FINKmonthly - A Faith Inkubators eNewsletter

Get More Parents Involved

Monty Lysne — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Summer is moving by quickly, and before you know what hit you, fall programming will be here.

Take a tip from several churches across the country and plan now to have an exciting, meaningful kick-off to your confirmation year (or any ministry year, for that matter). Here’s how:

Plan a kick-off event for all of your kids and their parents/guardians. Schedule it now. Make sure you have at least one other adult to help you run things.
Don’t call it an “orientation.” You’ll be asking your audience to get excited about a great year of ministry, not start a new job.
Get a postcard, church bulletin announcement, and email campaign going right after July 4^th to get the event in the minds of your parents and kids.
Plan the flow of the event just as you’d plan an H2H event night: 90 minutes, Opening, Presentation, Small Groups, Closing.
At the Opening, start with some music (live or on CD), and compile a QuizBowl of ten questions about your church, your youth program, your community, etc. Have some good prizes on hand that parents might enjoy, too: movie tickets, restaurant gift certificates, etc.
At the Presentation, send the kids to another room. Have your other adult helper prepare a 30-45 minute presentation based on the NT lesson 10 (Bible and My Life), or one of the “Confirm, Confess, and Call” lessons in Lutheran Life (lessons 8, 9, or 10 – even if you’re not Lutheran, these will work). You could also simply have someone play games with them for this time period.
While the kids are away, lead a 30-45 minute conversation with parents based on the “Cow and Haystack” presentation found on the H2H Support CD-ROM. This presentation gets parents to come to the conclusion that they need to be more involved in the faith life of their kids, but makes them think it was their idea. The presentation is self-explanatory, but basically, it has you ask parents what support structures and pressures exist today for kids (parents do the talking), and challenges them to reevaluate the idea of being an Impact Adult in the life of their child. At the end of the session, ask parents for prayer requests that you will present later on. (Move quickly. The time will fly by!)
Gather everyone back together and read a Prayer Journey or the parent’s prayers (along with any prayers the kids have) in front of your group.
Close with a prayer/blessing like this: (Leader to parents) I ask parents to repeat a prayer after me: Holy Creator, Loving Father... You have given us these children as sacred gifts... Bless them in their growing... Bless them in their changing... Give them wisdom, power, and patience with us...Give them a spirit of graciousness and a sense of humor... Give them joy when our relationship is going well... and the knowledge that we still love them... when times are rocky between us... They are your children... We are your children... Bless them through me. Amen.

Pass around a sign up sheet for eager parents to become Guides, volunteer with activities, provide treats, etc.

Monty Lysne is National Director of Youth and Family Ministry at Faith Inkubators. He can be reached at mlysne@faithink.com or 888-55FAITH.

Why Choose Bible Song?

Debbie Streicher — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Are you making plans for the next Sunday school year? Now is the time.

Now is when we can send you Bible Song™ materials to place in the hands of a team to begin planning for September. And now is the time to begin inviting parents onboard letting them know they are the key faith role models for their children.

Why choose Bible Song?

Bible Song addresses the Faith Inkubators beliefs dedicated to the health and welfare of all God's children and the whole Christian church, its congregations, families and children.
Our mission is to equip church leaders to effectively train their congregations in holistic, biblical, theologically sound faith formation systems.
Our goal is to catalyze a revolution in home-based faith education and spawn a home devotional movement across the church.
The Bible is the only textbook you need for Christian education.
We, as educators need to be placing the Bible in the hands of parents and their children.
Scripture is learned in fun, easy ways.
The Bible becomes a textbook and a hymnal.

Every curriculum at Faith Inkubators complies with our Statement of Faith and Bible Song is no different:

We believe that all Christians are called to active ministry, using their time, talents and treasure in joyful response to the love and gifts God has lavished upon them.
We believe that the Bible is the true, inspired and holy Word of God with the power to change lives by bringing people to faith in the living Word, Jesus Christ.

