Kid’s Korner: What about Halloween?

[caption id="attachment_340" align="alignright" width="167"] Teach children how they should live, and they will remember it all their lives. (Proverbs 22:6)[/caption] Days are getting shorter and the air crisper---both unmistakable signs of the fall season. And if you have stepped foot into any retail store lately, or checked out upcoming movies at the theater, you can’t miss the fact that Halloween is upon us, with all its ghoulish imagery and assorted costumes. In fact, U.S. consumers will spend approximately $8 billion on this popular holiday. At Halloween, small (and sometimes not so small) children are excited to dress up in their favorite superhero or princess costumes as they set off into neighborhoods in search of heaps of... Read the article

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Kid’s Korner: Is your children’s ministry in survival or creative mode?

Just about every parent or grandparent with young children or grandchildren knows about the popular video game Minecraft, which is basically a virtual version of Lego. What does Minecraft have to do with children's ministry? Find out in a helpful article on the Kidologist website titled Is Your Kidmin in Survival or Creative Mode? (click here to read it). [caption id="attachment_1583" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Minecraft Community Church in my world[/caption] Read the article

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Kid’s Korner: Preparing for Children’s Church

By Susi Albrecht and Nancy Akers [caption id="attachment_340" align="alignright" width="214"] Teach children how they should live, and they will remember it all their lives. (Proverbs 22:6)[/caption] Originally, Sunday School had a different purpose than in our day. In the 19th century, many children from poor families worked six days a week, leaving only Sunday for any sort of education. Churches witnessed the devastating cycle that lack of education had on these families; children were often illiterate. Responding to this desperate need, churches around the nation started Sunday School to combat poverty that was perpetuated by lack of education. Though times have changed, there is still a desperate need that churches must not... Read the article

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Kid’s Korner: Summertime ministry

by Susi Albrecht and Nancy Akers [caption id="attachment_340" align="alignright" width="221"] Teach children how they should live, and they will remember it all their lives. (Proverbs 22:6)[/caption] Summertime is here, and children are happy! Carefree days without homework and rigid schedules, staying up late, family vacations and summer camps ... what’s not to love! As children and their families enjoy their summer break, children’s church leaders and volunteers face unique challenges. Attendance tends to fluctuate, making planning challenging. Volunteers are on vacation. Some children’s church teachers take a well-deserved break. On the other hand, many children’s ministry leaders are busier than ever, conducting VBS and... Read the article

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Kid’s Korner: What do kids need from a church?

by Susi Albrecht and Nancy Akers [caption id="attachment_340" align="alignright" width="221"] Teach children how they should live, and they will remember it all their lives. (Proverbs 22:6)[/caption] It's an ongoing, often passionate debate: What do kids need from a church? Some say parents should seek out mega-churches so their kids can attend large, well-funded programs. Some say it's better for children to be folded into smaller churches, benefiting from friendships that span generations by necessity. Good arguments can be made for both sides. Thankfully, God is capable of working with and through churches of all sizes. Arguing over which is better is futile. As we read in 1 Corinthians 12:12-27, unity and diversity in the... Read the article

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Kid’s Korner: Planting lasting seeds

by Susi Albrecht and Nancy Akers [caption id="attachment_340" align="alignright" width="185"] Teach children how they should live, and they will remember it all their lives. (Proverbs 22:6)[/caption] Leading children’s ministry or teaching children’s church is an important calling with lasting rewards. But let’s be honest, it can also feel overwhelming. Kids nowadays have higher expectations than ever when it comes to being entertained. Of course we want our children to enjoy church, but we have to be clear that our main job is to plant lasting seeds, not entertain, though as we know, children are quite honest in assessing our “performance” as children’s church leaders. Let me (Susi Albrecht) illustrate our point: I... Read the article

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Kid’s Korner: Equipping children to know, grow and show God’s love

by Susi Albrecht and Nancy Akers [caption id="attachment_340" align="alignright" width="193"] Teach children how they should live, and they will remember it all their lives. (Proverbs 22:6)[/caption] The Year of the Child is GenMin's theme for 2016 with the goal of encouraging all of us to focus with intentionality on our precious children! An important way to do that is by providing Children's Church---a place at church where the children can bond, learn and grow, while discovering what God has to say to them through the Bible. For our teaching in Children's Church to be effective, we must not teach the Bible as a collection of unrelated stories. Children need to learn that the Bible is one unified story of redemption in and... Read the article

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