Tag: children’s ministry

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DEVELOP YOUR TALENT

DEVELOP YOUR TALENT:  It took me some time to accept all the “re-do’s” that I had to do in my cartoon drawings and bible story writing. All the early stories that I did, I had to re-do at least 3 times and at first I used to get so frustrated and angry at myself.  “Like why do I have to learn SO slowly and why do I have to re-do all this?”  As things start to click in, you get a little wiser, but through all this, I have come to realize that God has allowed time in his plan for us to develop our skills.

 

Keep on walking.  Don’t get discouraged if you have “re-do’s” in life.  You will always be under construction until the day you go home.

Click here for Children’s Ministry Resources.

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FEED YOUR SPIRIT

The message I want to remind you of as a children’s minister is the importance of remembering to feed your spirit.  You need personal time with the Lord that is NOT about ministry.  I know, having been a children’s minister, that you can spend enormous amounts of time doing the work of the ministry doing bible related activity.  But, you can end up neglecting time with the Lord that is not focused on anything but him, so that he can talk to you.  Don’t forget to spend time reading the bible with an open mind and no agenda for ministry.

 

Click here for Children’s Ministry Resources.

 

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SOUR RELIGION

The church has had 2000 years to win the world by religion, and many times the religion is “sour”.  Religion by rules never worked in the Old Testament under the law.  People do well under love and grace.  Jesus was the friend of children and sinners.

 

For many who grew up in church as children, all they remember was a bunch of rules.  The church ought to be a joyful, accepting warm place especially for children.  In most cases they equate Jesus with how we represent him.  Tis a great responsibility.  We want children to see Jesus as “sweet” not “sour”.

 

Click here for Children’s Ministry Resources.

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The Number Game

The Number Game for Children’s Ministry

This would be a fun game to review biblical statistics. Choose numbers that describe the size of the tribes of Israel or the enemy armies etc.

http://www.greatgroupgames.com/the-number-game.htm

 

Click here for Children’s Ministry Resources

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THE FUNNY THINGS KIDS SAY

CHILD CHUCKLES (The Funny Things Kids Say)

A Blog by Rev. Grace Verrier

 

Today my stomach hurt.  I used every muscle in it trying to control my laughter.  I was teaching on Adam and Eve and I had a little boy in my class who comes from a family of nine.

My question to the class was, “What did God tell Adam and Eve to do after they ate the forbidden fruit in the garden?”  I expected the answer to be, “God told them to leave the garden.”

The little boy from the large family started shaking his hand wildly shouting, “I know!  I know!  I know!”  When I asked him what his answer was, he said, “God told them to be fruitful and multiply just like my mom and dad say.

Later, I told his parents what he had said and they explained how he had taken their words totally out of context.  I then told the parents, “I’ll believe only one-half of what they tell me about you if you will believe only one-half of what they tell you about me.”  When you serve in children’s ministry that is very good advice.

 

Click here for Children’s Ministry Resources.

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HOW DOES A CHILDREN’S MINISTER RETIRE?

RETIRE OR REFIRE! (on Retirement)

A Blog by Rev. Grace Verrier

When I turned 65 I retired from full time ministry.  Ministry can be an exacting calling requiring long hours and an unending commitment to fulfill it.  (Remember, our “Boss” neither slumbers nor does He sleep).

At first I tried activity and hobbies using interaction with people to justify continuing ministry through life style outreach.  It just wasn’t me.  Also, my husband and I wanted to travel and see some of God’s great creation like the Grand Canyon for example.

However, when there is a call on your life and you know it is to minister to children, there doesn’t seem to be that much opportunity to reach that demographic when you are over 70.  I asked God if He would show me how to use my gifting so I could be just as fruitful as when I worked full time for him.  This is what He told me to do.  I went to our home church (the first one we had NOT pastored) and asked if they could use some help in Children’s Ministry.  They were starting two services on Sunday morning and it was the right time.  When they found out I had my own curriculum they were even happier.  This worked really well for me as my curriculum was embedded in my heart and I did not have to study to present it – just pray.

Because we now spend several months in Florida yearly we asked our home church there if they could use some help in Children’s Ministry.  They also were delighted and I could reuse the teaching from my home church in Niagara Falls.  I had enough room in my fifth wheel trailer to bring a few puppets and props that I needed.  Then my husband asked if he could help me teach using my methods (not just sermonizing as he did over the years) and he developed a strong call to help me.

Then Patti asked me to participate in this blog so I could continue to teach children’s teachers by using my own ministry experience.  So now I haven’t retired – just refired and I feel just as fulfilled as I did with full time ministry.  God is so faithful!

 

Click here for Children’s Ministry Resources.

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CROWD CONTROL

HELP!  THEY GOT AWAY! (Need Crowd Control)

A Blog by Rev. Grace Verrier

 

Last Sunday I ministered to a class of eight children, ages from Kindergarten to Grade 5.  It was so easy compared to the times I have ministered to 150 to 300 children in grade school assemblies.

I remember at one school session I decided to teach on worship and to help illustrate it I had brought approximately 40 puppets to the auditorium.  My plan was to play a jumpy contemporary Christian song and have the children move the puppets in time with the music.  I asked the children who would want to volunteer and of course they all wanted to.  I quickly pointed to children and told them to come up and put on a puppet.  However, the children grabbed the puppets, put them on their hands and began to run around the gymnasium completely out of control.  The teachers looked dumbfounded and I cried out to God, “Help!”

