Resource Browser Page
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| January 3, 2011 |
A New Year's ChecklistOrganizing, Supporting Volunteers Happy New Year! By now you are almost halfway through the educational year, and you’ve tackled some of your most labor-intensive months. (Stop reading and give yourself a hug!) But since there’s still work to be done, I’ve prepared a little list to help you get the New Year off to a smooth start! |
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| December 16, 2010 |
Welcome Home: A Christmas DevotionalSupporting Volunteers Like fireworks in July, a choir of angels—spinning and whirling, shining and twirling—burst into the sky singing, “Glory to God in the highest and peace to everyone on earth.” |
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| December 1, 2010 |
3 Tips for Involving Kids in StorytellingNurturing Faith, Teaching Some of my favorite story times are ones that allow kids to take center stage... We love to jump in and become part of the story! There are three things I keep in mind each time I tell a story with kids... |
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| November 23, 2010 |
Who Will Take Your Place?Supporting Volunteers It is hard to get people out for leader’s meetings and even harder to find an hour or two of available time when everyone can meet for training. What isn’t hard is thinking of several excellent leaders at my church—leaders who I would love to see pass on their passion for ministry. I wonder what would happen if each of them would take someone under their wing to show them what they do and how they do it. |
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| November 11, 2010 |
What to Do About the Christmas ProgramOrganizing Ah, the Christmas program. The annual event guaranteed to make parents beam with pride, kids do the unpredictable, and Children’s Ministry Directors break out in a cold sweat! If you’re in that director’s chair this year, expect the unexpected! And read on to find some great tips to make this year’s program... |
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| August 10, 2010 |
Kids on a Mission!Nurturing Faith Kids need to hear about how Jesus called his disciples and how he healed, taught, died, and rose again. They need to imagine Paul’s missionary journeys. . . . But they also need to know what it means to be called on a mission of their own! |
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| June 25, 2010 |
Children at the Lord's SupperNurturing Faith This year’s synod took a big step toward welcoming children to the Lord’s Supper! By approving the following guiding principal, synod sent the message that they approve of the direction of the Faith Formation Committee’s work... |
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| June 15, 2010 |
Serving with KidsNurturing Faith Something special happens when people from different generations rub elbows as they serve together. They find common ground where they hadn’t known it existed before! A sixty-year-old and seven-year-old become something more than a grandparent and child, or a Sunday school teacher and student—they become ministry partners! Stories are shared as faith is experienced and modeled, practiced and affirmed. |
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| June 4, 2010 |
Before You Hit The Beach . . .Organizing My vacation packing ritual always includes some household chores. I can’t stand the thought of coming home from summer paradise to face a messy house and dirty dishes. Church is no different. Before you shift gears for the summer, I suggest you start on seven little chores that will help make next season a success.
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| April 26, 2010 |
Make it CountTeaching There are 52 weeks in the year. If a weekly 45 minute Sunday school class doesn’t meet for 10 weeks in the summer and the average child is absent for 5 Sundays during the school year, how many hours of Sunday school does the average child attend in a year? |
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| April 8, 2010 |
Faith ModelingNurturing Faith What does it mean to be a faith model? If the chorus of R.E.M.’s song “Shiny, Happy People” springs to mind, you’re not alone. Sadly, what we think of as faith modeling is often little more than pretending. Instead of reflecting the reality of life with God, it’s tempting to put on a smile and pretend ...
