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Thursday, October 18, 2012
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
That's My King
God has answered so many prayers this week, it is unbelievable. Actually, very believable considering He has ALWAYS answered prayers. This time, He answered prayers that I hadn't even prayed yet. Uh, cool!
To the point, Jesus is a God who reigns. He is one who reigns sovereignly. I cannot believe anything except this, especially on days like today. My God, the God of Abraham, the God of David, the God of Peter and Paul, LISTENS and plans before I ever do.
This past week has been one where my inadequacies are ever before me, but God's sufficient grace is too. He has been showing me the power of relying on Him and finding my sufficiency in Him. I realized that when becoming a better leader, you learn about all of your failures. In the end, it is a miracle everything isn't a train wreck! Alas, we have this sovereign God who wants His kingdom to come. He wants His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, and he will usurp you to get it done. Don't fall into the trap and lie that YOU made it all happen. I am keenly aware today that any successes are not due to my awesome skills, but to God's sovereign power.
Do you lead like this? Do you lead your ministry with the fact that you have a sovereign God managing it all? I know many times I don't. BUT, I also know that God will finish what He starts. And God started this good work inside of me, and inside of you. He will finish it! He will sanctify you! And He will be glorified!
Because He loves you, and He loves His people and He loves His glory. He will get glory, despite your failures. He will get glory, despite your success. He will get glory despite humanity. Amen!
Here's a pump-up video to light a fire under your tuckus...
To the point, Jesus is a God who reigns. He is one who reigns sovereignly. I cannot believe anything except this, especially on days like today. My God, the God of Abraham, the God of David, the God of Peter and Paul, LISTENS and plans before I ever do.
This past week has been one where my inadequacies are ever before me, but God's sufficient grace is too. He has been showing me the power of relying on Him and finding my sufficiency in Him. I realized that when becoming a better leader, you learn about all of your failures. In the end, it is a miracle everything isn't a train wreck! Alas, we have this sovereign God who wants His kingdom to come. He wants His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, and he will usurp you to get it done. Don't fall into the trap and lie that YOU made it all happen. I am keenly aware today that any successes are not due to my awesome skills, but to God's sovereign power.
Do you lead like this? Do you lead your ministry with the fact that you have a sovereign God managing it all? I know many times I don't. BUT, I also know that God will finish what He starts. And God started this good work inside of me, and inside of you. He will finish it! He will sanctify you! And He will be glorified!
Because He loves you, and He loves His people and He loves His glory. He will get glory, despite your failures. He will get glory, despite your success. He will get glory despite humanity. Amen!
Here's a pump-up video to light a fire under your tuckus...
Monday, October 15, 2012
Necessities
My previous posts have been mainly brainstorming and theological posts. This one is going to just be my quick list of things you need in a children's ministry and cannot compromise on. If you have other things you think your children's ministry needs, feel free to add in the comments and i will address them. I will also be uploading our church's forms and documents for you to use of your own. Please download and customize away.
Things you need:
Things you need:
- An appointed leader
- Mission Statement
- Start Date Goal (one month, two months? Try to make a goal so you can stick to a schedule)
- Policy and Procedure Booklet (Hardcopy and Digital copy)
- Applications for volunteers
- Background Checks (We use a company called Praesidium to do individual background checks)
- Training for new volunteers
- Sign-In for each classroom
- Safe and clean place to hold class
- Schedule for volunteers
- Adequate supply of volunteers for the amount of children you currently have with room for a few visitor children.
Once you have these things in order, you are ready to go. You do not immediately need a bunch of stuff. Curriculum is not necessary to begin. It can always be implemented later. Try not to be intimidated by other church's fancy classrooms with cool painting and curriculum and playground structures. After all, they did not start there!
Also, you are a growing individual. If God is living inside of you, then you are being sanctified and renewed day by day. Your inadequacies can be VERY apparent when a new work is beginning. Satan can use this to crush you, or you can rely on the power of Christ to make you into a new person, a leader. It takes some time, and it is painful (I am currently going through this myself!). God will accomplish His work and you will be changed into a more complete image of Him. Hold on to God!
I hope this helps!
-Sarah T.
