RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY

Each Sunday morning our team meets for prayer before the service. I usually share a short devotion. This past Sunday I shared from I Corinthians 12... "God has placed the parts, each one of them, in the body just as He wanted."

I reminded our team that you can't see the most important parts of your body...your heart...your lungs...your brain, etc. They aren't visible to the eyes, but they are vitally important. And so it is with the body of Christ. Many of the most important people are those who are not in the spotlight...not the person leading worship...not the person teaching from stage. It's the people who serve quietly behind the scenes. It's the person who comes in during the week and gets crafts ready...it's the person quietly rocking the baby in the nursery...it's the person cleaning up after everyone has left...it's the person in the sound booth. Everyone has an important part to play and every role is vital. Let's encourage our team members this week with this thought.

The weekend is the culmination of a week of ministry. The weekend is our Super Bowl and we spend all week getting ready for game time. And it's always exciting to see what God does. Here's a review of what happened this past weekend.

• My weekend begins Thurs. night since I'm off on Fridays. Thursday night I hung around the house and watched a movie while working on taxes. Normally I have my taxes done by February, but this year I'm running down to the wire.
• Friday night was a repeat of Thursday night.
• Saturday Caleb had 2 friends over. We grilled out and took them to play basketball.
• Saturday Pamela and I went and worked out. I'm still feeling sore today...but that's a good thing.
  
• Saturday night I met with our Executive Pastor before the service to finalize plans for opening phase 1 of our new children's building for Easter services.
• Saturday night I taught our new believer's class and then had two meetings afterward.
  
• Sunday I taught our new believer's class at both services. We had a great response and again saw many kids and parents commit to take the next step and be baptized.
• One cool thing that happened at the class...three generations are going to be baptized together. A daughter, mom, and grandparents. I have seen this one other time. It is an awesome experience.
• Many of the kids and parents are going to be baptized at the beach. That's one cool thing about living near the beach...beach baptisms. Our next one is April 26 and I can't wait to see them take the step.
  
• We had a great group of new team members go through orientation. We are averaging between 10-15 new people joining our team each week.
  
• Sunday night I helped my wife clean the house and then we chilled by the pool. Our dog (who is a Pug) has learned to "surf" around the pool on a boogie board. He stands on it and I pull him around the pool. It's quite comical to watch.
  

Well...that's the weekend. It's Monday and I'm back in the office getting ready for Easter services. It's going to be a crazy, busy week. But I'm excited and can't wait to see what God is going to do. I trust your week is filled with blessings. Dale

We are gearing up for Easter. We will minister to 20-30K people during Easter services. Here is a promo we are running on local television stations leading up to next weekend. We have a really creative way we are sharing the resurrection message with the kids at Easter services. I'll share more of it with you after Easter.

One leadership lesson I have learned in recent years is to never make a tough ministry decision alone. Bring in two or three other people who can help you weigh out the situation. Here are a couple of examples...

-What do you do when a red flag pops on the background check of a potential volunteer? Do you make the decision of them serving or not by yourself? I follow this protocol. Three people have to sign off for the person to be able to serve. Myself as Children's Director, the campus Pastor, and our HR Director. I take these situations case by case so I want three people to make this decision together. (unless the red flag is some type of child abuse - then it's an automatic no)

-What do you do when you have a possible child abuse situation? Do you make the decision by yourself to call Child Protective Services? I believe the wiser thing to do is to make the decision as a team. Bring at least two other people in and weigh the evidence together and then decide whether or not to call.

The Bible says "in the multitude of counselors there is safety." Don't make ministry decisions solo. The safe route is to have two or three other people who you trust...who are wise...who have ministry experience... to come alongside you. Flying solo may up your ego but it can also take down your ministry.