Renewal Children's Ministry

VISION

To raise our children in the love and guidance of the Lord, that they would have a biblical framework to interpret their world at every stage of development.

PURPOSE

The children at Renewal are one of the fastest growing populations. Our church did not begin with a mindset of reaching children with the gospel. Our target population has been expanding, from a predominantly college age group, to then include post-college singles, then to married couples, and now to families with children. This ministry may have began as little more than a child care option for parents who wish to attend service, but it has grown to include direct ministry to those children. In ministering to children, it is possible to make at least two errors. The first is to assume that children are just small adults who need the gospel presented to them in the same fashion as to their parents, albeit in a “mini church” venue. The second is to assume that they are too young and immature to comprehend any tenets of the faith, and the best we can do is to protect them from corrupting influences until they are able to understand instruction. These extremes neglect both a developmentally appropriate understanding and the covenantal nature of our children.

This ministry exists to meet the heart of a child where they are at with the good news of Jesus Christ. It is meant to augment what should already be taking place within the Christian home, though it may serve for some children as the only place where they are going to process their world through a biblical understanding. This ministry recognizes a child’s nature before God as one who can act in obedience or disobedience, and it strives to develop this inner aspect of the child. While this ministry will provide teaching about traditional elements of the faith, the outward recitation of them is less important than the inward adoption by the child of the values those elements express.

GOALS AND MINISTRY METHODS

To develop a Sunday curriculum for each age that fosters spiritual development

• Will continually reevaluate the present curriculum (Gospel Light) and address strengths/weaknesses of it on a quarterly basis.
• Teachers will go on fieldtrips to other churches to observe other curriculum and methods of implementation at least twice per year.
• Will continually evaluate available resources (on internet, catalogues, etc.) and compare with current one used, adapting when profitable.
• VBS
• Will join with established Emmanuel VBS program for first two years
• Will have teachers join in the planning process in order to learn how to put together a VBS
• Will begin to have own VBS by year three, scaling it to our capacity and building upon it each year.

To involve families

• Teachers need to get to know the parents and develop relationships with them
• Through events, such as a bimonthly potluck lunch at church or at monthly Family Life meetings
• Through other special events (Hallelujah Day, Christmas Pageant, etc.)
• Open House
• Letting parents know what ministry is doing through weekly newsletters
• To support the learning that takes place at home
• Through developing relationships with the parents.
• Eliciting parental expectations of the children’s ministry
• To foster the continuation of learning from Sunday school to home
• Informing parents of Sunday lessons and other ministry goals via weekly email newsletter.
• Encourage parents to take primary responsibility for the spiritual welfare of their children by educating and providing resources, such as by adding to the Family Life library.

To train teachers

• Conferences
• Researching and rating current Children’s Ministry Conferences
• Sending 2-3 team members/teachers annually to an enriching and appropriate conference

• Incorporate training into quarterly meetings of the teachers
• On child development
• On how the gospel can be presented to each age group
• On practical concerns, such as changing diapers, nap times, how to deal with hitting, etc.

• Research such a book and begin implementation by the fall

• Criminal background checks for all teachers
• First aid training annually
• Periodic monitoring of classrooms by team leaders to ensure concepts and curriculum are being presented well

• By having a rotating master schedule posted indicating teachers in various classrooms prepared months in advance, and maintaining a back-up list of volunteers who would be willing to fill in when regular teachers are unavailable.
• By monitoring teachers' other involvement in church and making sure multiple demands are not placed upon them (such as being asked to babysit for all other church events)

To incorporate the children into broader church life

• Special presentations
• Hallelujah Night
• Christmas Pageant
• Activities that support other aims of the church
  • Praying and making cards for our missionaries
• Fostering a community responsibility to help in the raising of our children
• • Periodic presentations to the church of the ministry’s efforts and encouraging opportunities for involvement
  • Teacher recruitment ongoing

To develop an evangelical mindset from an early age

• To care for the community
• Plan trips to help out at community service organizations, such as a soup kitchen
• To involve the children in canned goods, clothing, and toy drives
• To adopt a child or family at Christmas time to share blessings with
• To avoid becoming too internally focused
• To research ways to sensitively expose children to different cultures, faiths, worldviews in a way that they can value and care about other people, but also understand these differences through a Christian worldview, and become effective witnesses in their potential interactions with others.
• Will look at other church’s curriculum for ideas.
• Will research potential pitfalls to avoid.
• Will plan to implement within one year.

QUALITIES OF MINISTRY LEADERS

• Teachers – Dedicated, energetic, and fun-loving. Lead teachers need to be committed to extensive training and other volunteer teachers need to be willing to follow instructions from lead teachers. Must be good communicators and proactively making efforts to get to know parents.
• Family coordinator – Main responsibility is to be sure there is a free flow of information between the ministry and the parents. Requires someone who is organized and efficient, timely with newsletters, and enjoys building bridges between efforts in the classroom and what goes on at home.
• Training/Education director – Someone who enjoys researching, comparing large amounts of material, and matching the best fit for our church context. Must have a clear understanding of the core concepts of child Christian education and the purpose of this ministry. Must have a good working background of the theological tenets of this church, and must see how they apply to the ministry to children.
• Event designer/planner – Must be preparing in advance for established events and good at delegating responsibility to carry out necessary tasks. Must be looking for new opportunities for events which can help the children be an integral part of the larger church community. Must work with family coordinator to communicate plans to families so that they can prepare and discuss with their children the significance of the various events.

RESOURCES

• Shepherding a Child’s Heart, Ted Tripp
• Age of Opportunity, Paul Tripp

(September 2, 2007)