God told me to ask the children to stop and hold their breath.  It worked.  As they were quiet I told them to all come forward and listen to the music and do what I had originally asked.  Teachers told me later that the idea definitely came from God because they had never heard of it.  Needless to say, I thanked God all the way home.

 

Click here for Children’s Ministry Resources.

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WE CANNOT DO IT WITHOUT THE LORD

WE CANNOT DO IT WITHOUT THE LORD

A Blog by Rev. Grace Verrier

After many years of ministry, and having my “congregations” change every six years (I taught children 6-12 years old) I became very familiar with the curriculum I taught.  My goal in presenting the six-year curriculum was to familiarize children with the layout of the Bible and teach them how God used individuals and groups of people to accomplish his purposes.   I also wanted to show the children how all of this information is still relevant today and we can use it in our own lives.

After many years of “working” at fulfilling my writing and teaching goals, I felt that I had accomplished what I had set out to do and I began to get rather complacent.  One morning with only minimal preparation and a hurried prayer I stood before the children fully convinced I was ready to teach.  (During worship time the Lord seemed to say to me, “Do you really think that you are that good that you can minister to children without me?”  I heard what He said, but I really didn’t take it to heart.)

We left the sanctuary and went to class and it was as if the children had been given a pound of chocolate and had an extreme “sugar high”.  It took me about 15 minutes to get them settled.  Then they became complacent, staring off into space and taking no part in the program.   Finally one said out loud, “This is boring!”  That is when I quickly repented and asked God to “take over” the class.  Needless to say I learned my lesson and appropriated the scripture, “Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain who build it.”  (Ps 127:1)

When I was a new Christian I thought, “I am doing a really good job for God.”  After about five years of knowing Christ, I thought, “God and I are really doing a good job together.”  Now I know that, “God is doing a good job and I am just along for the ride.”

 

Click here for Children’s Ministry Resources.

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HOW TO TEACH A MEMORY VERSE

HELPING CHILDREN “HIDE THE WORD IN THEIR HEARTS” (Memory Verse)

A Blog by Grace Verrier

I remember when I was a child going to church and I would get a star on my chart if I could memorize a particular scripture and be able to repeat it the following Sunday.  Because I was diligent I received lots of stars.  However, the majority of the class “lost” the memory verse paper before they arrived home and consequently had nothing to say when it came time to repeat the verse the following week.  When I became a Children’s Pastor I realized that there had to be a better way to get the children to “hide the word of God in their hearts so that they would not sin against Him” (Psalm 119:11).

The first thing I did was make sure the children totally understood the meaning of the verse I was teaching.  I always chose a pivotal verse that was the centre of the day’s teaching.  I made sure I used it several times (with its address) during the presentation.  Then I would play a game where each participant had to read the memory verse in a loud voice before they could play the game.  For example in one of the games, I placed two masking tape lines on the floor approximately 12 feet apart.  A child first said the memory verse in a loud voice and then he blew a ping pong ball between the two lines (not using his hands) and I would time the endeavor. Each week we would hold a different contest. The winner always got a small prize or I fed them a treat such as a gummy worm.  The children had already memorized the scripture before they left for home.

Some Sundays would be “Memory Verse Review Time” where I might write out part of the verses they had learned and see who could fill in the blanks.  These would reinforce their memory work.  The children always had fun playing memory verse games.

 

Click here for Children’s Ministry Resources

 

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RESPECT OTHER POINTS OF VIEW

Have you ever noticed that in many marriages opposites have indeed been attracted to each other and yet it works?  Why is that?  Because over time the couple have learned that true success is NOT a tug of war.  When all parties are confident that each person is looking out for the BEST interest of the group, then every perspective is important.

 

God has poured out giftings on his children and those giftings are diverse yet compliment each other.

 

Respecting other points of view can save you a lot of troubles.

 

Click here for Children’s Ministry Resources.

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Musical Chairs Game

Musical Chairs Game for Children’s Ministry

There is a reason this game is a classic.  It is aways fun.  Get the wiggles and jiggles out of the kids before you teach them the Word of God.

 

http://www.greatgroupgames.com/musical-chairs.htm

 

Click here for Children’s Ministry Resources.

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EFFECTIVE STORY TELLING

EFFECTIVE STORY TELLING – MAKE IT EXCITING

A Blog by Rev. Grace Verrier

Some of the stories I read to the kids in my class were good ones but often I would lose the attention of the children (and of course we know what happens then).  I decided to research how other children’s pastors could keep kids on the edge of their seats when they were reading or telling stories.  These are some of the things I learned:

 

  • You should be very familiar with the story before you read it.  Read it through several times on your own first.
  • Give each character who speaks a different voice appropriate for the personality of the character.  For example if a child is speaking, use a child’s voice.  If it is an old man, use an old man’s voice during the appropriate dialogue
  • If the emotion is tense or exciting speak that way.  If the emotion is slow speak slowly.  Be sure to exaggerate the emotions.
  • Use sound effects.  For example when someone in the story knocks on a door, make a knocking sound.
  • If the story has an unusual ending that is a bit of a cliff hanger, tell the children you will finish the story the following week.  After they beg you to finish right then, do it.
  • Ask them to fill in blanks as you are telling the story.  For example, “He came upon a large animal with big ears and a long nose.  What do you think it was?”  That way the children are actually involved in the story telling.

 

When I began to incorporate these methods, the children would beg me to tell them stories.  It made it fun for them and of course it was so much easier for me.

 

Click here for Children’s Ministry Resources.