Childrens Ministry Online

Child Dedication: Tweaking what’s working

Posted on 04. Mar, 2009 by Kenny.

So, now I had one Child Dedication under my belt doing it a way that was much better than anything I’d ever done. Now it was time to tweak it.

I love the required Prep for Child Dedication Class concept, I just didn’t like the content from my first time. So, I needed to re-write. You do know that there is nothing new under the sun, right? I used some statistics that were already in the class. I took some additional statistics from a video my friend Sam posted a long time ago on his site. I then watched a video of a child dedication class Gina did and she totally gave me the idea of what I wanted to do for the meat of my class. Oh, and I totally stole two of her main points. With all this new material, I felt I had a solid class that parents would certainly value.

Second, I needed to tweak the dedication. Now we have a permanent Sunday afternoon service, so the auditorium wasn’t really available for the dedication on Sunday afternoons. After talking with several parents, I decided that Child Dedications would now take place on Saturday mornings (11:00 AM). This way family could still come in from out of town and it’s just before lunch, so families can go out afterward. Doing this on Saturday morning also assured me that this would be anything but a dog and pony show now that it was no where near a Sunday service (I really don’t mean to offend anyone by calling it that, it’s just what it had become at every church I’d been a part of. I know some churches that do individual dedications for families each week making it very special for that family. Unfortunately, that just doesn’t fit with our church and our time frame, so we have to do something different).

So, here is the plan from hear on out:

• Prep for Dedication Classes will be posted on the website. A parent can register for one of these classes at any time. The class is mandatory for your child to be dedicated.
• You can choose how and when you want your child dedicated. A) In your small group B) In a private setting C) At a church Child Dedication

In your small group

The children’s ministry will provide materials for small group leaders to conduct a child dedication. Basically it would be some notes and a video to watch. This is a great setting for a child dedication as it allows the child to be dedicated by those who are doing life with the parents. For the couple who doesn’t have any family in town and has close connections with their small group, this is an ideal solution.

In a private setting

In the last few months, I’ve done two dedication in people’s homes. Because we had not scheduled a dedication yet, I had two families request me to come to their house to dedicate their child. Both families held a big party for family and friends to celebrate. I arrived, hung out for a little while, did the dedication and then went home. Although it isn’t very convenient, it’s a great place to have a dedication, among family and friends inside the home. Both times I got a nice little $50 tip. I wasn’t expecting this, but it was a nice gift. I’ll probably make this as a suggestion to families going this route since it would pull me or my staff away on their day off. However, I know some of my staff would love to do this.

At a church Child Dedication

This is the standard Child Dedication we do right now. We’ll offer these three times a year on Saturday mornings. This provides that nice environment at the church in the comfortable setting where you can bring a few friends or an entire crowd.

So, this is what we’re going to do here at Gateway. There’s a required class to engage parents and make sure they understand what Child Dedication is and that they understand the role scriptures call them to as parents. We would also love to see this Prep for Child Dedication class be an opportunity to spawn new small groups. The class is discussion heavy, so if there are some connections, we can possibly spin off a new class. Tomorrow I’ll wrap up this Child Dedication series and share my notes and a video of a recent Prep for Child Dedication Class.

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Child Dedication: A New Plan

Posted on 04. Mar, 2009 by Kenny.

Just before arriving at Gateway I decided I wanted to figure out a new way to do Child Dedication, a very Orangy way. I wanted to engage the parents. At previous churches, parents signed up for Child Dedication and then just showed up on that day. I knew I wanted to have a pre-dedication meeting or class. Fortunately when I got to Gateway, I discovered that this class already existed. It was required. In addition, the dedication was held an hour before our once a month Sunday evening service. So, we had a special service for dedication where each family received individual attention as one of five or six pastors prayed over them. Then at the 180 service, the families/babies were recognized and the whole church prayed over them. I really liked this compared to anything I’ve done in the past.

I held my first class in September. It was okay. I primarily used the notes and material from the guy who was there before me. It wasn’t that his stuff wasn’t good, it just wasn’t me. The class was really informative. A few weeks later we held the dedication and it went pretty good too. There were a few hitches, but nothing I couldn’t fix by the next dedication. Again, it was my first one at Gateway. However, I was now positioned to take what Gateway already had to the next level. Stay tuned… more on this later today.

