Youth-dealing with issues Many youth groups have lots of fun stuff but are short on teaching about the faith. In addition, most teaching is theological and does not deal with the basic issues young people are struggling with every day in school and at home. As a result, most youth drop out of church when they graduate from high school or before because they do not see the church having anything relevant to say in the issues they are struggling with. They will be discussing the issues with their classmates and teachers where they get a secular view, but youth groups need to have regular discussions of important issues they face so young people can get a Christian view of the issues. Without it, the youth accept the secular view by default because they do not have the knowledge to recognize the errors in liberal teachings. (see “Truly In The World, But Not Of It”-part A & B for information on important issues today. I also have a number of courses on Christian values in my series on Basic Christian Beliefs)
Archive for the ‘Church ministry’ Category
Third Sunday of Kingdomtide-Sept 15
Many churches are building huge children’s programs and many also are seeking young pastors to lead youth programs as their second pastor, but that is a big mistake. Youth are at a critical time in their life and are making decisions about the rest of their life so it is important to reach them, however, many young people leave their local church after graduating to go to college or pursue a career and do not return, because the youth programs are not helping them deal with the problems they face. In addition, it is hard to combat the influence of the world in only a couple hours a week, so if the church doesn’t also reach the parents, they fight a very difficult battle. They make up a small part of the congregation and require large amounts of resources, yet contribute very little to the church financially. The same goes for children’s programs. It is important to maximize resources to get the most out of them and to pour large amounts of resources on a small segment of the congregation while neglecting the rest of the congregation is not a wise use of resources. While young pastors may understand what it means to be a student, they don’t understand what it means to be a parent, and they don’t have the experience to minister to parents, middle aged empty nesters, and the elderly. Far better to get an older pastor capable of ministering to all ages and have him recruit and train young adults in the congregation to lead the children’s and youth programs under his guidance.
Second Sunday of Kingdomtide-Sept 8
Organized worship Organized worship services-Worship leaders today often don’t realize the power of songs to evoke emotions and need to take serious thought to both the theme and the tempo of a worship service. Many worship services today are organized like the pastor’s sermons. They have no clear theme and don’t seem to lead anywhere. When I was in school, I was taught that a sermon should have an introduction, three main points, and a summary so that it will be easy to understand and remember. Many pastors today apparently didn’t learn that because their sermons seem to wander aimlessly. The worship service should be built around the theme of the pastor’s sermon so that it complements it and builds up to it. The tempo of songs should shift gradually, leading the members from where they were when they came to where they should be in meaningful worship. Many worship services today shift suddenly from fast and happy songs to slow and sorrowful ones and back, leaving the members with tangled emotions. Rather than drawing the members into a spirit of worship, they serve only to entertain.
Fifteenth Sunday of Pentecost-Aug 25.
Neighborhood Bible Studies-The sad fact is that today, very few churches have Bible Studies. Many have dropped adult Sunday School and have teaching for young children during church. As a result, few adult church members have much knowledge of the Bible or how it applies to their everyday life. There may be families in your neighborhood who attend a church but have no real Bible knowledge. Neighborhood Bible Studies often include people from a variety of denominations united in the common interest of getting to know more about the Bible. While some passages may refer to beliefs held differently by different churches, most of the Bible is not controversial. You either believe it or you don’t. There are good Bible study guides available. It will help if the leader studies the material ahead of time and refers to a good commentary to help understand the study guide. It is also good to ask members how they feel the information will benefit them. Due to busy schedules, the group might feel that once a week is too ambitious and the group may consider twice a month during the school year and once a month in the summer. The church might group its members together that live near each other but live at a distance from the church to form the core group in the beginning but should plan for growth as new members are brought in and the group split when it gets over 12-15. If the group gets too large, members might not feel comfortable sharing and are not likely to invite their friends.
Fourteenth Sunday of Pentecost-Aug 18
Mothers Clubs-Mothers who do not work may feel isolated and become frustrated with no social interaction besides their kids, especially if their husband is gone all day at work and even more so if they are a single parent and have no other adult interaction. Today, many mothers no longer have family living nearby to help. Since families are having fewer children, many mothers did not grow up with younger siblings and did not learn to care for children. As a result, they need help learning to manage their kids. They are glad to get together with other mothers who can help them to deal with the problems they face caring for young children. In addition, many parents no longer let their kids roam the neighborhood and it gives children the opportunity to play together and learn to deal with others. Mobile home parks, apartment complexes, and new neighborhoods often have a lot of families with young children, and are fertile for neighborhood mother’s clubs. It is good to have an older church woman whose kids are grown who can work with the young church mother who hosts the group to help her deal with problems she hasn’t experienced yet. Older unmarried college age girls can help watch the kids and keep them occupied while their mothers meet giving them valuable experience dealing with kids, or the mothers may take turns watching the kids if no one else is available. You may also have older women whose kids are grown teach a children’s Bible Club for the children of the mothers who participate and other neighborhood children who wish to attend. Since many households in poor areas are single parent households, there is also a need for social and spiritual ministry to the mothers, but many churches aren’t interested in reaching out to the mothers. Churches often only provide children’s activities one day a week, but because of the neighborhood environment in poor areas, mothers have to keep close watch on their kids. As a result, the mothers take the time during after school programs for washing and cleaning. Such neighborhoods may require more work with the kids to free mothers for time to get together. Unfortunately, many of those that do run outside ministries do it to attract people to support their failing church and not to minister to those who are in need. Christ cared for the lost and ministered to the needs He met. He fed the hungry, healed the sick, and comforted those who grieved to meet their needs, not just to get them to follow Him and He calls the church to do the same.