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| March 2, 2010 |
Teacher Training: Autism and Children's MinistryOrganizing Nella Uitvlugt, executive director of Friendship Ministries, has just posted a recording of her popular Autism and Children's Ministry webinar on the Friendship website! Nella first shared this workshop for an eager crowd at the 2008 Children's Pastor's Conference in San Diego, CA. Since then, Nella has offered it live via webinar and received many requests for a recorded version that churches can share with their entire teaching team. |
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| February 27, 2010 |
ChangeOrganizing This Sunday school season held a BIG change for my little church. A change that was carefully thought out, prayed over, and discussed. A change that meant rerouting the church van and reorganizing the whole Sunday schedule. A change that required two congregational meetings, the approval of the council, and the vote of church members. It wasn't easy and it wasn't quick, but it happened: our Sunday school hour moved from Sunday evenings to Sunday mornings! If your church is considering a change, here are three things I learned that might help. |
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| January 25, 2010 |
What Makes a Lesson Reformed?Faith Tradition More Than Storytelling is a free workshop you can lead with your team that compares a variety of approaches to Bible interpretation and teaching. It offers rules of thumb for teaching in a way that’s faithful to Scripture’s big story—God’s redemption and restoration of the world through Jesus Christ. |
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| January 23, 2010 |
Potential VolunteersOrganizing Tara might not be a teacher, but she’s a great musician—could she play the guitar for worship at the beginning of Sunday school? Kendra’s hobby is scrapbooking; she’s always at the craft store. Could she help pick up glue and glitter to keep your supply cabinets full? Sam would be a great teacher, but he travels a lot—could he be a trained substitute? |
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| January 23, 2010 |
Leading a Child to JesusNurturing Faith As churches become more intentional about connecting with their communities, Sunday school leaders like you disciple more and more children who are at the very beginning of their Christian journey. When the Holy Spirit works in their hearts, these children begin to respond to the call of the gospel. Covenant children, too, commit their lives to the Lord... |
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| January 23, 2010 |
Beyond BabysittingNurturing Faith I was sitting at my desk having one of those mental conversations, trying to convince parents that we’re not just babysitting their kids on Sunday morning so they can worship in peace. And I found myself asking ... We’ve got one hour with kids every Sunday morning—if we aren’t babysitting, what are we hoping for out of this time? |
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| January 23, 2010 |
Coaching Your TeamSupporting Volunteers Sports movies always have the same climax. The home team is down, but not by much. Seconds remain on the clock. The crowd is screaming in pandemonium. The coach calls a timeout and pulls the team into a huddle. It’s time for a pep talk, and the message is clear. This is our moment to shine. This is what we’ve ... |
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| January 23, 2010 |
Ready, Set, GO!Organizing Competitive swimmers know that the starting point is crucial. A good leap, a smooth entry, and you’re off to an excellent start—with a boost of confidence that pushes you toward the final lap. Sunday school is similar. The work you do at the start of the season (even before the kickoff) will put you |
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| January 23, 2010 |
Promoting the Children's ProgramOrganizing You know that Sunday school is not just a program; its one of the avenues God uses to shape young disciples of Christ. You know that childhood is the most formative time in a person’s life... but does your congregation know that? ...... |
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| May 21, 2012 |
God's faithfulness, Graduation and BlanketsNurturing Faith This Sunday during the morning worship we recognized our high school graduates. We asked them to come forward and stand around the baptismal font. We talked to them about God’s faithfulness. |
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| May 5, 2012 |
The Bible in Sixty-six VersesTeaching I came across this really interesting blog post called the “Bible in 66 Verses” on the Lutheran Forum. The author, Sarah Wilson, selected a verse from each book of the Bible that summarizes that book’s content. How could you use this idea? |
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| April 30, 2012 |
A Case Against PerfectionNurturing Faith Our worship services would not be as good if we did not allow our members to learn as they do things. We want to let many people use their gifts – including children and teens – and we want to support them so they do well. That also means that sometimes worship will be less than perfect. |
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| April 23, 2012 |
Telling The Stories Of Sunday SchoolSupporting Volunteers Leaders of Sunday School need to share and tell the good stories of what is happening when they gather. We can choose to tell the stories of frustration and failure or the stories of how God is powerfully moving. We have an opportunity to set what becomes the prevailing narrative of Sunday School in our church. |
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| April 16, 2012 |
Promises Made in BaptismNurturing Faith One of the things I like about baptisms is that, in addition to the parents making a vow, the congregation does too. The congregation promises that they will love and support this new child and play a special role in her instruction in the faith. It reminds me that we, as a church, take faith formation seriously. |
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| April 9, 2012 |
Family Faith TalkNurturing Faith 85% of Christian kids never hear their parents talk about their faith. God’s Big Story Cards are an easy way to engage in faith talk and Bible study. While these cards can be used to build relationships in the Sunday School classroom they also can be used to connect families to the story and connect to each other. |
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| April 2, 2012 |
