Childrens Ministry Online

Kid’s baptisms: Parent assisted baptism class

Posted on 12. Jun, 2009 by Kenny.

Lately I’ve been blogging about how we do baptisms for kids here at Gateway. My last post yesterday pointed to how I’ve changed things to where parents have a more active role in the class. Click here to read that post if you haven’t already.

So, here’s what it looks like. I set up the room with round tables with 6-8 chairs per table. Families or multiple families sit around the table. Once everyone has arrived and we’re about to begin, I pass out the Baptism Class – Parent Guide. I explain to my parents that everything I talk about is in this parent guide, including all the scripture fully typed out. I express my hope that parents will pull this out again to review with the kids later.

Essentially I talk about order. Kids are at the baptism class because they want to be baptized, but I explain that baptism isn’t first, it’s something we do after we’ve become a Christ Follower. I also take a minute to explain terminology. Depending on where they’ve been before Gateway or what they’ve heard other people say, becoming a Christ Follower can be confusing. Is being a Christ Follower the same thing as “getting saved” or asking Jesus into their heart? After we’ve explained terminology and getting to the heart of what this really is, I spend the next 15-20 minutes talking about the ABC’s of becoming a Christ Follower. I’ve been using this from the days of doing Lifeway VBS and of all the tools, it’s my favorite. I feel it’s easy to understand and hits the most important parts of becoming a Christ Follower.

After we’ve covered the ABC, I hand it over to parents. You’ll see there is a section for parents to lead. Basically there are some scripted questions that parents can ask to create discussion and inspire individual conversations. I encourage the parents to really probe their kids, find out if this is information is new. Have they done this before? Has this been new information? Does your child comprehend? Are they ready to make this decision? If so, pray with them now. I’ve even placed a scripted prayer based on the ABC’s that the parent can lead their child in right there. So far, I’ve had parents lead their children to faith every time I’ve done this class. That gets me very excited!

After paretns have 10-15 minutes with their kids, I come back and wrap up the class. I talk about baptism. What it is (a symbol) and what it isn’t (Salvation, washing away our sins). This last bit only takes another 10 minutes. Again, the focus is on making sure kids understand becoming a Christ Follower. We close up with questions.

Once we’re done I had out the Baptism Class – Response Form. This gives me a little feedback, but more importantly it tells me if and when the child has made a decision. The first time I did this class, I had these forms sitting on the table and I found that parents filled this out before the class was over which didn’t tell me if any kids made a decision on that day. So, now I hand this out at the end. This is very helpful!

Last of all, here are my Baptism Class – Teaching Notes. It’s actually most of the class completely scripted out. I’ve been doing this for so many years, I don’t need these. I’ll usually give this to someone else who’s going to teach in my place. I don’t expect them to do this exactly, but it’s a thorough example of my class. They can take it and personalize it. However, I do want them to do the ABC’s and the parent breakout. Everything else is up to them.

Well, that’s my class. I’ll wrap up my thoughts on Monday (I’ve got a few more things to say) What I’m doing now isn’t the end product, I know that . I’ll also start another series on why I swear by the ABC’s next week, leading a child (or adult for that matter) to Christ.

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Kid’s baptisms: Letting my parents drive

Posted on 11. Jun, 2009 by Kenny.

Last year I was really challenged with thinking Orange, specifically as it related to baptisms and children making decisions for Christ. See, I’ve had this baptism class thing down. I’ve been teaching it for years. Between teaching a class full of families to individual kids in my office, I could teach this thing in my sleep. Like I said yesterday, 15-20% of the kids I meet with haven’t yet made decisions for Christ. So I would usually offer an opportunity for kids to make that decision at the end of the class or right in the middle of the discussion if meeting with them one on one.

However, the night before leading my first baptism class at Gateway, I decided to re-write the class. Most of the components I’d been teaching for years stayed the same, but I added a fresh new take on the topic and added a segment I’d never done before. After I’d explained how a person becomes a Christ follower (this is done very carefully and specifically) I back off and let the parents drive. I explain that I’m going to leave the room for 15 minutes for parents and kids to discuss what they’ve heard so far. Parents are given some information with questions to ask to find out where they’re kids are and see if they’ve really made a decision to follow Christ yet. If not, parents are encouraged to pray with their kids if they’re ready. I even script out a simple prayer that parents can use to pray with their kids.

Initially I didn’t like doing this. Why? Because I’m a control freak. By letting the parents (who may have no experience doing this at all) I’m not sure if it was done right if it was really done at all. However, if I don’t let parents take the initiative here, they may not do it one their own. The cool thing is that I still have first time decisions every time I do one of these classes and it’s the parents who are praying with their kids to follow Christ. I’m a believer now. Let you parents drive!

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When God works in spite of you

Posted on 19. Mar, 2009 by Kenny.

I love a good plan. Strategy and tactics, they get the blood pumping. I think that careful planning brings honor to God, but sometimes he like to mess with us and work outside of our plans. If anything, he likes to keep it interesting.

This last Sunday was an exciting day. I found out only three weeks ago that we were having a baptism on April 5th. I immediately booked our only available meeting space on Sunday morning for a baptism class. Unfortunately, I only had 10 days to promote the class. By the time Sunday rolled around, we had about eight kids registered for the 9:30 class and three for the 1:00 class. Recently I modified the format of the baptism class where I allow parents to take the lead. After I spend twenty minutes clearly explaining how one chooses to follow Christ, I leave the room and let the parents review the information and if possibly, lead their children to a decision.

I discovered after the 9:30 class that one mom led two of her children to faith and another mom led her son to faith. Amazing! At the 1:00 service, a mom had me stay after and lead her two daughters to faith. It was a beautiful day. However, it would only get more interesting.

On Sunday the 252 Basics curriculum was setting up for an invitation. Basically on Sunday the verse was, “For the Wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.” We clearly explained what this verse means. Then after the large group time, small group leaders further described how this verse impacted their lives as they shared their testimony of faith. Essentially, this week was setting us up for an invitation next Sunday.

Well, on Sunday night I ended up subbing in as a boys small group leader. After the large group time I had the opportunity to further break down the scripture verse. The service ended up letting out early, so I had to rush. We didn’t completely finish, but we did adequately set up for the big ask next week.

Then on Monday morning I was walking around campus on Monday and one of my co-workers told me how one of his volunteers was so excited about how her son came to faith the night before. “When did he come to faith?” It seems he gave his heart to Christ at church. I was a little confused. I didn’t give an invitation.

Later I emailed the mom. I congratulated her on the good news, but then asked for details. How did this happen? When did this happen? In her answer she found it odd that I was asking these questions because her son said that I was his teacher. Here’s the story:

God has been working in this nine year old boy’s heart for the last several weeks. He’d been asking poignent questions and his mom was thinking about setting up a meeting with me. Then on Sunday as I unpacked this scripture verse, every work spoke to his heart. At some point of me taking and him listening, he surrendered his life to Christ… all by himself. When his mom picked him up from the classroom, his eyes were teary eyed. The first words to his mother were, “my life changed tonight, I feel different, I received God’s gift of life!”

I got the whole story yesterday while on the phone with his mom. The genuineness of this decision has touched my heart. This last week was the set-up and the big ask is in a few days. However, God decided to side-track my plans for this nine year old boy and speak to his heart directly… in his perfect time.

It’s a great thing when your plans all come together and lives are changed; however, it’s another thing all together when God circumvents your plans to do soemthing special without your help at all.

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Opinions please…

Posted on 24. Jun, 2008 by Kenny.

Here is a handout card announcing our upcoming baptism class. I’d love any feedback.

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