Children’s Ministry and Culture

I was driving from LAX today listening to NPR and was rivited as I listened to Pamela Paul being interviewed by Steve Inskeep (Morning Edition, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89333925 to listen) sharing the immense variety of products for babies and their parents.

In a separate story today, and one that was confirmed in the interview, there is a rise in babies being breastfed vs. formula fed (reported by Bloomsburg and seen here at the Dallas Morning News http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/050108dnnatbreastfeed.2d136b5.html).  About 77 percent of babies born in 2005 and 2006 were breastfed at least some of the time, up from 60 percent in 1993 and 1994, according to a report today by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But I digress, back to the Paul interview…

From wipie warmers (heaven forbid a baby get shocked with a cold one) to pottie training targets for boys (they float in the toilet…though I hardly think a boy NEEDS help in this area) the variety of baby products has significantly increased. Baby Einstein puts a child on autopilot in the same way Sesame Street babysat kids in the 70s and 80s! I like how Paul says, “parents have to assess their motivation when it comes to the things they purchase for their children” to which I respond ABSOLUTELY. An ENGAGED parent will always trump toys or technology!

I was on the treadmill last Sunday night watching (ok, reading the closed caption) of the speech that the Rev. Jeremiah Wright gave to the NAACP Detroit chapter. He hit on a variety of subjects that are important to what we do with children in churches; learning styles, right-brain, left-brain learning, etc. But I found his sermon/term-paper full of the kind of conclusions that did nothing to “Advance” the NAACP cause. In fact it was demeaning and subtly bigoted by presuming that African American children cannot compete with European American education structures (his term)! Even his pseudo-logic statement (Chaim Perlman’s a great source for the kind of rhetoric Wright delivered) “Different is not Deficient” was a deeply flawed contrast. It created a straw man Rev. Wright trounced when it came to the kind of brain that belongs to an African American. He offered no solution and in fact created the kind of bombast that made me wonder why he was straying from his area of expertise…pastoral ministry. For a transcript of the speech, click here http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/04/28/wright.transcript/index.html

Well, today, Barak Obama gave a press conference where he stated, “[Rev. Wright] was never my, quote/quote, “spiritual advisor.” He was never my spiritual mentor. He was my pastor.” WOW, did you hear what he said? Someone can “pastor’ while not advising nor mentoring! Would you want to hear those words from your lay people or children? Unbelievable!

I think that when a pastor strays from the source of their authority (scripture) they run the risk of neither mentoring nor guiding but becoming a charade and make our churches deeply misguided!

http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/pipe.run?_id=wLkFKVQV3RGaiKA7ouNLYQ&_render=rss

Orange ‘08 is under way. Through the magic of RSS you can see various responses from blogging and twittering attenders.  (Technology is changing– I barely understand that last sentence I typed.)

Here’s why it’s important to pay attention to Orange– whether you agree or disagree with all facets of the philosophy: they are forcing discussion about family ministry in a way that demands that churches and publishers take note. Orange seems to be advocating an intergrated approach to family ministry on a staffing level (Keith noted a while back that our current large church infrastructures discourage a holistic approach).

So, whether you use their curriculum or not, the Orange movement should not be ignored.  

One of the most important shifts in our thinking as children’s ministry practicioners is moving from a deficit-based to a strength-based model of ministry. It’s not enough to teach our children to avoid using their lives for destructive purposes. We need to remind them that God loaded them with assets they they are to use to build community and established a god-shaped reality (I’m not advocating theocracy, but relationships established on love, mercy, and justice). If we don’t instill this positive vision in children we give them a sin-management model of spirituality (Erwin McManus speaks to this well).

Jenifer Fox, M. Ed. has written a new volume Your Child’s Strengths: Discover Them, Develop Them, Use Them. Thumbing through the book, I’m seeing that this volume can help supply children’s ministry practicioners one of the tools we need to help our children discover the strengths from which they can build their lives.

Jenifer opens the book casting the vision for a strength-based approach to relating to children and then presents a useful workbook, with an assessment test, that provides a practical tool to identify the strengths of a child.

We’ve got five copies of this book to give away to Children’s Ministry and Culture readers. Here’s how earn a chance to win. Visit http://blog.strengthsmovement.com/ and read through Jenifer’s blog. Interact with her blog and leave a comment. Then copy that comment here, in this post, for a chance to win. I’ll pick five random readers as winners. This contest runs through May 28.

Here’s a list of characteristics of Millenials that is important to note when recruiting/retaining them as volunteers. This list came from McKee and McKee’s book The New Breed.

Hey all,

I know that I’m getting more hits from Grace folk as this blog was recently linked to our whoisgrace and iamgrace campaigns. I’m glad that you’ve found this site and I want to point out a few things.