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Why Not to Start a Ministry
I have seen some pretty cool children's ministries! I'm sure you all have too! A lot of these have a great Director (I think of these as "big D" directors) with some extra cash to make a really colorful and fun atmosphere. They also seem to have the best security systems and volunteers and really cool pamphlets. A live children's band might even be there on a small stage, or a large stage!
When I think about these great children's ministries, I am often tempted to believe I need to become like them. Which brings me to today's post: Why NOT To Start a Children's Ministry.
1. Do not start a ministry to be like someone else's ministry or because everyone else is doing it. Unless that someone else is Jesus, don't do it! Trying to be like someone else is not serving the purpose of the ministry, it is serving the purpose of yourself. Your church and your people and your city is unique. Your people have different needs, and you have different capabilities than that cool "big D" director. Meet THOSE needs, not some other city's or church's needs. Granted, a lot of admirable children's ministries have things that you can and should do. Here's an example of what I am talking about:
My husband and I got an opportunity to visit Mars Hill Church Downtown Seattle in the spring. Of course I looked at their kid's areas (I also was dropping off my toddler while we attended service). The Director met me personally, I got a tour of their rooms, as well as some information about their home-made curriculum. Their place was simply stunning and safe (a bodyguard all of service!). I got a pamphlet and some handouts as well to take home. When we got home to good ol' hot Fresno, I sat on my green couch looking at the pamphlets and wanted to cry! They had PAMPHLETS! With really cool graphics! The pamphlets were about parenting resources and seminars and meetings. We didn't do anything like that. I was tempted to run to my computer and start planning a parent's group and make a pamphlet. Thankfully my husband grounded me and talked to me about my own capabilities and limitations and what OUR church needs, not what Mars Hill Church needs. It is still a goal of ours to serve our parents in a way that is helpful. Since then, we have implemented a once-a-month date night drop-off for children. It is really low-key and no fancy pamphlets, but our parents are being served.
2. Do not start a ministry to tuck children away. I think it is necessary to have a place for children who are young. Babies cry, kids can't sit still or stop talking, and their distractions interrupt everything. Because of this (and other reasons), our church currently has a classroom cut-off at the age of 8. We are still working on how old we wish to hold classes for; however, many churches have children's ministry ranging in ages from pre-utero until awkward 25 years-old-but-still-a-teenager group. It can seem like children get their own church, even until the point where they are full-grown adults who should be in the main service. If the preacher is speaking in such a way that is not understandable or completely boring or your service is three hours long, then "children's church" might make sense. Outside of that, it really doesn't. Children are smart and they understand many things. Even complicated things. They get to see examples from their mommies and daddies worshipping God in service. They get to see communion being served and learn about the blood of Jesus Christ.
3. Do not start a ministry because you think YOU are awesome and the ONLY one who can run it. Wrong! God uses the humble to do great things. And there will be a day when you cannot superman enough to make the thing work. Only God can make a ministry work and be blessed. I am constantly tempted to think and function in this manner because I have had a lot of training and experience in child care and ministry. I may be gifted with these skills, and I intend to honor God with my abilities, but at the end of the day, I am a tool. A clay pot in the hand of my Potter. My purpose is to hold the water God gives me and rely on the One who made me.
I'm sure there are more reasons not to start a ministry, but these seem to be the most obvious reasons to me. I want to leave you with an awesome example of what it looks like when you have started a ministry for the wrong reasons. Watch the video below and laugh away ; )
When I think about these great children's ministries, I am often tempted to believe I need to become like them. Which brings me to today's post: Why NOT To Start a Children's Ministry.
