Revitalize Your Church

"You get the children and the parents are pretty apt to follow." -- D. L. Moody

Yesterday, the congregation voted overwhelmingly to move forward with the building project to provide more space for our children's ministry. It's reallly needed -- amd will help us tremendously as we continue to reach out to the rising generation.

A great post by Perry Noble on the priority of Children's Minsitry

Last night, we concluded Vacation Bible School with a BANG -- the thunder was banging as we drove home! The boys won the penny offering with a bang (although the girls are quick to point out they won three of the five nights.) We collected several hundred dollars in pennies, which will be given away to Mercy Ships, where children will receive life-saving operations. (When you look at the result, everybody wins!) I love VBS. It's an opportunity for me to get to know the children -- and to be THEIR pastor. I don't get to do that very often. The grown ups keep me too busy. Of course, the kids already have an outstanding pastor in Jeremy Mavis, who leads the excellent children's ministry of Hayward Wesleyan Church. He's fantastic. During VBS week, however, Jeremy gave me the privilege of showing the students a brief film clip (Chadder's Theater) -- and then leading them in prayer. That was the sweet part! I love the prayers of children. I love their faith. I ...

I think a thousand kids showed up for Trunk or Treat at the church last night. In an hour and a half, I gave away nearly 4000 pieces of candy (and I was just one small stop in the big event.) The temperature plummeted with winter winds -- and everybody shivered -- but it was absolutely worth every ounce of effort! This simple gesture of kindness blessed our whole community. (Special thanks to Bill Wilcox and his small group for leading the charge!) Moms were thankful for a quick, safe and easy "trick or treating." The participants (we had about 30 vehicles) enjoyed handing out the candy. The wide-eyed kids yelled, "Jackpot!!" . . . and the dentists were glad for some future business.

(special thanks to Ben Witherington )

Reading The Church Leader's Answer Book, a new textbook for the Church Leadership Course I teach (via correspondance) for the Wesleyan Church. It's a fabulous book that covers just about every aspect of pastoral leadership -- spiritual foundation, administration, budgets, facilities, conflict resolution, missions, prayer, preaching, relationships, rest, renewal, personal health -- and a whole lot more. Many different people contributed articles for the thome (published recently by Christianity Today.) In one article, Nancy Beach asks the following "Ministry Check-Up Questions": 1. How are you emotionally? 2. How are your key relationships? 3. Are you having fun? 4. What's your attitude towards people? 5. Are you hearing God?

Diana Butler Bass recalls with nostalgia the sock puppet days before there were pre-packaged Vacation Bible School programs. I share some of her sentiments, but not all of her conclusions.