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Child Dedication: Idealistic thoughts

Posted on 03. Mar, 2009 by Kenny.

Nope, I’m not telling you what we’re actually doing… yet. That will come tomorrow. Before we arrived with the idea of what we’re doing right now, I had many thought of what I would like it to me.

Primary thought: Do child dedication exclusively in small groups. Want to eliminate the dog and pony show aspect of child dedication? Take away the audience. So, if child dedication is really about parents making a commitment in front of people they are doing life with, why not do child dedication exclusively within small groups. Group leaders can be equipped to do this or someone from the kids team can help lead the occasion. If we’re a church that really believes that small groups are the way people are going to grow, then why not let his happen exclusively in small groups. My friend Gina has been creating the tools to do this at her church.

However, this isn’t the silver bullet. What about those families where the dad is in a mens group and the mom is in a women’s group? Or the couples who are temporarily taking a break. Yeah, in those cases, small group exclusives don’t work either. So, how do you eliminate the “dog and pony” feel, connect hear to heart with parents about their responsibility to lead their kids spiritually and help parents connect with those doing life around them? I’ll share with you our response to this question tomorrow.

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Why I hate Child Dedication

Posted on 02. Mar, 2009 by Kenny.

This week I’m going to be writing about Child Dedication. Most Children’s Pastors are responsible to hold these 2-4 times a year. Most I’ve talked to hate them. Maybe that’s too strong of a word. Most really don’t like them.

Let me tell you why I don’t like them and what I’m doing about it.

I’ve been responsible to host 2-4 of these suckers a year for the last 8-9 years of ministry. To some degree, they’re an administrative nightmare. All year long people are either asking about them or signing up for them. Then when the day comes, you call and email to see who is coming. Then you call and email to double check. You print out certificates and write in Bibles. Then the day comes and you parade all these babies across the stage for four minutes of Child Dedication Glory. You have to determine if you’re going to have them come up one at a time and hand them their Bible’s and certificates one by one, or just have all of them come at once, pray and then get them on their way before the worship pastor gets mad at you for taking so long. Inevitably, you always have that one family that comes up on stage that never registered, never called or never emailed. Who knows why they came up, but they didn’t get a certificate or a Bible and they’re a little frustrated for not getting called out.

Does that sum up your experience? Was I even close?

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind an administrative challenge. To be honest, I’m up for a challenge. Here is why I hate Child Dedication.

Two years ago, my wife was pregnant with Titus. It was the day before a child dedication. Sara asked me, “what do you think about child dedication?” I was a little confused. “What do you mean? Child Dedication is something I do.” Then she asked, “Is the way you do child dedication what you want for dedicating Titus.” My answer was quick. “No.”

I knew what I wanted for Titus. I wanted to have friends and family over at our house for a small party. Then we’d have a good friend/pastor lead us in prayer as we dedicated Titus in the company of the people we did life with. That’s what I wanted.

That was the day I began to hate child dedication. Why would I offer a dedication that was far less than I would want for my own children. What a hypocrite. I started to realize that what I did was less of a child dedication and more of a dog and pony show… a chance for parents to show off their new babies. I don’t want to minimize what Child Dedication is for so many people… I just think it can be so much more.

So, in a few days I’ll be hosting a Child Dedication at Gateway that looks a little more like the kind of dedication that I’d want for my own child. Actually, Sara and I will be dedicating Titus at this dedication. This week I’m going to share with you my thoughts, my dreams and what my dedication’s going to look like this time around.

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Child Dedication: Know any good songs?

Posted on 01. Mar, 2009 by Kenny.

Okay, this Sunday we’re doing a child dedication. We’re revamping many things about this dedication, so I’m going to write about it this week.

However, I need a little help. I’m creating a few slide shows for the dedication service and I need some songs to play for the slide show. I’m not looking for just “Christian” music, but anything current that seems appropriate for the situation, positive songs about kids, parents and whatnot. Again, something fairly current.