1. Do not start a ministry to be like someone else's ministry or because everyone else is doing it. Unless that someone else is Jesus, don't do it! Trying to be like someone else is not serving the purpose of the ministry, it is serving the purpose of yourself. Your church and your people and your city is unique. Your people have different needs, and you have different capabilities than that cool "big D" director. Meet THOSE needs, not some other city's or church's needs. Granted, a lot of admirable children's ministries have things that you can and should do. Here's an example of what I am talking about:
My husband and I got an opportunity to visit Mars Hill Church Downtown Seattle in the spring. Of course I looked at their kid's areas (I also was dropping off my toddler while we attended service). The Director met me personally, I got a tour of their rooms, as well as some information about their home-made curriculum. Their place was simply stunning and safe (a bodyguard all of service!). I got a pamphlet and some handouts as well to take home. When we got home to good ol' hot Fresno, I sat on my green couch looking at the pamphlets and wanted to cry! They had PAMPHLETS! With really cool graphics! The pamphlets were about parenting resources and seminars and meetings. We didn't do anything like that. I was tempted to run to my computer and start planning a parent's group and make a pamphlet. Thankfully my husband grounded me and talked to me about my own capabilities and limitations and what OUR church needs, not what Mars Hill Church needs. It is still a goal of ours to serve our parents in a way that is helpful. Since then, we have implemented a once-a-month date night drop-off for children. It is really low-key and no fancy pamphlets, but our parents are being served.
2. Do not start a ministry to tuck children away. I think it is necessary to have a place for children who are young. Babies cry, kids can't sit still or stop talking, and their distractions interrupt everything. Because of this (and other reasons), our church currently has a classroom cut-off at the age of 8. We are still working on how old we wish to hold classes for; however, many churches have children's ministry ranging in ages from pre-utero until awkward 25 years-old-but-still-a-teenager group. It can seem like children get their own church, even until the point where they are full-grown adults who should be in the main service. If the preacher is speaking in such a way that is not understandable or completely boring or your service is three hours long, then "children's church" might make sense. Outside of that, it really doesn't. Children are smart and they understand many things. Even complicated things. They get to see examples from their mommies and daddies worshipping God in service. They get to see communion being served and learn about the blood of Jesus Christ.
3. Do not start a ministry because you think YOU are awesome and the ONLY one who can run it. Wrong! God uses the humble to do great things. And there will be a day when you cannot superman enough to make the thing work. Only God can make a ministry work and be blessed. I am constantly tempted to think and function in this manner because I have had a lot of training and experience in child care and ministry. I may be gifted with these skills, and I intend to honor God with my abilities, but at the end of the day, I am a tool. A clay pot in the hand of my Potter. My purpose is to hold the water God gives me and rely on the One who made me.
I'm sure there are more reasons not to start a ministry, but these seem to be the most obvious reasons to me. I want to leave you with an awesome example of what it looks like when you have started a ministry for the wrong reasons. Watch the video below and laugh away ; )
Friday, October 5, 2012
Getting Started and Reevaluating
Wherever you are in your ministry, this post is still relevant. Many of you may be in the thinking and planning phase. More will probably be in the near beginning figuring things out. Some of you will be a full blown program. Wherever you are, please stay tuned in!
When you begin thinking about a ministry, there are many places to start and things to do. But before you get carried away with policies and procedures and classrooms, you need stop and think and pray.
Ask yourself and your pastor (or whoever is supervising you) and God some questions:
Why does the ministry even exist?
What REALLY matters in a church? a.k.a. What is YOUR church trying to do? Why does a church exist?
How are disciples made in a church, and how are children and parents discipled?
What are actual needs of parents in your church?
Do children need to be "put away" during service times? Should they be in the service?
What atmosphere do you want your children's ministry to have/exude? High-energy? Safe and reliable? Home grown? Small and intimate? Official and programmatic? Calm? (haha right!)
How do you want your parents to feel when they drop off their children? How do you want visitors to feel when they come with children?
How do you want your volunteers to feel and serve and be served?
How should you serve? What's the ideal way to serve in leadership?
Most of these questions' answers revolve around one passage of Scripture for our church. Read Matthew 28:16-20. It should be a very familiar passage!
16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Our (FGC's) children's ministry revolves around the command of disciple-making. Actually, our entire church revolves around that command. We are called by Christ Himself to go and make disciples and baptize. We also have the assurance that He is with us through it all, to the end of the age. Our church's mission statement is this: to go and make disciples. Our children's ministry should be the same. How does making disciples and being a disciple apply to the questions above?
Work out each question carefully. Write a small sentence for each one. Put it all together (hopefully in a coherent order) and BOOM! You have your children's ministry mission statement. You might even have your entire church's mission statement.
If you are one of the people who are further along in their ministry, I think it is still wise to look over these questions and re-evaluate whether or not your ministry is functioning as one that honors God, or has become just another cool program at your cool church.
