family in terms of grace, forgiveness, communication and sharing can be immeasurable.

Those who become articulate in English can eventually work and assimilate to a life in the community. They begin to speak English with their children in the home. Those who become articulate in the language of faith will eventually live out their faith every day in the home, at work, and in the world.

Effective Ways to Teach
The most effective ways to introduce English are to teach the way the brain learns. That means a heavy reliance on active learning and whole-brain techniques with lots of visuals, games, songs, hands-on practice, motivation and fun.

The most effective ways to teach faith are the same: visuals, games, songs, hands-on practice and fun. Involvement of parents and other adults as role models is key.

The Importance of Immersion
Those who become fluent in a foreign language know that the best way to learn is to be immersed and surrounded in a home where the language is spoken. After living in a culture and being “loved into” the language, you become fluent. It is not forgotten. Wherever you are in the world and hear it spoken, you gravitate towards it and thirst to be with others who speak the same language.

It’s hard to argue educationally that a language can be taught in a one-hour-a-week session. It’s also hard to argue Biblically that faith can or should be taught in a one-hour-a-week session. The key to bringing parents and others on-board to become fluent in faith-talk, is to create an immersion experience that includes the home. Teach a theme at church. Invite parents and ask them to return to the same theme every night in their homes.

Our Instructions
When the Children of Israel were preparing to enter the Promised Land, God gave them a clear set of instructions on how to teach their children:
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. — Deuteronomy 6:5-9

Questions for Leadership:
Take this language metaphor to your next leadership team meeting and ask:

·         How is faith taught in our church?

·         Are we aware there may be parents in our congregation learning the language of faith for the first time?

·         Do we see one of our roles to be teaching Faith as a Second Language (FSL)?