Left Overs?Teaching One of my Sunday School leader volunteers came up with a great idea that I just had to share. We use the Walk With Me Preschool curriculum. There are 40 take home story cards and we do not use all of them because we don’t meet 40 times over the course of the year. The leader asked if I had plans for the ... |
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| March 27, 2012 |
Children and the Lord's Supper [WEBINAR]Nurturing Faith, Spiritual Formation If your congregation is like many we’re in conversation with, you’re seriously considering Synod 2010’s decision to welcome baptized children to participate in the sacrament of communion. But with change comes challenge—along with the need to replace old processes and practices with new ones. That’s the challenge we’d like to address |
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| March 26, 2012 |
Lift High the CrossNurturing Faith Every week in our morning worship service, the children in 3rd and 4th grade bring in the Bible and light a candle in the front of church. At the end of the service the kids come and carry out the Bible and the light from the candle out of church. During Lent, a third child is added to the procession who carries in a cross, holding it up high as the congregation sings “Lift High the Cross” |
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| March 20, 2012 |
Kids' Faith and Adults' SchedulesSupporting Volunteers Sometimes, volunteers are hard to find! There are some people who are just not good working with children or don’t feel comfortable working with kids. But then there are those who are good with children and just do not have the time available to lead on a weekly basis. Sometimes we have difficulty |
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| March 12, 2012 |
Make and Take Sunday SchoolTeaching If the purpose of the making an item in Sunday School is for the kids to keep the item long term, we are doing a bad job. Most of the stuff kids make and take home barely gets looked at. In fact, much of it barely gets home. So why do we bother? |
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| March 4, 2012 |
Training Moralistic Therapeutic DeistsCurriculum When Sunday School curriculum focuses on morals and good behavior we are missing an opportunity to teach children about God. Should we be surprised then when teens are Moralistic Therapeutic Deists? |
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| February 24, 2012 |
Consider Faith Alive FirstI’m writing to ask for your help with an issue that affects all Christian Reformed churches. Faith Alive, as you know, is the publishing ministry of the CRC. But like many denominational publishers, Faith Alive is facing significant financial headwinds in today’s tough economic times. |
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| February 20, 2012 |
Legos in Sunday SchoolTeaching Sometimes the 9th and 10th grade students are not ready to engage with the Heidelberg Catechism. The answers to discussions questions are one or two words. This makes the Sunday School hour crawl by for everyone and the teacher feels like she hasn’t connected at all. It’s not much fun. Have you been there? |
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| February 11, 2012 |
Leading a Child to Jesus (Part 2)Nurturing Faith Sunday school leaders like you disciple children who are at the very beginning of their Christian journey. When the Holy Spirit works in their hearts, these children begin to respond to the call of the gospel. |
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| February 6, 2012 |
Leading a Child to JesusNurturing Faith The reason we teach Sunday School is to teach kids who God is and to bring them into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. But how do we do that? |
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| January 30, 2012 |
The Bible In Fifty WordsSupporting Volunteers Trying to summarize the Bible in just a few words could be an interesting activity to use in Sunday School with adults or teens. Older children and teens could rewrite the Bible story they studied that day using just nouns and verbs. Could a Bible story be reviewed by summarizing it in ten words? |
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| January 23, 2012 |
Using the Psalms with KidsTeaching Psalms are important for kids and teens being raised in a postmodern culture, a culture where sometimes facts take a back seat to feelings. Much of teenage life is about how they feel. Our kids and teens need to know that they can bring their emotions and their responses to God in an appropriate way. |
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| January 16, 2012 |
The Power of ParentsNurturing Faith Encouraging parents in their role as faith nurturers doesn’t have to take a lot of time—it can be as easy as getting resources in their hands. Karen DeBoer plans to share resource ideas that families can use at home to talk about faith and read God’s word together. |
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| January 13, 2012 |
Children and the Lord's Supper: One Church's JourneyNurturing Faith How do the church’s elders provide “encouragement, instruction and accountability” for the congregation as they think about welcoming children to the Lord's Supper? Harderwyk Ministries in Holland, MI recognized that some of their families are ready for their children to participate
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Average Rating | |
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| August 18, 2010 |
Volunteer Job DescriptionOrganizing Use this form (from Sunday School That Really Works by Jessie Schut) as a guide to help you develop descriptions for the various volunteer roles within your Sunday school or children's ministry program. Having a description to hand to potential volunteers will help you find the right match for your ministry! |
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| August 3, 2010 |
Web Seminar: Help! I'm A Sunday School Coordinator!Organizing Coordinating Sunday school for the first time? Join this free webinar for ideas and resources to make your job easier! |
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| May 25, 2010 |
Choosing Children's Curriculum WebinarCurriculum Considering a new curriculum for the fall? The "Choosing Children's Curriculum" webinar can help you decide which one is right for your church! |
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| January 22, 2010 |
