Let’s face it. Kids have short attention spans. The entire generation has ADD! Our culture and our media have progressed to the point that everything involves instant gratification. If I want to watch some TV, I grab the remote and within seconds, I’m tuned into one of my favorite shows. The same goes with the internet, music, friends (texting, social networking, etc…). This is the world we, and the kids we’re ministering to, live in.

In response, I’ve started using what I call the “5 Minute Rule”. Basically, let nothing in your program go for longer than 5 minutes. If it absolutely must, break it up somehow. If you have a 15 minute small group discussion time, you could spend five minutes recapping large group, five minutes doing an object lesson, or other activity within the group, and the last five minutes debriefing. This keeps things fresh, quick, and leaves kids no time to be bored. Now, this being said, you don’t have to become the 5 Minute Nazi. Keep the program relaxed, with a “hang out”-ish feel, and just keep things moving. It may not sound like a lot of time to do (insert activity here), but if you come in prepared, it will work, just try it! Also, from time to time, it’s okay to break this rule. If you have a live animatronic dinosaur that weekend that quotes scripture as it eats the senior pastor’s car, it might be okay to have that take up the full hour… or two… and don’t forget to invite me. Wait, what was I talking about?

When we are working against their attention spans, we end up with kids who are antsy, kids who talk to their neighbors, kids with normally functioning bladders who excessively use the bathroom, and the list goes on… Discipline comes into play, your preteens aren’t enjoying the program, most definitely aren’t getting anything out of it, and you go home feeling defeated.

When we work with their attention spans, they learn, we learn; they enjoy it, we enjoy it; and we all end up recharged and stoked for next weekend’s service.

So try it out, and tell me how it works, or doesn’t, for you.

I often find myself in a constant state of evaluation, especially in the world of children’s ministry. Recently I have found my motivations a bit off: am I preparing for a stellar program, or am I leading leaders? Let me put it this way: am I serving the program, or am I serving our volunteers? At Cornerstone, our Children’s Ministry staff is organized into two groups: People and Program. Very simply put, our Program team makes sure the program is ready for our leaders, and the People team gets them there. For more explanation, I will post a link to a post about this reorganization. (I am on our program team)

With a structure like this, one of my top priorities goes back to the very premise of Church (big C) leadership: that we are all called to serve and to lead, and some are called to lead the leaders; thus forming the church (little c) staff. So why is it important to keep this in mind? Well, no matter what you’re serving, as long as you’re ultimately serving God, you’re probably going to have a pretty decent program. But when your focus is preparing leaders to lead, by making sure they have ready access to your curriculum and you’re staying in constant communication, then serving your leaders will never fall through the cracks. If this is not a top priority, then there are just too many things going on to stay on top of this.

One of the most terrifying things we can do to volunteers is to stick them in a room full of kids while they have no idea what is going on. They could end up talking about how Jesus went up to Noah, and Noah said, “Get behind me Satan!”, but Jesus wasn’t really Satan… but all Noah knows is how to count animals anyways…. and that’s just not a path for effective ministry….

Now, you may have all this “Mindset” stuff down, but also you must evaluate if your current streams of communication with volunteers is effective and right for your group.
…but more on that later. For now, here are some practical steps to Lead your Leaders:

1. Schedule consistent, recurring meetings/trainings.
This will help you to stay on the same page with your leaders. Mention your ministry philosophy, why you’re doing what your doing, and tackle any issues that the leaders specific to your ministry are dealing with. Also, use it as a time for team building. Schedule time for leaders to check in with each other, talk about their struggles, relate to one another, and build a sense of community across services and rooms. By doing this, your Children’s Ministry will present itself as a united front.

2. Post your curriculum online.
Halt! If you use a curriculum that you have not yourself written, check the copyright policy. Some curriculum will not allow you to do this. When in doubt, contact the Publishing Company; sometimes all it takes is a thumbs-up from those guys. If you can, post it. Put it on a blog. Here’s ours: http://thezoneprogram.blogspot.com

3. Ask Questions.
Pull your leaders aside and ask how prepared they feel. See if there’s anything else that you could do to help them feel fully prepared. Many, many times they will have ideas that you never would have thought of, that are absolutely brilliant! Preparedness is so crucial, it truly can make all the difference!

GERMS
The whole time, you’re disgusted by the sweaty hands of your brothers and sisters in Christ. Absolutely gross. Usually it’s before eating, and now you’re trying to remember what pocket the Purrell is in. Is there a germaphobe around? They’re the best bet to find some sanitizer. Oh, what was that? Yes, thanks for the food that I’ll be hesitantly eating.

THE GUN SHOW
Some people decide to take the chance to grab someone’s hand as the chance to show off their time at the gym. As your fingers turn blue, and your bones turn to dust, you’re not thinking about Susan’s sick grandmother. You’re strategizing how to wiggle your way out of the death grip, and planning to be at least one person away from the bodybuilder during the next prayer circle.

ROMEO AND JULIET
You know it. You’ve probably done it. You’ve found the cute girl/guy in the group to stand next to, just to hold their hand. The only talking with God that happens is “Thank you thank you thank you” for your brief moment of intimacy with So-And-So. Hopefully she/he doesn’t notice how gross and sweaty your palms are, how your grip is choking her/his wrists, or your nervous shaking.

And, lastly, the most distracting aspect of group hand-holding prayer…

HAND TWITCHES
It is absolutely insane! It’s like that little arrow between E and X in Fedex, once you see it, you never look at it the same. As soon as you notice the twitches, you’ll be distracted every time. When you hold hands, they twitch. It’s a natural phenomena. With some people, you wonder how they don’t feel their entire arm doing the wave. And, of course, come the giggles. With every little twinge, you smile. Get enough of them and you’re completely not listening, and biting your tongue to keep from laughing. Sometimes you have to cover one that slipped out with a cough, while everyone else is praying for the family member that is dying of some horrible, incurable disease. This is especially  bad when combined with any, or all, of the above distractions.

SO, in my opinion, we need to stop holding hands during prayer. Because really, what does it accomplish? Does Jesus hear us better when we’re completely distracted? I don’t think so.

I seem to always see my screw ups in retrospect and think, “I won’t be this way again.” or “I won’t do that ever again.” or “That is so impure, I am so impure, I can’t believe I did that”, and the list goes on. I’m sure you have a list too. But are those words of someone who is forgiven, or someone who is condemned? Yes, it is important to see our sin for what it is. However, it is how we respond to the times that we screw up that determines whether it will be a learning experience, or a foothold for Satan to grab. When we think back, and just focus on how impure we were, we’re giving Satan room to step in and tell us how God is so holy, and we’re nothing but walking bags of filth. We mope. We dwell in our shame. We stand before God, aware of our nakedness. Satan tells us to run and hide; after all, how could God ever forgive us? Our brain tells us that, “Of course God will forgive you! Remember Calvary?” but our Spirit hurts.

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. (Romans 5:8) Do we live in the light? Do we look back on our filth, and praise God that he has already forgiven us? Do we stand firm on the promise that NOTHING–even ourselves–can separate us from the love of Christ?

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1)
We are free. Don’t let the shame of the sin you committed weigh heavier than the sin itself. Live free in Christ.

monday musings.
Every Monday I will be updating this blog with my latest musings, thoughts, rants, raves, strategies, ideas, opinions, [insert more synonyms here]. It will allow people to see into my brain without unnecessarily risky surgery, and force me to slow down and reflect on the past week, while looking to the next. In this crazy hectic world we live in, we can all use a little slowing down.

Be still. Know that He is God.