I cannot stress this enough- EVERY FUTURE DECISION YOU MAKE WILL BE BASED ON YOUR CHURCH'S BELIEFS OF WHAT THE PURPOSE OF THE CHURCH AND CHILDREN'S MINISTRY IS.
Next post: The wrong reasons people start a ministry.... in my perspective.
When you begin thinking about a ministry, there are many places to start and things to do. But before you get carried away with policies and procedures and classrooms, you need stop and think and pray.
Ask yourself and your pastor (or whoever is supervising you) and God some questions:
Why does the ministry even exist?
What REALLY matters in a church? a.k.a. What is YOUR church trying to do? Why does a church exist?
How are disciples made in a church, and how are children and parents discipled?
What are actual needs of parents in your church?
Do children need to be "put away" during service times? Should they be in the service?
What atmosphere do you want your children's ministry to have/exude? High-energy? Safe and reliable? Home grown? Small and intimate? Official and programmatic? Calm? (haha right!)
How do you want your parents to feel when they drop off their children? How do you want visitors to feel when they come with children?
How do you want your volunteers to feel and serve and be served?
How should you serve? What's the ideal way to serve in leadership?
Most of these questions' answers revolve around one passage of Scripture for our church. Read Matthew 28:16-20. It should be a very familiar passage!
16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Our (FGC's) children's ministry revolves around the command of disciple-making. Actually, our entire church revolves around that command. We are called by Christ Himself to go and make disciples and baptize. We also have the assurance that He is with us through it all, to the end of the age. Our church's mission statement is this: to go and make disciples. Our children's ministry should be the same. How does making disciples and being a disciple apply to the questions above?
Work out each question carefully. Write a small sentence for each one. Put it all together (hopefully in a coherent order) and BOOM! You have your children's ministry mission statement. You might even have your entire church's mission statement.
If you are one of the people who are further along in their ministry, I think it is still wise to look over these questions and re-evaluate whether or not your ministry is functioning as one that honors God, or has become just another cool program at your cool church.
I cannot stress this enough- EVERY FUTURE DECISION YOU MAKE WILL BE BASED ON YOUR CHURCH'S BELIEFS OF WHAT THE PURPOSE OF THE CHURCH AND CHILDREN'S MINISTRY IS.
Next post: The wrong reasons people start a ministry.... in my perspective.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Children's Min Quick Profile
I want to begin by introducing our children's ministry to you. Much of this blog will entail HOW we got to where we are and what is to come. This post is simply a quick snapshot of where we are. I am going to take pictures of the classrooms tomorrow and hopefully post them up this weekend so you can see what it all looks like.
We currently have three classrooms. There is an infant, toddler, and younger elementary classroom. The age breakdowns are currently as follows:
Infant: 2 months-18 months (depending on child's development)
Toddler: 18 months-4 years old
Younger Elementary: 5-8 years old
*These are not our ideal age breakdowns. However; we simply do not have enough manpower to make more classrooms at the moment. For now, with our church's current children and families, this breakdown works.
Our volunteer structure is currently as follows:
2 volunteers in Infant on Sunday (at least one adult female) (each volunteer serves approximately once a month)
1 Teacher in Toddler on Sunday (three teachers for this classroom total; each serves every third Sunday)
1 Teacher in Younger Elementary on Sunday (currently only two teachers for this classroom; each serves every third Sunday. Class closed one of the Sundays in the rotation due to a shortage in teachers)
Each volunteer goes through a process in order to become a volunteer. The process is as follows:
1. Application and app approval
-age 12 or above, needs to be a church member, background checked (unless a minor)
2. Personal interview with me (about an hour)
3. Go through a training seminar (about an hour)
Our classrooms are visible from outside the classroom (from the lobby area at our church). Each class has a glass door. The Toddler and Younger Elementary classrooms are connected with a glass door as well. This is important for many reasons, which I will get into in the next week in another post.
*It has been nice having the two older classrooms connected. Sometimes our Toddler classroom gets a lot of children. The Younger Elementary teacher will sometimes help out if the Toddler class needs it.
