Family Times Virtue Packs
Get a subscription to this TODAY!
Family Times Virtue Packs are a monthly curriculum designed for the family to use at home to reinforce what is being taught in the classroom. Each month you will get material designed to help your steer conversations with your children around the Virtue of the month at the Breakfast Table, in the Car, in the Dining Room, and at Bed Time. The #1 thing that the Family Ministry of HARRAHCHURCH will do each week is to support parents in their efforts to teach their children a Biblical worldview in the home. Family Times Virtue Packs are our first line of offense in that strategy. At the end of the day it is the parent and not the church that will stand before God and make an account of the condition of the heart of the child. WOW! As a church we understand the weight of that statement and will strive to help every parent in their efforts with their children.
You can order a subscription to FTVP at http://www.familytimes.org/ or you can contact Jeremy Davidson at (405) 454-6690 or jeremy@harrahchurch.org about ordering your subscription through the church at a reduced rate. We will have a limited number of copies for sale each month in the Cafe.
-Jeremy Davidson
read more9 New Trends in Children’s Ministry Leadership
I have been reading through the recent issue of K! Magazine, a periodical for children’s workers, and wanted to share with you 9 New Trends in Children’s Ministry Leadership highlighted in the issue and how they are already playing out in the life of HARRAHCHURCH.
- Children’s pastors are doing more with less
At HarrahChurch we are fortunate enough to be looking at increasing our children’s budget, but before you pat yourself on the back know that our motto at HarrahChurch is, “Where we make a little bit go a LONG way.” Having worked on several church staff at churches only about 100 more people in size than HarrahChurch it has been amazing to see what we accomplish with a considerable smaller budget than my previous churches. In coming to HarrahChurch I moved from a church of 650 with an annual budget of $1.7 million to a church of 500 with a budget of close to $500,000. We are really stretching the dollar around here. - Children’s pastors are networking online
We use technology to learn from other churches and children’s ministry professionals and pass that knowledge onto our volunteers through the http://harrahkids.org website. - Church staffers are learning together
Jimmy and I are looking at several conferences and learning environments to attend together. We feel that the synergy that is created when we think about how a message can impact our church holistically is invaluable. The D6 Conference this past year was a great example of a church learning together. - Limited budgets and busy volunteers require creativity in training
http://harrahkids.org is an example of how we are leveraging new technologies to inform and educate parents and volunteers about our ministry. By creating a learn-at-your-own-pace environment we can knock down several barriers in our education process and equip more leaders for our ministry. - The traditional children’s ministry model is changing
At HarrahChurch, we will be putting more emphasis upon creating environments that connect with kids and upon equipping parents to reinforce what we teach at home. Both our D6 and ReThink teaching curriculum includes a component for the family to do at home. We know that we have about 80-90 hours a year to teach a child about Jesus, but a parent has more than 50 hours a WEEK to teach their child about a relationship with Jesus. By spending more money and resources in equipping parents we feel that we will create more opportunities for our children to internalize the messages that are being taught in our classes. - Tweens need an identity of their own in the church
In 2010 we will be launching a new program called Area56 that is designed to give our 5th-6th graders an environment that is not too childish and not too adult. We believe that this age is a critical time is a students life and one where they are facing their greatest challenges. Many are encountering adult issues like drugs and sex and struggling in finding an environment in the church that can speak to them on their level. Area56 will be an environment all their own and one that I believe we will need to staff with our GREATEST volunteers. - Teaching is moving back to the teacher
There is a lot of really great video teaching and worship DVDs out there right now, but we want our kids to be lead by an example within our own faith community. It is my desire to see HarrahChurch build a teaching team that leverages media in their teaching of the material and not one that leans on it. I would love to see our children’s worship program lead by a real band and not a DVD remote. Kids love live instruments, especially drums, but it is most important that we give our kids a person to want to be like when they grow up and someone who is modeling the ministry of service. - Every-other week is the new every week
Divorce is a painful subject that millions of our kids of dealing with each year. The results of divorce for our kids means that we have even fewer hours each week to speak about Jesus into their lives. It is our goal to create environments that our kids do not want to miss and beg their parents to want to attend. Imagine your son or daughter dragging you out of bed on Sunday morning to go to church. We do! - A growing percentage of parents are more committed to the extracurriculars than the programs of the church
Parents are spending more time simply driving their kids to sports practice than they do talking to them about Jesus. I think this is an area of church/parenting life that is a bit of an elephant within the church, but if you know anything about HarrahChurch then you know that we are not afraid to point out the elephants. God didn’t put the church in charge of providing spiritual formation for children. He gave that responsibility to parents. Our desire is to help parents realize that they are ultimately responsibly for their child’s spiritual formation and that it is our responsibility to provide them with the best resources and training available. We WANT to equip you to build spiritual WARRIORS.
What are your thoughts on these 9 new trends?
read more