A Ministry of the School of Theology and Christian Ministry—Olivet Nazarene University

Family Ministry

A lead pastor has the insight to be involved in the ministry with children in his church and discovers some important truths that all pastors should know.  His shocking discoveries are a confirmation of what those who minister with children already know.  His insights give hope to the future of ministry with children and call the church to reconsider the way things are often done and perceived.

Featured Article

A Pastor’s Discovery

Rich Doering   4/01/13

 

I ran a little experiment over the last six weeks in our church that probably not many people knew about. The experiment was to determine if working with kids in the church was actually a "job" or an opportunity to serve in the name of Jesus. Average churches usually treat ministry to children as secondary to everything else going on at any given time and I just wanted to see if we were an average church.

The first phase of my experiment was to volunteer to lead the children's ministry, Community Kids, on Wednesday nights for six weeks. Normally, I would attend and even lead the study for men on Wednesday nights while the Community Kids Program went on downstairs, in our lower level. Instead, I volunteered to lead the Wednesday Night Kids program as we talked about our "Self-Portrait." We dealt with issues like the fact that God created us in His image. What that means, the way others see us. The way God sees us. How Jesus makes a difference. Etc. You get the point.

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Tags: Children
 

Recent Articles

Understanding the Hurt in Saying Good-Bye

Leon Blanchette   2/01/13

I recently read a wonderful book, “The Switching Hour”, by Devon Flesberg.  I must admit that though I knew the book was about divorce, the title intrigued me and to be honest, I wasn’t sure what it meant. Then I began to read it.  

Before I begin to share with you some of the lessons I have learned from this book, I must disclosed that I am the product of divorced parents.  When I was nine years old, my parents divorced, and truth be told, my family divorced.  While the circumstances or details of the divorce are unimportant for this discussion, the divorce affected more than just my parents.  My brother and I were right in the middle of it all.

So, you too, may wonder, “What’s with the title of this book?”  The “switching hour” is the term that has been penned to refer to that moment when life switches from time with one parent to time with the other. What is often forgotten in the midst of divorce is what the children go through each time they make this switch.  As adults, we have convinced ourselves that kids are resilient and they quickly recover from the struggles of divorce, but truth be told, the effects of divorce on a child never end.  That’s right, they NEVER end.

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Tags: Children, Divorce, Families, Family, Marriage
 

4 Models of Ministry with Children

Leon Blanchette   11/15/12

 

Ever find yourself wondering why you do ministry the way you do?  Have you ever asked yourself if there is a better way or maybe I should just do what everyone else seems to be doing?  Have you ever thought there has to be a reason for the way we do ministry with kids?  If you have asked these or other questions related to the way ministry is conducted, then this article is for you.  In this article, Dr. Leon Blanchette will share four approaches to ministry with children – these are often referred to as models of children’s ministry.  If this sounds intriguing then keep reading.

Determining how to conduct ministry with children can at times be overwhelming.  Should I use this curriculum or that one?  What will be enjoyable to kids and make them want to come back?  What ministries will make parents happy?  If you have been in ministry for even a short time I suspect that you have asked these and similar questions.  Let me assure you that these are legitimate questions.  Perhaps the best place to start it determining answers is with a practical model that might help us.

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My Story: A Dream Come True

Amber Stoffel   9/01/12

Once upon a time, in the land of Nagichi, in a tiny little village, lived a little girl, Jezebel. She lived in a small little cottage, on a tiny little hill, with her mother and father. Jezebel’s father helped build cottages and sometimes even castles, so he was not home very often. Although her father worked very hard, he did not make as much money as the other dads in the village. Jezebel always had food to eat and clothes to wear, but never anything nice like the other girls in her village.  Jezebel never cared that she did not have a lot, or that the other girls called her names like Raggedy Anne.

Instead of playing with the other girls, Jezebel loved to spend her time sitting on her father’s lap while he told her stories of the beautiful castles he helped build. She would lean her head up against his chest and try to keep her eyes open while he talked. She found such comfort in him, and knew that he loved her more than all of the stars in the sky and the fish in the sea. She hated when he left because it felt like he was gone forever. When he came home, Jezebel hoped he would change his mind about leaving again and would stay with her or take her with him.

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Tags: Children
 

The More I Learn, the Less I Know

Leon Blanchette   7/01/12

 

The more I learn, the less I know.  This sentiment has been a part of my thoughts during each step of my formal education, and while in fact the statement is not true, the discovery of new information makes me realize how little I know.  I have also recently discovered this cliché to apply to my knowledge regarding the topic of family ministry.  I have been studying the theory and trends associated with family ministry for some time now.  I felt that I had a good grasp of the concepts and acknowledged the variety of groupings of people that we now call “family”.  That is, until my recent trip to East Africa with a group of students from Olivet Nazarene University.  Once again I experienced that the more I learn, the less I seem to know.

My experiences with the wonderful people of Kenya and Tanzania, over the past four years, have caused me to re-evaluate some of my preconceived ideas about family ministry.  If you would be as kind as to humor me for a few minutes, I would like to share with you some of my recent experiences and truths that I believe the Lord is teaching me about family ministry as a result of those experiences.

Let me begin with the most obvious; the people of these countries have taught me what it means to live in community.  I know what you’re thinking because I thought it too.  I know what community looks like.  I don’t have to go to Africa to discover it.  My experiences changed my perspective.

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Tags: Children, Family
 

Family Ministry Reconsidered (part II)

Leon Blanchette   3/01/12

 

 

Welcome back.  Our journey through part I of this article caused us to question our understanding of the word, “family”, and to understand family as both the individual family that is made up of a variety of combinations of people and our local church family.  Both of these understandings of family become vehicles where the faith can be passed down to the next generation.

Before we continue, please allow me to identify the elephant in the room.  In each of our churches we work hard to educate our children and youth to know the Bible and to be good people.  Many of us have committed our lives to teaching the Bible to our kids; and this is good.  However, more often than not, it seems that we get sidetracked in thinking that teaching the Bible and learning the details of the stories is our goal.  Perhaps this has occurred because we have bought into a “school” model that tells us that learning information or data is of ultimate importance. While this may in part be true in our schools, in our churches we desire much more.

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Tags: Children, Families, MInistry, Worship