Our Organizational structure looks like this:
1. Lead Pastor at FGC- Pastor Matt Troupe
2. Children's Ministry Leader (volunteer position)- myself
3. Volunteers
I coordinate scheduling, new applications, background checks, teacher and new volunteer trainings, and major curriculum decisions. I report to Pastor Matt as needed or about twice a month. This is helpful and important! Also, I have a very open line of communication with volunteers. They are the backbone of the ministry. Without them, we would not have any classrooms! Their input is very valuable, especially since I am not in EVERY classroom. I myself am a teacher in the Toddler classroom, which means I see what happens there the most. I rely on the volunteers of every class for valuable ideas and input on how things are running.
Lastly, I am spending at least 5 hours each week working on children's ministry "stuff", sometimes more if there is an event or something time consuming comes up.
I hope this gives you a pretty solid glimpse of what Free Grace Church's Children's Ministry looks like at the moment. We have many plans on improving this ministry, but for now this is what we are capable of and are hoping meets the needs of our people. Thanks for reading!
We currently have three classrooms. There is an infant, toddler, and younger elementary classroom. The age breakdowns are currently as follows:
Infant: 2 months-18 months (depending on child's development)
Toddler: 18 months-4 years old
Younger Elementary: 5-8 years old
*These are not our ideal age breakdowns. However; we simply do not have enough manpower to make more classrooms at the moment. For now, with our church's current children and families, this breakdown works.
Our volunteer structure is currently as follows:
2 volunteers in Infant on Sunday (at least one adult female) (each volunteer serves approximately once a month)
1 Teacher in Toddler on Sunday (three teachers for this classroom total; each serves every third Sunday)
1 Teacher in Younger Elementary on Sunday (currently only two teachers for this classroom; each serves every third Sunday. Class closed one of the Sundays in the rotation due to a shortage in teachers)
Each volunteer goes through a process in order to become a volunteer. The process is as follows:
1. Application and app approval
-age 12 or above, needs to be a church member, background checked (unless a minor)
2. Personal interview with me (about an hour)
3. Go through a training seminar (about an hour)
Our classrooms are visible from outside the classroom (from the lobby area at our church). Each class has a glass door. The Toddler and Younger Elementary classrooms are connected with a glass door as well. This is important for many reasons, which I will get into in the next week in another post.
*It has been nice having the two older classrooms connected. Sometimes our Toddler classroom gets a lot of children. The Younger Elementary teacher will sometimes help out if the Toddler class needs it.
Our Organizational structure looks like this:
1. Lead Pastor at FGC- Pastor Matt Troupe
2. Children's Ministry Leader (volunteer position)- myself
3. Volunteers
I coordinate scheduling, new applications, background checks, teacher and new volunteer trainings, and major curriculum decisions. I report to Pastor Matt as needed or about twice a month. This is helpful and important! Also, I have a very open line of communication with volunteers. They are the backbone of the ministry. Without them, we would not have any classrooms! Their input is very valuable, especially since I am not in EVERY classroom. I myself am a teacher in the Toddler classroom, which means I see what happens there the most. I rely on the volunteers of every class for valuable ideas and input on how things are running.
Lastly, I am spending at least 5 hours each week working on children's ministry "stuff", sometimes more if there is an event or something time consuming comes up.
I hope this gives you a pretty solid glimpse of what Free Grace Church's Children's Ministry looks like at the moment. We have many plans on improving this ministry, but for now this is what we are capable of and are hoping meets the needs of our people. Thanks for reading!
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Buckle Down... Autobiography Time!
I want to welcome you to my blog! I have created this blog out of a passion for children's ministry and motivation by the Holy Spirit. I want to introduce myself a bit, and perhaps give you a clearer picture of what this blog is about and how it may help you.
My journey with children's ministry has been quite a strange one. I was saved at the age of fifteen and was quickly plugged into a local church. Perhaps my second Sunday attending I got recruited to serve in children's ministry. I "helped" out in the 3-5 year old classroom for many years at this church. My (now) husband was saved two years later at the age of 18. He also got recruited for children's ministry at the same church. I spent a total of five years serving there; my husband about two. He served as the Children's Ministry Assistant for one summer, and I served after him in this position for one year. This was a very challenging period of my life and much of my current fears and wisdom that I may currently have come from this 5 years of "hard knocks".