First, this blog has a different tone from the other ones. That’s because Children’s Ministry and Culture has existed longer than the campaign and it’s not aimed at the Grace family. It’s primarily for children’s pastors and practitioners around the world as we attempt to decode our surrounding culture so we can present children and families with the power of God in Jesus. Someone quipped in church yesterday that this blog is too heady so she steared in another direction. You are all welcome to read this as a way to get inside of my and Keith’s minds (Keith is a pastor employed by Group Publishing to equip and support churches everywhere). But, you might consider www.eriehometeam.org. As it grows, you’ll find that I’ll be much more personal over there are we struggle together to figure this parenting thing out.

While I have you, some of you made nervous (or hopeful) remarks that I’d be looking for greener pastures following last week’s speaking adventure. The remarks seem to happen whenever I’m published or am invited to speak elsewhere. Please know that whenever I travel I return with a greater appreciation over Grace’s beauty. You really are a special congregation that I’m very much in love with. Together we went through the fires, one literal and one metaphoric. This is a wonderful congregation that has grown, is growing, and is unlocking it’s redemptive potential. I don’t feel like I’m outgrowing Grace. In fact the contrary is true. We’re changing so fast my fear is that Grace might outgrow me if I don’t constantly reinvent myself as a leader and stretch. Maybe If I talked more about the books and the publishing than it would alleviate the anxiety that leads to these discussions. On the other hand, my value as as pastor isn’t in that stuff, but in my willingness to serve children and volunteers.

Grace is beautiful. Let’s grow old together!

Larry

(And now back our more nerdy programming)

I spoke two sessions on Thurs to some very fantastic children’s minsitry practicioners. They engaged the material and launched some fantastic conversations.

The only downside of presenting was not being able to listen to other workshop presenters. However, that was made up by interviewing Willowcreek’s volunteers. Derek was with me, he’s a brilliant leader, and knows what q’s to ask:

• How did you get connected as a volunteer?
• How are you trained?
• Did you ever experience a time when it was a challenge to remain loyal to Willow? How did you handle it?
• Are you over/under challenged?

Willow’s volunteers are amazing, simple amazing. They get it. They know the vision and they understand how their contributions matter. We walked out with some ideas of how to improve our own volunteer assimilation processes.

I missed Friday’s sessions as we needed to drive home and then pour into our kids. Derek coaches his son’s football team. My son needed to be driven to NY for a youth group camp. I really wanted to hear Vischer do his thing.

Conspire is highly recommended.

A record numbers of girls are now taking part in organized sports–1 in 3, according to a new report compiled by the Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women in Sport at the University of Minnesota. That’s up from 1 in 27 girls back in 1972, the year that Title IX mandated equal access for both genders in school sports programs.

Catch the whole article at Time Magazine (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1734837,00.html) because there is a downside in that with more organized sports opportunities there is a rise in girls who are NOT exercising and thus becoming less physically fit.

Some random bulleted impressions:

• Trust Google Maps. We drove in Tues Night and make a “long-cut” that had us seeing scenic IL-53 for some time.
• I haven’t been to Willow in years. It was my first exposure to the new building project. I was awed. It had a similar emotional effect to being at a cathederal– I felt small and had a sense of God’s bigness. God, you deserve so much more. Can’t wait for heaven.
• Speaking of heaven– I’m convinced that visionary leaders will be miserable in heaven. There will be nothing to change.
• Chris Yount Jones rocked the opening session. Her session on fear spoke into my heart. The night before, I admitted to my Executive Pastor that I felt like the character in “Catch Me if You Can”– a fraud who was just one step away from being exposed. Chris’ talk confronted my sense of inadequacy. (Public speaking forces me to confront my high school years of being a late bloomer and incredibly socially ackward. Chris’ talk forced me to see myself from a God-shaped perspective and not as “Captain Uhm.”
• I wish Pat Cimo had more stage time. She talked about Willow’s journey into family ministry. I’ll be purchasing her worskshop mp3, definately.
• The Disney folk were amazing. And Aaraon Reynolds needs to bottle his energy and charisma and sell it.
• Willowcreek’s Coffee Bar. I was amazed by the relational-piece to it. The Barista read my name tag and worked “Larry” into the conversation three times and walked the coffee down and called my name. That’s insanely relational– especially when they were turning over 100’s of customers. What an amazing thing when that’s happening during a weekend service!
• Derek is amazing– he’s my executive pastor and good friend. He carved out time to make this trip with me and provide emotional support. I occasionally get asked if I ever had designs on going to “greener pastures.” Derek is one of those reasons that Grace IS the greener pasture.

http://www.discipleblog.com/index.php/2008/04/15/mass-discipleship/

Karl reminds us that you can evangelize or “info-dump” to the masses, but discipleship will always be a life-on-life venture.