Looking for new ideas for praying with kids in your classroom next season? Check out these creative prayer practices collected on Pinterest by our friends at the NC Synod Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Each season provides an opportunity for updating your records for the kids in your program. I've seen many variations of registration forms, but most include these basics . . .
Sophie, my fifteen month old daughter, spends two days a week at daycare. I was eager to attend the first parent conference this spring to hear about what she's learning and how they see her developing. What if the same thing happened in our children and youth ministry programs?
With food allergies on the rise, are Sunday school snacks worth the risk? Check out these lists of safe snacks that Community Reformed put together for their children's ministry. What are you doing to keep the kids in your care safe?
VBS is a special time. Try these ideas for building a summer ministry team and planning an unforgettable week for your kids!
Looking for a way to ease the August stress of searching for volunteers? Check out this blog post from veteran children’s minister, Linda Freeman, who offers week by week ideas for planning a month long focus on volunteer recruitment.
Many Sunday schools take a break during the summer months. If yours is one of them, how do you say goodbye to your class as you send them off to enjoy the sunshine? If you’re coming to your last week of Sunday school, consider setting aside time do something special. Here are a few ideas.
A brunch, a blessing, a bowl full of chocolate—how will you thank your team at the end of this season? Check out these fun ideas I found on Pinterest. Here are a few of my favorites...
As the sun begins to shine and you spend more time outside, it’s easy to let thoughts of September slip out of mind. But a little preplanning now could go a long way in saving you money and time next season. Consider these ideas for stretching your Sunday school budget:
Here is a simple questionnaire you can use to give voice to your leader's joys and concerns! This feedback will help you shape the program for next year and it may also help your teachers consider their role in the future.
As the Sunday school season wraps up it's fitting to ask, what will next season look like? What could be new, different, fresh? What should remain the same or be enhanced? Share your thoughts here!
Helping kids develop a faith that's big enough to deal with the realities of this fallen world is part of our role as faith nurturers. Last night I found this article posted on my facebook wall, Talking With Children about the Boston Marathon Bombings... and Listening! and I wanted to pass it along.
When I think of Sunday school I think about telling God’s stories and sharing God’s love. But we’re also passing on a faith tradition. With that in mind, the songs we sing with kids and the variety of music we use is significant. It can help or hinder our efforts to enculturate them into the full life of the church.
A few weeks ago one of Faith Alive’s editors received a voicemail from a classis leader. He was calling to ask if the churches in his region should continue ordering from Faith Alive, or if we’d soon be closing our doors.
As educators we know that people learn best when their senses are engaged. Theresa Cho draws people in using color and sound, texture and scents, reflection and interaction. The experiences she creates are memorable, personal, and communal.
Resurrection eggs help families focus their attention on Jesus' death and resurrection during Holy Week.
It’s been a couple weeks since the premiere of the BIBLE on the History channel. I’ve heard a range of opinions, some hating it, some loving it. Last night I caught a rerun of some of the first and second episodes. I have to say that it was better than I expected, and it made me wonder what other Sunday school teachers are thinking.
Last week Mark DeVries, president of Youth Ministry Architects and author of Family Based Youth Ministry posted this video on recruiting volunteers. He is so confident it will work that he offers a $100 guarentee!
Why does your Sunday school or children's ministry program exist? The answer to that question could help motivate leaders to join the ministry, parents to send their kids out, and the church to invest in the next generation.
This fall Tyson Capel asked each high schooler at his church to invite an older member of the congregation to study the book of Acts with them. He is careful never to talk about this initiative as a mentoring or discipleship program — those words make people feel intimidated.
In the book Sticky Faith: Everyday Ideas to Build Lasting Faith in Your Kids, Chap Clark and Kara Powel talk about flipping the 5:1 kid-to-adult ratio. Rather than one leader for every five teens, what if every child and teen in our churches had five adults who were investing in their lives?
If you are a church educator, Sunday school coordinator, minister of faith formation, or director of children's or youth ministry, join or renew your membership in the Association of Christian Reformed Church Educators today! Members will receive support, best practices, and new ideas for Sunday school programs.
Come to Me, a unique family “prayer book” now in development by Faith Alive, is an exciting new venture designed to bring families closer together and closer to God. We’re looking for families to field-test a sample of this book, which makes spending time with God a natural, doable, and meaningful part of family life.