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?

 

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.

 

Read Again!

The Rev. Neil MacQueen responded to my article from June 26^th titled Sunday School Concerns and pointed out that the Barna research in the Wall Street Journal article was misrepresented by the writer. Read the accurate version on Neil’s blog.  

Read more wisdom and get to know the Rev. Neil and his ministry at sundaysoftware.com.

Thanks Neil!

Puppets and Cross-Generational Ministry

Every week upper elementary youth, teenagers, and adults gather behind the puppet stage in our congregation to share a Gospel message through skits and scripture songs.
One peek behind the stage on a Sunday morning and you would be surprised to find such a diversity of ages laughing and joking as they ready the skit, song, puppets, mikes, sound, lights, and props.
The group in front of the stage ? Families. Children and their parents.

Here's a sample of our skit last week:

Week 1 - Lent 2009

We meet on Wednesday evenings to practice the FAITH5:
1. Share Highs & Lows
2. Read the scripture we'll be sharing on Sunday
3. Practice the skit and song
4. Pray for one another and those hearing our message
5. Bless one another

The impact I have seen over the years is that puppet ministry provides a place where a variety of ages can work together, build relationships, and reach out with a common ministry to others.

We have been doing this for about 12 years. We now have adults involved who began in their pre-teen years. It is a joy to see them in leadership roles now. They understand the impact of being encouraged and uplifted at a young age to do ministry. And from my perspective, they relish involving and understand their part as role models for young children and their parents.

Cross-Generational ministries do not happen overnight. It is one step at a time and it begins with the young. Puppets is just one example of a ministry involving pre-teens through adults.
I have discovered that when ministry opportunities for many different ages working together are set intentionally, growing a family ministry system becomes easier.

Cross-Generational? It's when all the ages are gathered under one roof to learn together and encourage one another to be in ministry together. Even the tiniest can sing and dance.
Statistics say you have about 30 seconds when someone walks in the room to decide whether or not they want to stay there.
Is there a time and a place in your congregation where all ages can gather for Christian education to build relationships and be together at least once a week?

Scripture for the Day

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing;it is the gift of God."  Ephesians 2:8

Thought for the Day

"If your vision is for one year, plant wheat. If your vision is for a decade, plant trees. If your vision is for a lifetime, plant people."     Chinese Proverb

Investing in Our Children

Pastor Richard Mau is the Director of Lutheran Media in Australia for the LCA (Lutheran Church of Australia). It was a pleasure to meet with him during our tour of Australia and to hear about his passion for developing a“safe website” for young children.  A priority for the website is to continue research and development towards finding ways to introduce children to Jesus based on Bible themes.  He has poured many passionate hours into developing  www.happyland.com.au .  Click on the link and take a peek.

Recently Pastor Mau referenced a quote from Rita El Mounayer, the Director of Program Production and Host of a Popular Children's Program for SAT-7, the Official site for television service for Christians in the Middle East. I thought the quote was worth sharing with those of us who have a passion for reaching the next generation .

"If we don’t invest in young people, someone else will. Childhood is the most formative and most strategic stage of life. To shape an adult, we must reach a child."
Rita El Mounayer

Getting Parents Involved

It is indeed true that a parent and/or a significant adult in the life of a child is a faith role model for that child. In today's world, we have many challenges in raising children and far too many organizations competing for our time as a family. School, Sports, Clubs, On-line games,Video Games, TV shows....you name it!

In the past, the church's stance on Christian education was to provide for families and not ask for a penny. Funds were to be taken from existing budgets. There was no cost to be involved in Sunday school. In the present, the church's stance seems to be the same, however; with shrinking budgets everywhere, less and less is going to Christian education. And in fact, Sunday school numbers are shrinking as well across mainline denominations.

For the builder generation, it was a given: Their children went to Sunday school. This is no longer true and it seems we have skipped a generation of adults who have experienced Christian education.
My question: How do we bring this generation of parents "on-board" and give them tools to be the faith role models for their children that God is calling them to be?

A few tips for getting parents involved:
1.Schedule a time for parents to meet at the beginning of the Sunday school year. Most congregations schedule parent’s meetings when confirmation begins or during a child’s Jr./Sr. High years. Why? It’s important for a parent to understand the program offered and know their role including volunteers and chaperones needed. Why is it we don’t consider the very beginning of Sunday school just as important a time to bring parents on board?