What's new and exciting this year?

We have taken all 60 theme sets for Bible Song (30 Old Testament and 30 New Testament) and are making all 60 available to you for unlimited use for 2008-09.

Imagine that!

Instead of deciding right now whether you'd like to be using Old or New Testament, you get all 60. Maybe you'll begin with the Old Testament and insert "Mary's Surprise" and "The Birth of Jesus" in during Advent and then go back to the Old Testament. For Lent “A Not-So-Good Friday” and “Sunday Surprise” fit beautifully. It's up to you!

With access to all 60 scripture songs with the music CDs and DVDs to teach signing them all, there's nothing stopping you from using the materials during worship and in other settings also. Use Bible Song to the max.

Download the Bible Song samples or order the free CD-ROM today.

Jesus said, "Go, make disciples- baptize and teach"

There is no better time than the present.

Debbie Streicher is National Director of Children and Family Ministry. She is located in Northern Virginia and happy to address any questions you may have regarding Faith Inkubators’ resources. Please contact her at dstreicher@faithink.com. Read her blog at www.faithink.blogs.com/gift/.

Basic Needs

Debbie Streicher — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EDT

“What’s the most important thing that should happen in Sunday school?” is the question I asked a group of Christian educators recently. Answers varied and I honestly was not trying to put people on the spot, but I often wonder how many times we stop and ask ourselves this question.

Each week e-mails are received from people seeking “hands-on” resources and materials that will change the way ministry is done and make people want to come. I have discovered the truth to be we need to get back to basics.

By that I mean, yes, of course, the Bible.

But how do we get anyone to the point of even wanting to read God’s Word?

I believe our answer lies in taking care of one another. Simple, basic, and what Jesus asked us to do. Everyone has basic needs. We are all human. In the setting of the congregation, how do we, as a people attend to the needs of others? I like to reference the Maslow Chart of Hierarchy of Needs by Abraham Maslow, considered to be the father of humanistic psychology.

There are 5 steps on a chart that resemble a ladder and Maslow suggested that to move towards becoming happy and healthy one needed to go through all 5 steps but could not get from one to another if something in society impeded it. The top step as I like to see it is reaching a spiritual experience and understanding there is a gift God is calling each of us to share in our communities and in the world to grow the Kingdom.

Yes, doing a craft every week is fun and keeps hands busy, but I believe we need to go beyond that and build intentional steps into our Sunday school small groups and set expectations for all groups to do the same. It can be uncomfortable to set expectations because there will always be comments, but the end result when one becomes intentional is astounding. Lives change not just for an hour each week, but 24/7.

As you begin planning for Sunday school this year, think about getting your team on the same page and understanding the true value of the community where we gather each week. A few tips for groups:

1. Feed them – literally with a snack!

2. Provide a safe environment – make sure there are policies in place

3. Share Highs & Lows – really listen to what is being said and create the environment of belonging. God gave us one mouth and two ears meaning we should listen twice as much.

4. Pray together and for one another – nothing builds the realization someone cares more than knowing someone else is praying for you and lifting prayers to God. It’s nice to know we can’t and don’t have to handle things alone.

5. Bless one another – intentionally and physically with the sign of the cross. There are people in the congregation who never get touched in a week. Touch is crucial and in today’s world where we’re afraid of touch, where can it happen safely?

At Faith Inkubators we have 5 steps we call the FAITH 5™: Sharing Highs & Lows, Reading scripture, Talking about it, Praying, and Blessing one another. We call it the FAITH5™ because what is modeled each week intentionally in all small groups is sent home to happen every night. Faith Acts In The Home guarantees to address the most basic of needs and answer the question:

“What’s the most important thing that should happen in Sunday school?”

My answer: Building relationships and an environment that helps one thirst to come back for more. It doesn’t get much deeper than that!

Free CD-ROM Sampler Now Available For Churches

Fri, 30 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Kids Friendly

Rich Melheim — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EDT