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Lesson From an Egg
I remember one of the first times I hard boiled an egg. I removed the eggs from the refrigerator, put them in a pot, covered the eggs with water, sprinkled a little salt to prevent cracking, and waited for the pot to boil. Ten minutes later, I removed the eggs from the pot and put them in an ice-water bath. The famous test of a “done” egg seemed to indicate that this was sufficient for producing a proper hard-boiled egg. Some of you noticed my rookie mistake and are chuckling. For those who don’t know, you are supposed let the eggs sit before running them under cold water (or putting…
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Three Steps to Combating Power Struggles in Children’s Ministry
Power Struggles are as old as The Fall. In Genesis 2, the man and his wife worked as a team, one unit working together in trusting teamwork: the ideal for every children’s ministry to aspire. Only a few verses later, everything has changed. Man and wife have sinned, and the Lord pronounces the consequences of their actions. “To the Woman He said:….You will want to control your husband, but he will dominate you.” (Genesis 3:16). Four verses later, we see the first evidence of this phenomenon: “The man named his wife Eve….” (Genesis 3:20) . Verse 20 is often glossed over. Its significance is often missed. The Man had already…
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The Apostolic Creed: Why Should We Teach It?
It is a disturbing trend that children in many American churches today are more likely to be called upon to recite the Pledge of Allegiance than the Apostolic Creed (or Apostles’ Creed). I believe such a creed is very apropos to learn today, though children’s ministers and pastors may choose to make slight modifications to the creed or to further explain certain parts of the creed to improve their understanding. I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth: Children learn here two truths about God the Father—He is Almighty God and the Creator of Everything. And in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son,…
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Reassuring Parents: What You Can Do
“Linda” (not her real name) came to pick up her eighteen month old daughter from the church nursery one Sunday. She saw her daughter sitting in a swing watching Barney. The other children in the room were playing or looking at toys on their own while the workers sat in rocking chairs. Linda felt uncomfortable with the situation. Shouldn’t the workers be engaging the children more often? What were they doing in the toddler room? Were they learning anything? She wondered if she should even expect a church’s nursery to have higher standards. How can you as a children’s minister or nursery director help alleviate Linda’s concerns? Encourage Linda to…
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To Pay or Not to Pay, That is the Question
Whether or not to pay nursery workers to work on Sunday mornings is a minor controversy in children’s ministry. Many children’s ministries have volunteers working on Sunday mornings (and many of them struggle with having consistent volunteers). I have worked as both a paid nursery worker and an unpaid volunteer, so I believe I have some perspective from both ends. I’ll briefly review the pros and cons to each approach. The Church Nursery is Staffed by Volunteers Pros One less expense for the church, many are struggling. Gives believers in a local congregation an opportunity to serve in ministry Parents are more likely to know the workers, especially in a…
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Separation Anxiety and VBS
Separation anxiety can appear in infants as early as six months and may continue through the child’s first year. This is a difficult time for parents, children and caregivers! But with patience, love and understanding, it too will pass. Remember, your VBS program is five days in length for one week (assuming you are following the traditional schedule). The infant or toddler’s enrollment in this program represents a deviation from the child’s normal schedule and routine. Couple this with the absence of his parent (or parents) and small wonder the infant or toddler cries in fear and frustration! How should VBS workers treat separation anxiety? I have a few suggestions.…
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VBS in the Nursery? Seriously?
Some find the notion radical. Teach infants? Surely they would understand so little, if anything. Teach one year olds? Their attention span is so short that you couldn’t possibly teach a lesson. Teach wiggly, antsy, two year olds? It’s easier to herd cats. Vacation Bible School (VBS) has a history of being radical. Eliza Hawes (who arguably pioneered the idea of VBS) begin a six-week summer program which included Bible stories, games, verse memorization, nature study, cooking, and sewing for underprivileged children in New York City. Unlike most Vacation Bible Schools held today, Hawes held her program in an unusual location–not in a church, not in a school, not in…
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Volunteers: The Next Generation
A group of teenage girls from the youth group want to serve in your church nursery. “We love babies.” One of them assures you “and we babysit all the time!” You want to honor their desire to serve, but how can you best implement it wisely? You need to establish (if they are not in place already) a policy and procedure with regards to teenage volunteers. Sit down with your church’s youth pastor and ask for his or her input on which teenagers are most gifted with children. You can then establish limits on how often they volunteer (to encourage them to attend the church service and to have balanced…
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G.R.O.W.ing Volunteers
Now you have volunteers. Great! So how do you keep and maintain them? How do you keep their passion for serving your children’s ministry burning? Make sure you are providing for the four inner needs of volunteers. Feed the volunteers’ needs. Most children’s pastors and nursery directors are incredibly attuned to the needs of their children and the needs of the children’s ministry staff; they may not always take time to consider the needs of the volunteers: Grace, Relationships, Ownership, and Worth or “GROW”. Grace: just as grace has been given to you and to the children in your ministry, grace has also been given to your volunteers. One way…
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How Do You Solve a Problem Like Volunteerism?
Many children’s ministries desire to improve on how they work with their volunteers—how to recruit them, how to retain them, how to train them, how to deal with discipline or personality issues as they arise. Recruitment is probably one of the most common dilemmas. Many churches struggle with having enough volunteers. Some have enticed adults from the church service, begging them to help out in this room or that, others have engaged in accepting more lax screening practices in their desperation, and others may choose to downplay or fail to address common problems in an effort to keep their volunteer numbers up. It can be hard to hear “get someone…