Volunteer ProfileOrganizing Use this Volunteer Profile to place leaders in the best roles for their gifts and skills. From the book Sunday School that Really Works by Jessie Schut. Copyright 2008, all rights reserved. Used with permission. |
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| January 15, 2010 |
Sunday School Registration FormOrganizing Use this registration form, from the book Sunday School That Really Works by Jessie Schut, to keep track of important information for each child in your program. |
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| January 15, 2010 |
Sunday School Budget ProposalOrganizing This budgeting worksheet, from the book Sunday School that Really Works by Jessie Schut, will make your annual request whole lot easier to calculate! |
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| January 11, 2010 |
Walk On Resource Book and DVDNurturing Faith The Walk On Resource Book by Laura Keeley offers a variety of faith formation ideas and resources. Originally distributed to every CRC pastor for the Year of Faith Formation, this book and video are now available for download on the ACRE website. |
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| December 28, 2009 |
Choosing a Curriculum - A Guide for ChurchesCurriculum This helpful tool includes a checklist of features to look for in children's Bible curriculum. The questions are designed to help you find material that is theologically and educationally sound and also fits the unique personality and dynamics of your congregation. Add additional criteria that's important to your church, and use it to evaluate and discuss curriculum options with your team! |
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Average Rating | |
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| June 22, 2010 |
Signs of Wonder SongsSupporting Volunteers Signs of Wonder Songs is a ministry that teaches children and adults how to sign worship songs using conceptually correct American Sign Language. |
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| February 17, 2010 |
Intergenerational LearningOrganizing If your church is exploring models for learning and growing in faith together, the Lifelong Faith website is a great place to begin. |
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| February 3, 2010 |
Collecting for a CauseTeaching Did you know that nearly half of all the gifts given from the CRWRC gift catalog are from Sunday school classes? Kids love to know that their offerings will provide a goat, a well, or a pig for someone else! |
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| February 3, 2010 |
VBS Giving Projects from CRWRCOrganizing This page is PACKED with resources that will help your kids join in the work of the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee as they share the love and compassion of Christ with others. Your kids can join the campaign to embrace people living with HIV/AIDS, help provide clean water to kids a continent away, or make a difference in the lives of adults and children through the literacy project. |
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| February 3, 2010 |
Meeting WizardOrganizing If you've ever sent out an email proposing more than one date for a meeting then you know how confusing it can be to keep track of responses. This easy tool allows you to propose several dates at once and creates an online graph that shows you who is available on which day. I've even used it to determine which leaders were available to serve for children's church in a given quarter. The best part—it’s FREE!
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| February 3, 2010 |
Brain RulesTeaching Check out this excellent site for 12 brain rules that could help you engage kids more fully in the Bible lessons you share! |
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| January 22, 2010 |
The Grow Website for Children's Ministry LeadersOrganizing The Grow website provides free resources to encourage, training, and support children's ministry leaders! |
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| January 22, 2010 |
The Ways We LearnTeaching This page from the Walk With Me website includes a short summary of the many ways we learn (based on Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences). Print a copy to use as a reference when you're planning Sunday school sessions. If the curriculum offers choices and options, pick a variety of activities that span the intelligences so your session will connect with every kid in the class! |
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| January 15, 2010 |
Safety FirstOrganizing Keep kids safe by making sure you have strong abuse prevention policies in place that include careful screening of all staff members and volunteers. This page from the Safe Church Network includes
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| January 11, 2010 |
Kid Connection WebsiteCurriculum This website provides information and support for churches using Kid Connection--the preschool through grade six large group/small group curriculum from Faith Alive. Search under Scope and Sequence to find recorded lesson tips and ideas for units and sessions.
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| January 11, 2010 |
Walk With Me WebsiteCurriculum This website provides information and support for churches using Walk With Me--the preschool through grade eight curriculum by Faith Alive. Search under About Walk With Me and "Support" to learn more about the scope and sequence, find answers to frequently asked questions, and download workshops for training teachers. |
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| January 5, 2010 |
The Association of Christian Reformed Church Educators (ACRE)Organizing The Association of Christian Reformed Educators (ACRE) is an organization made up of professional and volunteer church educators who serve congregations in the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA) in children’s and adult educational ministries. Its purpose is to promote and strengthen the churches educational ministries on congregational, classical, and denominational levels by supporting, encouraging, and advocating for church educators in the CRC. |
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| December 23, 2009 |
Synodical Faith Formation CommitteeNurturing Faith Visit this website to stay up to date on the latest work of the Synodical Faith Formation Committee. Download a short video for discussion, or a Bible study on the role baptism and the Lord's Supper play in forming our faith. |
