Opinions please…

That’s nice! When it’s done, you should upload a generic version to CreativeMYK.com.

Good point Jonathan. On our campus, the garage is a very prominent location/building, so it works… and the card is being distributed only on the campus, so if they’re on the campus they’ll know where the garage is.

Brent, I don’t think I can post it… I paid for the background graphic, so I’m not sure I have the rights to post it up for others to use for free, but if I can, I will.

Thanks Matt for the comments, I was waiting for your critique. I knew it would be thorough and expected as much.

Yeah, I’m drowning a little her as we do not have a “logo” per se or any kind of brand recognition. The CM is called Kids Quest and even the building is named that. I think we’ll stick to the name as the building is really themed nicely around the name, but we do have to do some logo and brand work.

Good points. I think putting girls first is a great idea. Age group is good. I initially thought about putting “elementary” on it, but I just didn’t in the end. After meeting with children and the parents, I have on occasion baptized a 5 year-old… but that has only happened a handful of times… but I think you’re right. Making that distinction would weed out inquiries. I’ll make some of these changes for the next time we do this (I had to order them yesterday afternoon). I do have some more pieces I’m putting together now… so I’ll post them in the coming days.

I agree with the feedback above. I will add a few points since you are looking for critical feedback.

If your church practices believer’s baptism, as you seem to indicate, should there be some mention of the child’s readiness in terms of his/her relationship with God? Notice I do not mention age or understanding what baptism is. Of course, both of those are relevant, as far as they go. Age is relevant because obviously an infant is not at a place of understanding in a mature sense the decision they would be making to follow the Lord in Baptism. Understanding what is baptism is relevant because the baptismal candidate should have at least a basic understanding of why they are doing it and what it signifies. In the first century water baptism was a part of the cultural milieu, so people readily understood the significance without needing a special class to learn about it before being baptised by John the Baptist and others later on.

But here is my main point. Does the child exhibit a relationship with God in terms of choosing to follow Jesus and live for him? Sometimes parents want their children to be baptized because it is more a matter of their own preferences than it is a matter of the child’s readiness. Some of this is due to the background of parents who come out of an infant baptism background, and feel that baptism means something other or more than merely a public profession of faith and dying to sin and rising again to new life in Christ. For them it is more about what God is doing in the life of the baptized person than it is about that person’s choice to be baptized. I have had to navigate this issue in my own church, so I think it is worth mentioning.

You might change the text this way: Change from “Is my daughter old enough to be baptized” to “Is my daughter ready to be baptized?” Or, “Is my daughter old enough and ready to be baptized?”

Glen, very good point you make. Yes, what you say it very important. I posted a series of posts about baptism, decisions and such right around when I wrote this post: http://www.childrensministryonline.com/blog/ministry-philosophy/how-about-equipping-our-parents/

I know a lot of churches (I’ve worked at some) that allow people to just sign up for baptism… including kids. Sometimes no one will even have the conversation of readiness with the parent or child. Not me. That’s why I offer the baptism class. Also, anytime a parent would try to sign their kid up for baptism, I required a meeting with me or the staff before it could be scheduled. Determining readiness is the point of the meeting and educating both the parents and child. Sometime the child is ready, but neither the child or parent really understand what baptism is all about.

At gateway, this “conversation” needs to be had. This baptism class is an invitation to this conversation. Does that makes sense. We talk about what baptism is, what it means to be a follower of Christ and everything in-between. I’m actually used to many kids making decisions to follow Christ at these “Baptism Meetings.” I expect it!

I’ll write about this in a post next week, but I’m going to experiment with the “Orange/Reggie Joiner” model at this baptism meeting… equipping parents to lead their kids in this decision. So, it’s a bit of an experiment for me this time around. I’ll let you know how it goes.

So, for this card/invite I probably won’t address the “readiness” question as many of our parents wouldn’t even know to ask this. The questions I asked are the common ones I hear a lot and get the parent/child thinking about questions. In many ways, this baptism class is an evangelistic opportunity for our kids and a way to get parents involved in guiding their kids toward spiritual growth. What I need to work on next is a “next step” class… getting parents involved in helping their kids grow after taking the step of baptism… talking about devotional times, communion and other stuff.