I then took about 2 years off of serving in children's ministry. I was SO burnt out and afraid of getting "sucked" back in. Both my (then) boyfriend and I began attending a different local church. That lasted about another two years.
During this time, I began going to college at Fresno State and majored in Child Development. I graduated a year and a half ago from Fresno State. Woohoo!
I was married during the winter break of my sophomore year to my awesome husband Aaron. I like to call him A-Ron. : ) A-Ron has had a desire to become a pastor since about the first day he was saved. Some would describe it as "calling". Our "honeymoon" was spent during spring break partying it up in Cancun! I'm just kidding. We are ridiculously way too serious. We actually went to Seattle for an Acts 29 Bootcamp. A-Ron has had a desire to church plant, so we thought, "What the heck! We will go for our honeymoon!" THAT is how lame we are. I also ended up in the Emergency Room, but that's a different story... FUN!
Since our "honeymoon", we have been following the Acts 29 movement, and A-Ron has always expressed a desire to be a part of it. One day, while at Starbucks (as all amazing life events happen at Starbucks), A-Ron needed a place to sit and study. There was only ONE seat left in the joint. He sat down and quickly noticed the guy next to him wielding a Macbook Pro and a Bible in his stylish man bag. A-ron also had a Macbook Pro and a Bible in his very own stylish man bag. A-ron quickly began a conversation with this fellow nerdtacular. Turns out the guy is a pastor named Matt Troupe. Of a local church plant. Matt asked A-Ron what he wanted to be, and A-Ron stated he wanted to be a pastor and church planter through the Acts 29 Network. Matt laughed to himself, turned his computer screen towards Aaron, and lo-and-behold, Matt was filling out the Acts 29 application for his church plant.
After much praying and visiting the church Matt pastored (Free Grace Church), Aaron and I decided to make the move from our current church to Free Grace. It was a sad move for me, because I really loved our church. Ultimately, we believed, and still do, that God was directing us to begin attending and serving at Free Grace. We still attend Free Grace, which is now officially an Acts 29 church. I LOVE our church, despite the initial struggle.
For a year or so at Free Grace, I stiff armed the idea of serving in children's ministry. I really did not want to get sucked into a draining ministry as I had experienced before. A-Ron and I became pregnant around this time, which really left me with no choice of serving.
That was my last semester of college. I had our first child, a baby girl, in March of 2011. I had been serving a bit in our 10' by 10' room of infants through 5 year olds. We had no official "leader", just a scheduler. Meanwhile, the church had about 20 people attending at the time. SMALL!!!
After about 6 months, we started to grow. We outgrew our tiny pie-shaped building and 10 by 10 classroom. We couch surfed for a few months at a local Baptist church while we signed a new lease at a new building. (By new, I mean roach infested, leaking, dirty building. Hey, new for us!) In November of 2011, Free Grace Church launched our first service at our "new" building, complete with post-insecticided roaches still upside-down and wiggling on the floor. I started leading the children's ministry officially (WHAAA????) and we began teaching curriculum for the first time in January of 2012.
Since January, we have grown from about 30 people to about 70 and see new faces every Sunday. We total, on a large day, about 18-20 children. Three more babies are due within three months of now. We have added two rooms, at the sacrifice of our contractor's tendon in his arm (also a fun story for later). We have some systems and procedures, a fancy policy book, background checks, are roach free, and moist play-doh!
I have been brief (yes, this was considered brief) about the details of most of our journey because there are so many lessons I have learned in the process. Each future post will expand upon these lessons, hopefully bringing you some help, encouragement, and probably relief that you aren't as screwed up as I am. My goal here is to help you overcome many obstacles in children's ministry and church planting and have a proper view of the Gospel in the midst.
I hope you can learn from a pregnant again, 23 year old stay-at-home nobody. If not, I will feature your children's ministry in one of our Guest Posts so I and everyone else can learn from you!
Thanks for sticking with me through this long post. Here we go!
My journey with children's ministry has been quite a strange one. I was saved at the age of fifteen and was quickly plugged into a local church. Perhaps my second Sunday attending I got recruited to serve in children's ministry. I "helped" out in the 3-5 year old classroom for many years at this church. My (now) husband was saved two years later at the age of 18. He also got recruited for children's ministry at the same church. I spent a total of five years serving there; my husband about two. He served as the Children's Ministry Assistant for one summer, and I served after him in this position for one year. This was a very challenging period of my life and much of my current fears and wisdom that I may currently have come from this 5 years of "hard knocks".