2.Challenge parents to practice faith at home with a few easy steps and remind them they ARE faith role models for their children.
Most are totally dependent on the pastor or Sunday school teachers to teach their children faith. They are not aware they ARE the primary role model of faith for their children. We very rarely tell them!

3.Add parents to the list of prayers of the church. The congregation serves as support and allies in this daunting task. Being a parent in today's world is not easy. We all need help.

For sports, band, or other activities, parents invest time and money wanting their child to get something out of it. Ten years later, they no longer play the sport and the instrument is kept under the bed.

When it comes to Sunday school, what would happen if we asked for an expected amount of time and money from parents for not only the same reason, but a better one. This investment is one for the future and one a child will have for the rest of their life. Ten years later, faith will be there. Thirty years later, faith will be there. Fifty years later, faith will be there......
You get the picture!

Should we be asking something from parents involving time and money when it comes to Christian education?

168 Hours in a Week vs. 1 Hour for Christian Education

There’s 168 hours in a week. In the church we see the larger percentage of people for 1 hour during worship and a smaller percentage for 1 hour during Christian Education.

What message can we possibly give during this prime time to nurture and sustain faith lives the other 166 hours of the week?

Our track record appears to be showing that whatever we do during prime time does not continue when people leave the building. In fact what we share and teach during 1 or 2 hours in church is most likely undone within an hour in the secular world.

What can we do? How do we nurture our people and help them understand that faith role modeling is in their hands and not just experienced in our buildings for a few hours a week. It’s ours to do 24/7.

How do we help our children, youth, and adults?

Over the past 5 years I have had the privilege to travel across the country and introduce curriculum and family systems thinking to congregations. This summer I was privileged to travel as part of a team to churches in Australia. Whether in congregations in Australia or in the US, we all have the same challenges. It’s getting parents “on-board” and involved in Christian education. And it’s helping them understand their role in the faith of their children.

While on staff in our congregation for 10 years, I learned that role modeling faith practices once a week in the congregation that could be done in the home works.

I also became friends with two important words, intentional and expectations.

Until you are intentional about the way you do something, it most likely doesn’t happen. When you set expectations, you make priorities for the way we do something. It becomes important to you and the congregation.

A simple faith practice we call the FAITH 5 modeled in church every Sunday in small groups and at home every night in households will change lives.

FAITH 5 (Faith Acts InThe Home)

1. Share  2.      Read God’s Word  3.Talk 4.Pray 5.Bless.

If I had kicking off the year to do over again, here’s what I’d do:

1. Meet with the Christian Ed leadership team and come to an understanding about what we want to accomplish, support one another, and model the FAITH 5 at each meeting.
2. Communicate through e-mails, newsletters, and bulletins about plans for the fall well before the beginning of Sunday school.
3. Make sure that pastor, leadership, and teachers are “on-board” with our plans and can verbalize them back to us.
4. Ask the pastor or one of the Christian Ed team to make announcements during worship times. Talk about the value of the FAITH 5 during a message and think about providing a time for faith      stories of the church to be shared during worship in the future.
5. Make phone calls as an initial contact. Personal invitation is the number one way to invite another person to come.     
6. Most important: Have a parent’s meeting as a kick off for the year where you explain the expectations. Role model the FAITH 5 at that meeting. Walk them through the value and wisdom of each step.
7. Make sure there is a schedule to hand out at the beginning of the year so everyone can have the dates on their calendar. In today’s busy world this is important.
8. Schedule a few family events throughout the year where the fruits of sharing the FAITH 5 in small groups each week and in the home can be shared. Faith stories from church staff are one thing,    faith stories from one family to another grows lives. That’s evangelism.

I bought a few boomerangs when I was in Australia. They are beautiful. I’m not very good at using them yet, but I began to reflect on what I want them to do.

I want them to come back.

Then I thought about the FAITH 5.

I like to think of them as having the potential of the boomerang effect.
Throw them out there and you’ll be amazed at how quickly stories come back.

Along with the stories come the people. Again and again.

 

Food for Thought

“God grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, the courage to change the one I can, and the wisdom to know it’s me.”

Author Unknown