Children's Ministry: Family Devo Guide

For anyone who works in Children's Ministry....

Need a take-home tool to bridge the gap between church and home?  Need a way to communicate with parents about Sunday lessons?  Need a resource to encourage at-home discussion & family devotion time?

I wish I could say I came up with this, but I was given this idea by another ministry worker at the Children's Pastor's Conference this past January.....I simply put my own spin on it!

What we have here is a Placemat Family Guide!   What better time to prompt discussion than during a family meal, so the placemat is perfect!

Special Features:

• A follow-up family guide for each Sunday's lesson within a given unit!

• Scripture for families to look up together!

• Discussion points and questions!

• Follow-up family activities/object lessons!

• Family prayer prompts!

• Kid-friendly activities/puzzles for extra fun!

Yes, this required a bit of preparation, plus I laminate mine for easy food clean-up (and it makes the puzzles reusable with write-on/wipe-off markers), but I have received nothing but positive feedback from parents who have put them to good use!  

Just wanted to pass the idea along for anyone in need of something like this!  Enjoy! 

Communicating with Families

This past January, I went to Orlando for the annual Children's Pastor's Conference created and organized by the International Network of Children's Ministry (INCM).  In one particular workshop, Communicate with Families, I was comforted by the words of Jonathan Cliff when he said, "Stop getting your feelings hurt!"  Weird, right? To find comfort in these words?  He went on to explain himself.

The efforts you put towards communication as a teacher, or in children's ministry, or even youth ministry, to keep families informed or provide them with helpful at-home resources, aren't for the uninterested, they're for the interested.  Yes, we invest a lot of time in communicating with families:  creating newsletters, piecing together informative publicity pieces, researching useful articles, coming up with creative ways to get the word out on whatever happens to be going on, and yes, it is frustrating when there still seems to be a disconnect between us and the families of the kids that we teach.  But we keep doing what we're doing, maybe coming up with a few new ideas every now and then, for those who are interested and motivated enough to utilize what we're offering.  

So, here's my new idea for communication.  

This bulletin board is in the hallway that leads down to our Children's Ministry department.  It displays the mission of our ministry, the birthdays of our kids, a calendar of upcoming events, plus folders on either side containing ministry details, invite tools for upcoming events, parent resources, volunteer resources, activities for kids, and tools to work on spiritual growth at home with the whole family.

Yes, I hope this will be a helpful tool for parents and volunteers to be informed of ministry details, and I hope they find useful tools for at-home spiritual growth opportunities.  However, no, I will not get my feelings hurt if I find that not every parent and volunteer is utilizing it.  I'll just keep up with my brainstorming and hope to find that with every effort, I'm able to reach more people.   :)