I then took about 2 years off of serving in children's ministry. I was SO burnt out and afraid of getting "sucked" back in. Both my (then) boyfriend and I began attending a different local church. That lasted about another two years.
During this time, I began going to college at Fresno State and majored in Child Development. I graduated a year and a half ago from Fresno State. Woohoo!
I was married during the winter break of my sophomore year to my awesome husband Aaron. I like to call him A-Ron. : ) A-Ron has had a desire to become a pastor since about the first day he was saved. Some would describe it as "calling". Our "honeymoon" was spent during spring break partying it up in Cancun! I'm just kidding. We are ridiculously way too serious. We actually went to Seattle for an Acts 29 Bootcamp. A-Ron has had a desire to church plant, so we thought, "What the heck! We will go for our honeymoon!" THAT is how lame we are. I also ended up in the Emergency Room, but that's a different story... FUN!
Since our "honeymoon", we have been following the Acts 29 movement, and A-Ron has always expressed a desire to be a part of it. One day, while at Starbucks (as all amazing life events happen at Starbucks), A-Ron needed a place to sit and study. There was only ONE seat left in the joint. He sat down and quickly noticed the guy next to him wielding a Macbook Pro and a Bible in his stylish man bag. A-ron also had a Macbook Pro and a Bible in his very own stylish man bag. A-ron quickly began a conversation with this fellow nerdtacular. Turns out the guy is a pastor named Matt Troupe. Of a local church plant. Matt asked A-Ron what he wanted to be, and A-Ron stated he wanted to be a pastor and church planter through the Acts 29 Network. Matt laughed to himself, turned his computer screen towards Aaron, and lo-and-behold, Matt was filling out the Acts 29 application for his church plant.
After much praying and visiting the church Matt pastored (Free Grace Church), Aaron and I decided to make the move from our current church to Free Grace. It was a sad move for me, because I really loved our church. Ultimately, we believed, and still do, that God was directing us to begin attending and serving at Free Grace. We still attend Free Grace, which is now officially an Acts 29 church. I LOVE our church, despite the initial struggle.
For a year or so at Free Grace, I stiff armed the idea of serving in children's ministry. I really did not want to get sucked into a draining ministry as I had experienced before. A-Ron and I became pregnant around this time, which really left me with no choice of serving.
That was my last semester of college. I had our first child, a baby girl, in March of 2011. I had been serving a bit in our 10' by 10' room of infants through 5 year olds. We had no official "leader", just a scheduler. Meanwhile, the church had about 20 people attending at the time. SMALL!!!
After about 6 months, we started to grow. We outgrew our tiny pie-shaped building and 10 by 10 classroom. We couch surfed for a few months at a local Baptist church while we signed a new lease at a new building. (By new, I mean roach infested, leaking, dirty building. Hey, new for us!) In November of 2011, Free Grace Church launched our first service at our "new" building, complete with post-insecticided roaches still upside-down and wiggling on the floor. I started leading the children's ministry officially (WHAAA????) and we began teaching curriculum for the first time in January of 2012.
Since January, we have grown from about 30 people to about 70 and see new faces every Sunday. We total, on a large day, about 18-20 children. Three more babies are due within three months of now. We have added two rooms, at the sacrifice of our contractor's tendon in his arm (also a fun story for later). We have some systems and procedures, a fancy policy book, background checks, are roach free, and moist play-doh!
I have been brief (yes, this was considered brief) about the details of most of our journey because there are so many lessons I have learned in the process. Each future post will expand upon these lessons, hopefully bringing you some help, encouragement, and probably relief that you aren't as screwed up as I am. My goal here is to help you overcome many obstacles in children's ministry and church planting and have a proper view of the Gospel in the midst.
I hope you can learn from a pregnant again, 23 year old stay-at-home nobody. If not, I will feature your children's ministry in one of our Guest Posts so I and everyone else can learn from you!
Thanks for sticking with me through this long post. Here we go!
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