I’m probably going to use a Jack Johnson song from the Curious George soundtrack, but I’d love to find two or three more.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Later this week I’ll tell you exactly how I’m doing the slideshows, somthing I’ve never done before. Thanks for your help!

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Children’s Ministry in Portables: Part 6

Posted on 30. Dec, 2008 by Kenny.

Now that the outsides are painted and ramps and completed, all the focus in on the interior. The insides of these portables look so tacky with the wood paneling and ugly carpet and sagging tile ceiling. The plan is to replace the old ceiling tiles, sheet rock over the wood paneling and lay down a new tile floor. When we’re done, it shouldn’t feel so much like a “portable” building. Next is the decor.

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Children’s Ministry in Portables: Part 5

Posted on 23. Dec, 2008 by Kenny.

When planning for our portables, we had to plan out our foot traffic. These buildings are almost behind our main kid’s building, so a clear path needed to be built. In addition, we had to create suitable entrances to the portable buildings and the rooms within. If we can expect 100-120 kids in these rooms, we had to create space or drop-off and pick-up lines. To solve these issues (as well as conforming to ADA standards) a beautiful deck was built to link the portables together and provide wheelchair access. We also intend to put in a door between the two rooms in each portable. This way parents can all walk into one portable door, go through the door that connects the two rooms and out the other portable door to exit. They can do this at both-drop off and pick-up which should keep the traffic moving.

We also built a crushed limestone path from the main courtyard (beside the Kids Quest building) right up to the portable buildings. I figured we would have done a cement pathway, but the crushed limestone is very nice. It looks very natural and fitting here at our Austin church. Check it out.

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Children’s Ministry in Portables: Part 4

Posted on 22. Dec, 2008 by Kenny.

We had a big task ahead of us. We had to help the portables blend in. Well, we didn’t really want them to blend in. We just didn’t want them to be so dang ugly. Honestly, Gateway is one of the coolest and most beautiful church campuses I’ve seen. It’s got a very modern, outdoor "shopping center" type of look. Portable just don’t fit into that genre of building.

Initially our interior designer developed a plan to paint and mural the outside of the portables to create a "destination" for the kids. One that would lure the kids to come and check them out. Honestly, I was afraid that this would make them stick out even more than an ugly portable would stick out. I suggested that we choose some of the building colors and pain them to match the other buildings. That way they’d look like they were planned and that there was some intentionality behind them. It totally worked. These ugly portables actually look really nice. Amazing!

See how this ties into the rest of our facility by here.

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Name my environments…

Posted on 19. Dec, 2008 by Kenny.

If you’ve been following this blog recently, you’ve read about our portable buildings. We’re working like crazy right now to get them open for the first of January. So much to do!

Well, we need to name the classrooms and boy could we use some help in naming them. To avoid using the word portables ever again, we’re referring to the space as “The Backyard” or Kids Quest Backyard. It’s fun and it’s fitting. Each building has two rooms, so were saying the backyard consists of 4 classroom environments. We need to name each of these environments. Here are the themes:

• Underwater
• Jungle
• Tree House
• Downtown City

Here is the challenge. Every room in our Children’s are has a two word name, each starting with the same letter. Here are some examples:

• Cozy Corner
• Heavenly Haven
• Bubble Babies
• Grasshopper Grove
• Little Lagoon
• Asteroid Alley

So, in keeping with this pattern, do you have any ideas for room names. My early childhood director came up with a pretty good brainstorm the other day, but I’d like to hear some more fresh ideas if you haven’t already checked out for Christmas Vacation.

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Children’s Ministry in Portables: Part 3

Posted on 18. Dec, 2008 by Kenny.

We found our portables.

There is one main reason why I dont’ love portables. They’re freakin’ ugly. We picked out two portables that looked very similar to each other. They’re used portables from Colorado. Enjoy the pics.

My favorite part is all the wood paneling. Honestly, do they make these things ugly on purpose. It was only a few years ago that someone had the bright idea to make a computer a different color than beige. Now it’s almost impossible to find a beige computer. What’s up with the innovating trailer colors. Not really a fight I have any interest in taking on though.

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