Wednesday, December 30, 2009

The Year of the Broken Heart

January 1st almost always brings in a renewed hope for me. Hope in mankind, hope in God, and hope for what this year will be, just as December almost always puts me in reflective mode. However I have never quite been as reflective as I am this year. Last January while working on a creative piece for the Conspire conference, I found myself very touched by the lyrics of the song Hosanna, by Hillsong United. Overtime there was a verse that God seemed to be focusing me on, and it became a prayer.

…Open up my eyes to things unseen
Show me how to love like you have loved me
Break my heart for what breaks yours
Everything I am for your Kingdom’s cause
As I walk from earth to eternity.

During much of 2009 I felt a deep sadness for the hardships of life all around. We have all see it this year, the closing of eras, sickness, job loss, family hardships, extreme poverty… Throughout 2009, there seemed to be an extra amount of sadness in the world. The aha moment came recently as I shared this story with some dear friends and realized God had used 2009 to show me what breaks His heart. God uses a variety of means to speak and teach each of us, for me God used a little girl named Lucy to remind me that his heart is broken for the orphan, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duyL9UjLrdM

He used the situation that some sweet neighbor children are in, to remind us that his heart is broken when a family collapses, because their financial world is shattered, and they are fearful to turn to the church that hurt them in the past.

He used organizations like IJM, Nuru, and Kiva to show his sadness at extreme poverty. “That desperate people will do desperate things.” http://www.nuruinternational.org/videophoto/

That His heart is broken when we ask the lost to find their own way to church on “our” terms, instead of being like Jesus and walking among them in kindness and in love.

It breaks his heart when we hide behind our religious safe holds.

He used two seriously ill little girls to teach me how broken his heart is over the sick.

He used a small church to teach me that ALL children deserve a chance at a deep relationship with him.

His heart breaks when his children stay in the safety of the huddle? Be the team he has called us to be. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XN7Z5w_j0Ac

So as we approach January 1st 2010 I find myself with a new hope to respond and be a little more like Jesus than I was in 2009. That God will “show me how to Love like you have loved me, everything I am for your Kingdom’s cause.”

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Changing a Tradition

I love traditions. Since, I am a learner and also love the beauty of an experience, when my boys were very young I wanted to make sure that we had the best Christmas traditions. The year the boys were 3, 2 and an infant, I spent that fall asking my friends, acquaintances, and even complete strangers how they celebrated Christmas. Many of our family Christmas traditions are a result of those conversations. There are many, but things like making sure the “cool” gifts come from the parents and the boring gifts like underwear come from Santa. That way the “cool” parents get the credit (love this one.) Choosing a picture book for each child that reminds us of their year, writing in it what we saw in them, and reading it to them first thing on Christmas.

This Fall I sat down and had conversations with some volunteers and families. One of the questions was, “Is there anything you would like to see changed?” Over and over, one of their replies was to change something that was actually a tradition in the church. During the Christmas Eve main service the children would perform. Volunteers and families found this very stressful on an already full day. They very much wanted the kids to have the chance to sing for the congregation, but not on Christmas Eve. One lesson I learned long ago is to listen well to volunteers and families. The call for a change in tradition I heard loud and clear, but I was not as confident how my Senior Pastor and programming team would like to hear about the change in tradition.

Traditions should enhance our experiences. Are there traditions that you have in your ministry that need to be evaluated and asked, “Why do we do it that way?” “Is this the best thing for our kids, families & ministry?” I encourage you to ask the hard questions, evaluate and make the changes if necessary.

As for our Senior Pastor, his heart is to serve, shepherd, and teach our congregation. When he heard the thoughts of the volunteers and families he was quick to create a new tradition. This year the kids are singing the Sunday before Christmas and EVERYONE is thrilled and looking forward to the experience.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Casting Vision Not Stones

I have been reminded the last several weeks the importance of casting vision not stones. Challenges and problems exist in each ministry. For the most part it is easy to observe the challenges, but the real question is how we respond to them. I am a big believer in casting vision at every opportunity. People understand vision and purpose, and want to be a part of something bigger then themselves. The challenge with problems is when they are shared with another person, the problem can feel like a stone, weighty come with pain.

My church, like most, has its own culture and rhythm, and is what makes it unique. On the downside it can create extra challenges when this culture is a part of what needs to be changed. When I joined Lakeview a month ago, one of the pieces that I noticed quickly was many of the children ministry rooms were uninviting and there seemed to be very little partnership between what happened on Sunday mornings and the parents. The importance of dynamic rooms is it speaks to a child, this is a place they want to be each Sunday. It communicates that we understand them and care about them. Partnering with parents is a necessity. The majority of a child’s spiritual formation should happen at home with the church coming along side the parents equipping them and empowering them.
Identifying the challenges and problems is fairly easy. The hard part can be how to implement change and get buy-in from all. One of the ways I have found that parent’s, volunteers, senior pastor’s will buy-in is when they understand the “why” or “vision” behind the change.

Casting vision for a partnership with parents the started my first Sunday when I was introduced. I took my two minutes to talk about how excited I am to be partnering with parents in the spiritual formation of their children and how excited I am to get to get to know each child and their families.
For parent partnership to be truly successful, I have to have Senior Pastor buy-in. My Senior Pastor, as do most Senior Pastors, understands the importance of building into the next generation and that the future success of the church depends on it. However, the last thing my Senior Pastor is going to want to hear is the “problems”. Each time I have the opportunity to interact with him, I share a piece of vision in this area. It is normally in one sentence, in a positive tone, and fit in the culture of Lakeview church.

I am excited to share with you an example of this in the next post.

Friday, October 2, 2009

Volunteers Make or Break a Ministry

This week marked one month that I have been on the new job as Children’s Ministry Director. It has been a fast and furious month with most of my time spent trying to get my feet under me. My church is the second site of a multisite church with about 45 kids a weekend in attendance. And although it is small, it is stocked with some awesome volunteers. Volunteers make or break a ministry and are a wealth of knowledge. I spent a good bit of time this month leaning into this wealth of knowledge. As a new director in a church any size one of the best things you can do is listen and hear what the volunteers, parents and kids are saying. Understanding where the church has been, the culture of the church, and the hopes of these key people will help you make right choices moving forward. You will discover a ton about the kids in the rooms, curriculum, ministry traditions, families, and goofy things. Here are some key questions I have been asking.
1. Tell me how you started in Kidsland?
2. How do things work in your room?
3. How was the curriculum chosen and are you happy with it?
4. Tell me about the kids in your room (steer the conversation to understand discipline challenges, kids with family challenges, are the kids engaged in the room)
5. What are the needs of your classroom (this can be from activity station games needed, new crayons, a helper, please fix the sound, etc…)
6. What are some changes you would like to see happen in Kidsland?

Meeting with key volunteers, provided a platform for them to share their knowledge and for me to hear their challenges. It also allowed me a great opportunity to respond to the easy-to-meet needs of the kids and the volunteer and created an atmosphere of feeling valued. It is amazing how much can be communicated in a new bin of scissors, some table games, or a new CD.