Discipleship
There is no Plan B – why the church must help children disciple other children
At the 4/14 Global Summit in New York in 2010, Reverend C.B. Samuel of India indicated that our Christian teens are in need of ideals—a cause worth living for and dying for—but the church is giving them more and more entertainment instead. What is the real solution? This article draws from There is no Plan…
Read MoreGet them talking – how to encourage the generations to talk to each other
Conversation starters for mixed age groups ? Regardless of the intergenerational program you have planned (activity, meal, study) it helps to start things off with a good question. Finding a good question is harder than we thought – the question must be interesting and answerable for ALL ages. Here are 12 questions to get you…
Read MoreExploring Issues of Orality and Culture in Training
“There are 2.2 billion children in our world today that need to be reached and discipled as followers of Jesus. At the same time, 2 Timothy 2:2 urges us to multiply ministry by training those who will train others.” Eighty percent of those 2.2 billion children are preferred oral learners who can’t, won’t or don’t…
Read MoreHere to Stay – Discipleship and the Generations
How do we help others to be “Here2Stay”, when there are so many reasons for “them2go.” The world is to be explored. The “prodigal story” is alive and well in 2015. In Western Society in particular the world is their oyster, and we have been taught that we are our own “destiny makers.” As a…
Read MoreBible Handling Goals for Children – 5-8 years old
An age-appropriate guide for children’s use of the Bible – their knowledge of its content, skills in using it and attitudes towards it. Children of different ages approach the Bible in different ways. As their general skills grow, so does their understanding of the Bible and their skill in using it. The statements below represent…
Read MoreThe child and commitment to Jesus
During many children’s ministry programs, there will be opportunities given for children to respond to what they have learned and heard in that particular lesson. Some responses will be to the Gospel message that Jesus died for our sins to bring us back to God. Some of these responses will be to a challenge about…
Read MoreJesus Asked – Open Ended Questions & Ministry With Children
The ‘open-ended’ question is used to prompt a longer thinking process in the listener/responder. A closed question requires a yes, no, or a straightforward factual answer. An open-ended question may be rhetorical, but is more likely to be asking the listener to search for an answer in themselves that they have not considered before (thus…
Read MoreIt’s time to take children and youth seriously
Children are all around us. Every human is or was once a child. Children are the most numerous needy and most people on the planet. Never in history have we had so many children among us and never have so many of them been at great risk. Author : Dr. Dan Brewster International Director for Academic…
Read MoreWhat does a discipled child look like?
After writing about “Developing a Biblical World View in Children” for a magazine I have not been able to get this question out of my head. If our job as children’s pastors is to do what Matthew 28:19 tells use to do, (and I believe it is) “Therefore go and make disciples of all…
Read MoreGrandparents, family support and faith formation
Alison buried her face in her grandad’s cardigan and smelt the same aroma of soap she remembered as a child. Now, aged 15, she felt comfortable that at least some things hadn’t changed. But she also felt ashamed, that at her age, she still needed the reassurance of her Grandad’s presence through all that had…
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