We now have a free 2008-09 Sampler CD-ROM for churches available containing a selection of content from all of our Christian Education products.

It just feels right. You get all excited about what you read and begin to dream about a family ministry model in your congregation. You hear stories from other congregations who have begun to experience the benefits of parental involvement. Then reality hits. Can this really be done? Who will help? How can we bring others “on board”? For most of us, introducing a focus on families and involving parents in learning is a huge paradigm shift.

We need help.

After just completing the 2008-09 update of our Head to the Heart materials, it’s safe to say two things:

1. I’ve had a good amount to time to rediscover the wealth of options and tools H2H offers, since I’ve gone through it lesson-by-lesson for a fourth straight year.
 
2. I’d prefer to not see another H2H lesson for a few months.

Let’s concentrate on #1 above for a little bit.

Paula from Ithaca, NY took some time to share a “God moment” with us on our Bible Song message board. It’s one of the best ways for the Christian education community to share what works and what doesn’t. It also provides the opportunity to network, ask questions, and share stories about the Bible Song curriculum from Faith Inkubators.

Here’s Paula’s message:

We have been rolling along this year, perfecting what I think is a good for us with Bible Song. We all use numbers to gauge our success, and our numbers were up! More importantly connections were made one to another, and a "family feel" evolved. Folks began to look forward to "Sunday school" to connect with one another and to rock out to some good verses set to music. The kids, even the little ones, dug the sign language and were remembering their verses.

Our Pastor has been away on sabbatical for the last few weeks, ending right before Memorial Day. That left some teaching time to fill for a few weeks and so we began to pray and scramble. God has provided us some great guest speakers from outside the congregation and some creative teaching moments from inside our walls as well.

A few weeks back, we made the move to do a Bible Song song in the worship service. This is a big step for us! So we chose the Aaronic Blessing song and used it as a benediction during our worship service. Bible Singers stood and signed in place in the pews so we could great and pass the peace during the instrumentals, and the kids were up front with me singing and signing. The Holy Spirit was visibly moving among us - even seniors who "don’t go for that kind of thing" commented on how beautiful the song was and what a beautiful feeling it gave them. Completely changed the impact of that benediction for folks, and hopefully is the start of more Bible Song in worship.

I know this seems small but for us, this was an important God moment. We are meant to share the Word one with another and our Bible Song-ers are getting more comfortable doing just that. I even have taken note of some that want to help with the teaching moments for next year!

God is a good and gracious provider of all things if we are willing to accept His gifts. And we can;t work in our own time, but in His. For our congregation, small steps have been taken one foot in front of the other, and we have come a long way baby.

Please pray for us at Trinity and I will pray for you!

May His blessings be poured out on you and your ministries,

Paula

Thanks for sharing your story Paula. Praise God for the work of the Holy Spirit witnessed in your congregation recently. This was indeed a "God moment" and once you have experienced them,
I find we thirst for more!

Got a story to share?  Drop me an e-mail or post it on the Faith Inkubators Message Board.