In thinking and praying through that directive and having some valuable conversations with some of the KZ leadership, Raul came to me with some changes to propose for our KIDzone that not only continues to address the needs of our children, but also, begins to prepare them from the beginning for what they will experience when they leave KIDzone and begin to worship in our main worship center.
Currently, we basically have a children's church at 3 groups: Nursery/Toddlers, Pre-K (3 years- Kindergarten) and Elementary (Grades 1-6). In each area, we take that group and work with curriculum and activities that are age appropriate for that group. I believe that while I try to put the "peanut butter on the lowest shelf so everyone can reach it", so to speak, as a communicator, a 35 minute lecture style setting doesn't do the greatest job with our younger believers of getting across the tenants of Scripture. In our day and time, there are loads of materials and curriculum that created by Christians who have devoted their lives to teaching children about Jesus in ways that get the maximum impact in their lives. I totally believe in that. I grew up sitting in church services with large words and illustrations that I really didn't understand, geared to the majority of the room...adults. As a result, I remember to this day the look, feel and lesson of the only time I ever attended children's church at my great aunt's church at Ozark Baptist and learning in a setting and way that I understood...and that's been 30+ years ago. Still, when our kids leave KIDzone, they are put into our worship service at 7th grade and then it's a whole new ballgame...how do we make that transition more seamless? Well, there are two subtle changes that Raul is leading us toward.
1) Our Nursery will begin to add two elements, loosely structured. Music and the Word. In the past, we've focused on showing the love of Christ to our little ones, helping them to understand that church is a loving place and to represent God as a loving caring parent. We'll still focus on that, but we'll be looking to add reading to our kids from interesting story books of God's bible stories and playing music that has a message of Christ throughout the hour...maybe even challenging our workers to sing a song with the kids.
2) In our Elementary KIDzone, we'll begin this Sunday, September 29, 2013 to go a little bit "old school" and bring this age group into the service with us during the first portion of our adult service. At a point in the adult worship service, the leadership will clearly and seamlessly direct parents to let their kids leave with their KZ leaders en masse and we'll continue in our service as normal. This change allows our kids to witness/participate in things like singing to God together, video testimonies, and other elements of our services that works great for them, getting a taste of our worship service. It also allows those of our Elementary aged kids who have accepted Christ to participate in The Lord's Supper (or Communion) when we take that together as a body. It will be up to the parents to educate and guide their kids through these times, which further helps the family bond. At the same time, they will eject from the service to get the benefits of directed teaching, in a format that they can understand and benefit from the most.
Will that be a little more crazy that we are used to? Yep, some kids will have to adjust (probably mine - ;) ) and it will take time for them to learn their surroundings to be a part. Sometimes, they will be impatient and they will be fidgety and will probably do things that adults would NEVER do...that's cool. We are TEACHING them as much as participating with them and part of teaching is learning to have grace through innocent mistakes, as well as willful ones.
How can you help?
1) You participate in the service and put your attention on God. Be sensitive of the time of the service and what's going on and model engaging in what we are doing.
2) Don't be a distraction to the kids...they'll have plenty. Resist the urge when that cute 1st grader wants to peak over their shoulder at you to start the "pee-pie" game or something that seems innocuous...you know when to quit, many of them haven't learned that yet and their parents are trying to get them to participate...so don't be a sour guy that's gives them the "scowl", but just redirect them subtly, while leaving it to their parent to do the "heavy lifting"..it takes a village to raise and child and that's true in church as well.
3) If you see someone NEW that looks lost, step out and help graciously. We went to another church years back that did this and all of a sudden the kids started leaving the service and we didn't see it...a kind lady behind us tapped us on the shoulder with a smile and said "Hey would you like for your children to go to children's church?", then another lady offered to walk my kids to the workers with her kids...I'm not sure if we were having a meltdown and they were really trying to get us moving OR if they were just being welcoming (lol), but it didn't matter, they were loving people and that's how we accepted and appreciate it.
4) Be patient, kind and loving, not disapproving and elitist. Just because a kid is having a bad morning, it doesn't help to give the parents "the stare". I'm telling you, as a parent, we are well aware when our kids aren't behaving and our brains are working overtime to try to solve the situation somewhere between "bringing the hammer" and making it worse AND ignoring it and letting it grow...we know and the "stare" that tells us we are failing and you'd do it better, doesn't help at all.
Right now, there will be no changes to our Pre-K area, they are just fine. They already have elements of our worship service introduced to them in ways they can get right now. Overall, we feel that this represents a gradual, yet purposeful approach to developing our children to be a part of the body as adults, not just an age group, while STILL maximizing their experience and teaching, preparing them for a seamless transition into our services.
As a pastor, I'm very grateful to Raul for his work and passion in this area and the time he's been putting in to make things run smoothly, especially through the transition into his new role and into the new location at the same time...we really threw him into the fire. Good job, man!
As a pastor, I'm very grateful to Raul for his work and passion in this area and the time he's been putting in to make things run smoothly, especially through the transition into his new role and into the new location at the same time...we really threw him into the fire. Good job, man!
All our leaders (Randy and Nathan) really put their hearts into what they do and are doing a great job as well. Please continue to pray for and support your leaders.