Thirteenth Sunday of Pentecost-Aug11
Neighborhood Children’s Bible Clubs- You can start one by holding a neighborhood VBS, driveway basketball games, or backyard activities. You reach more kids since kids in the neighborhood can walk to it so their parents don’t have to take them and they aren’t as afraid of attending since they probably know the other kids there. Church members can host it and trained teachers can teach it. With families having fewer children and becoming more isolated, children have little to do but watch TV and play video games. This is even more vital in mobile home parks and apartment complexes where parents are often afraid to allow their children to play outside. Many mobile home parks and apartment buildings now have community rooms where churches can provide activities for the children, especially if they are led by church members who live in the complex. Many are glad to participate in neighborhood Bible Clubs. Many kids will want to go to Sunday School after hearing about the fun things they do from kids that already go, and their parents may begin attending your church if there are fun activities for their kids, their kids want to attend the Sunday School, and they know someone from their neighborhood attends.
Twelfth Sunday of Pentecost-Aug 4
Many churches have large Vacation Bible Schools in their church but often only those from church come. Usually there are only a few visitors unless the church makes a great effort to reach those in the immediate area of the church. Kids can not come without transportation and often parents are busy or not interested. In addition, churches often have difficulty getting enough volunteers to staff it. By having small neighborhood VBS at homes of members, it enables members to reach the children in their neighborhood. More children can attend because they don’t need transportation. Since they can walk to it, their parents don’t have to take them. Parents are more likely to let their kids go and kids are more willing to attend since it is in their neighborhood and those attending are from their neighborhood. It also requires a lot less volunteer staff. The church member hosts it and can help with it and those who feel called to teach can conduct several VBS sessions on different weeks in different areas. Members can also get to know their neighbors as they hand out invitations. It also costs less because kits can be ordered as needed rather then planning for a big group that may or may not show up. In a neighborhood VBS, you have a good idea ahead of time how many are coming so you don’t have to order a lot of extra.
Eleventh Sunday of Pentecost-July 28
Children’s activities My wife and I have lived in Trailer parks (now called Mobile Home parks) throughout our marriage. Previously, trailers were usually small and easily moved and many residents moved frequently. People rarely bother to get to know their neighbors because they would move soon although more trailers are becoming bigger and harder to move. There is rarely anything for the kids to do. Many parents let their children roam the neighborhood without any supervision and they often get into trouble trying to create their own activities. The same goes for large apartment complexes where there are a lot of families. Parents and managers of mobile home parks and apartment complexes are often happy to see someone organize supervised activities for children to keep them out of trouble. Managers may be reluctant if an outside group wants to start it but are more willing if it is headed by a family in the park. Other managers may just be glad someone wants to start it. Many mobile home parks and apartment complexes now have community rooms for activities but they are seldom used because there is no one to organize activities. Such activities draw kids and provide contacts with their parents that open the door to developing a relationship with the parents. People in general are becoming more isolated from those around them, even in neighborhoods o permanent houses. Many neighborhoods have become more dangerous and parents don’t want their kids running the neighborhood without supervision and keep them cooped up in the house. As a result, many people in permanent housing neighborhoods are becoming as isolated as mobile home parks and apartment complexes and need children’s activities as well. Such activities should be out of concern for the lost, not just to keep the kids out of trouble. When I first went to work with the Salvation Army, I saw a lot of clients from a low-income housing project. I knew from experience that there was little for the children to do and little contact between mothers and so I organized an after-school program for the kids during the summer. I enlisted a church nearby to run it and enlisted a woman from the church to assist me in visiting the mothers to organize a mother’s club. The after-school program attracted a lot of kids who eventually started attending the church’s Wednesday night children’s program. Unfortunately, the church did not support the work to reach the mothers in the complex. It also dropped the after-school program once they got a good number of kids from the project attending their Wednesday night program. Unfortunately, while having active children’s programs make churches look good, the programs are expensive and not very effective if they don’t work to reach the parents as well. It has often been difficult getting churches to support the trailer park ministries. Many churches don’t do outside ministries because they don’t want “THOSE” kind of people (the unchurched) in their church and unchurched kids are often unruly since they weren’t raised by Christian parents.
Tenth Sunday of Pentecost -Jul 21
Reaching the Lost in your neighborhood-Pentecost is a good time to renew your resolve to reach those who have never heard the Gospel. While many Christians still think of the United States as a Christian nation, since the 1960’s, many children have grown up with no contact with the church. Many families don’t attend church and usually won’t send their children to Sunday School but will allow them to attend neighborhood activities. Many members have no idea that many of their neighbors have no church connection. The best place to start is where they are. Now is a good time to begin planning ways to reach those in your neighborhood who have never heard the Gospel. While many Christians feel that unbelievers are generally resistant to the Gospel, most have never heard the Gospel and see no reason to attend church, but would if they had a reason to. Possibilities for getting to know your neighbors include visiting neighbors to get to know them, starting a neighborhood children’s Bible club, having a backyard BBQ for the neighbors, and many more. You won’t know who doesn’t go to church until you meet them. While some may attend church somewhere, the chances are that the majority have no church connection, let alone actually attending. They can start by getting to know their neighbors and inviting them to cookouts in the back yard or other activities where neighbors can get to know each other and do things together. Once they get to know the church family in their neighborhood, they may be more open to attending church and even more so as some of their neighbors begin attending the church. Many people in neighborhoods are becoming isolated and have little interaction with neighbors. With families moving a great deal, they often have no family nearby and the only cheap entertainment available is to go to a bar or neighborhood parties where beer is often abundant. Church families can start family friendly get-togethers to help neighbors get to know each other.