Public schools also are facing increased pressure to use liberal textbooks and teach false and misleading information to support liberal causes. Many have banned the Bible and moral teaching in favor of sexual license, sexual disorientation, and racially divisive teaching. In addition, many seek to turn kids against their parents to counter moral teaching. Many also allow those who are sexually confused to use the bathroom of their choice, endangering women and girls. An increasing number of parents, both Christian and those with no Christian background are turning to homeschooling and Christian schools to remove their kids from such an environment. Some schools are allowing release time where kids can leave the school property to go to churches nearby for voluntary Bible training. Other schools still allow Christian organizations and churches to have Christian clubs on campus. Churches can start Christian schools and support homeschoolers, as well as supporting Christian clubs on campus to help counter the secular teaching the kids face in class.
Posts Tagged ‘Children’s Ministry’
Seventh Sunday of Epiphany-B-Feb 23
Lack of Social Interaction Many single mothers are under tremendous pressure with no one to help them. They are often working and trying to keep house as well. Many are constantly tied down with the kids and have no one to watch the kids while they shop or attend other activities. Providing child care during church programs can free such women to relax and enjoy the activities and may enable them to attend where they might not otherwise be able to. With many families having no more than one or two children, children are often isolated. Child care will also provide opportunity for children to interact with other children in informal activity. Older Christian women can watch the kids for short periods or two mothers can take turns watching both sets of kids while the other one shops or just has some quiet time. Women’s activities at church with child care also helps. Many mothers of young children, especially single mothers and wives whose husbands work long hours or are away a lot, are isolated taking care of their children, especially if they don’t work and yearn for an adult to talk to.
Sixth Sunday of Epiphany-Feb 16
Tutoring-A- Many of our public schools have a poor record of teaching and many students are failing. While there are many dedicated Christian teachers in the public schools, they are often hampered by class size and administrative demands. As our public schools become increasingly short on staff, many children are not getting the attention they need to succeed and are falling behind in school. Teachers rarely have time to spend helping students who are struggling. Many kids also fall behind in school because their parents may not be able to help them because their schools failed to help them when they fell behind. In addition, immigrants entering the U.S. may have only a minor grasp of English. Many students have learning disabilities, but far more are merely poorly motivated due to their home situation and lack of encouragement at school. Sterile public classrooms often teach by memorization and fail to encourage students to explore the wonders and majesty of God’s creation. All need assistance to help them. While many schools offer tutoring, many of them are not adequate. Volunteer tutors are needed for tutoring programs that can provide one-on-one assistance that teachers don’t have time for. Volunteers can also show that someone cares and can share a love of learning. Christian school students are often well ahead of public school students and many failing public school students tutored by caring Christian tutors often surpass their classmates. Tutoring can take place at school, after school, or in local churches.
Third Sunday of Epiphany-January 26
After School Program-Volunteer at after-school program. With the increasing number of single parent families and families where both parents work, many children do not have access to someplace to stay after school until their parents get home from work and with the increased crowding as families double up to save on housing costs, many children don’t have anywhere quiet to study. They may not have an environment conducive to learning if there are pre-school children in the home or other barriers to studying. As a result, after school programs are springing up to meet the need but do not have the funds for the staff needed. Many depend on volunteers to help them keep the doors open to tutor the children and help them with their homework. In addition, since the Covid epidemic, many schools are increasingly issuing homework online. Many kids do not have the access to computers and study areas needed. In addition, they may not have parental support. As a result, many kids are falling farther and farther behind. Many churches have the facilities and members who can volunteer to help work with the kids and can give the children individual attention they cannot get at school or at home and show them God cares about them. Many kids need a place to study, adequate technology, and supportive supervision, which churches can supply. Schools can sometimes help by printing off lessons, as well as helping with equipment for students to work on online classes. In addition, some children may not be able to attend school because of illness or disability and need tutoring in their home. Often subjects are elementary level and can be done by middle and high school students. Some schools have paid tutoring positions open. Though some may require college level education in the subject, many may require only a high school education.
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.
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.
Eighth Sunday of Pentecost-July 7
Personal witness-The most effective way to reach those outside the church is through the personal witness of members. As members fellowship and interact with other believers, their lives are changed and they grow into the likeness of Christ and become the witness God desires. As members are changed, those around them will notice the difference and desire that kind of life. Unfortunately few church members today grow spiritually because the churches have drifted away from Christ and have become little more than social clubs. Members may attend church together for years and never get to know those around them. There is no close interaction of members with spiritual leaders to enable them to grow spiritually through watching spiritual leaders in action. There needs to be active mentoring of new members by those who are spiritually mature. Unfortunately, many church leaders are chosen for their business ability, not their spiritual maturity, so they do not provide good spiritual role models to follow. Up until the middle of the last century, the church was often the center of the community. It held Vacation Bible Schools, church dinners, and concerts where many in the community attended. However, few outside the church attend church activities today. If the church is to reach the lost, it must go where they are. In addition, church members must be trained to reach out to those around them and establish contacts that will enable them to recognize needs and respond to them. The early church attracted new members when unbelievers saw the love they had for each other and those around them, however the church today has isolated itself and does not provide opportunities for unbelievers to see that love.
Eighth Sunday of Pentecost-July 16
Summer kid’s lunches-Kids from poor families can get free lunches at school and some schools even offer breakfast, however, there is no school in summer. Some parents don’t have sufficient funds for meals, though food stamps are usually readily available. Some parents might not want to apply or are not eligible for some reason. More often the reason is do to the parent not being able to plan good meals or is just lazy. The parent may work and children are left alone to fend for themselves and do not know how to prepare adequate meals, or do not want to bother. As a result, the children suffer. School meals provide their only truly nutritious meals. When school is out, they do not get adequate nutrition. The government has money for meal programs in the summer but needs someone to handle the program since the schools are closed. Community organizations can contract for the funds and provide the meals. Church can and often do contract to provide the meals but cannot include religious training during the meal because it uses government funds. However, there is nothing to stop the church from having the meal at noon and having a Children’s Bible Club at 1 PM and inviting the kids to stay, though they cannot be required to stay. Some churches have Children’s Bible Clubs on Wednesday evenings and provide a meal so parents aren’t rushed getting home and preparing a meal for the kids before the Bible Club.
Fifth Sunday of Epiphany-Feb 5
Reaching the Children-Neighborhood children often congregate at the homes of Christians who have children because they feel the love that the parents have for their children and they enjoy the peace that reigns in a Christian home. Often their own parents ignore them or may even verbally or physically abuse them. It provides an excellent opportunity to show them through personal example that someone cares about them. It provides an opportunity to show them that God loves them and cares about them through Bible stories and video lessons. Children may be interested in a Children’s Bible Club. The church family may teach it or provide space for someone from the church to teach it. There is no problem with needing transportation like in traditional Vacation Bible Schools since the children live in the neighborhood. As the neighborhood children hear the Gospel and see it demonstrated, they may eventually want to attend church and urge their parents to take them.