Never Assume...

Assumptions cause all sorts of problems.  We have to learn to never assume.  There are people who simply will not think of things that you find very basic to ministry and on the other side of that, there will be things that others find very basic that will not even cross your mind as necessary.  For this reason, we have to be very specific about our plans and our programming.  We are all created differently and we will all find various things important...but when those things are not the same things we sometimes can have conflict.  What can we do?

PROMOTE YOUR MINISTRY
My Dad, who is also a pastor, gave me a piece of advice early in my ministry.  He said, "It's not what you do, it's what they think you do."  Now this might seem like a pass to be lazy, but it's actually quite the opposite.  What it means is that people will only know about what they see you doing.  You may spend 40 hours a week in your office planning your services and preparing activities, but no one generally sees that part of your ministry.  If you are never seen outside of a service, the easy assumption is that you don't do anything.  How can you change that thinking?
        BE VISIBLE. You must promote what you are doing.  I don't mean that you need to toot your own horn to the congregation, but you need to be sure that the church leadership understands the work that you are doing.  That may simply mean putting your activities in your monthly report, but it may also mean inviting the Board members to attend a children's church service, or asking to be an active part in your church's Family Sunday Service.  Be visible in and around the community whenever possible as well.  Attending local events/fairs/activities is a great way to connect with new people as well as strengthening bonds with folks you know.  
        DELEGATE TASKS.  If you are doing everything, no one else will know what it takes to prepare a service, plan an event, or promote an activity.  It may seem simpler to just do the job yourself, but we are here to train others to do ministry, so share the responsibility.  Allow others to learn from you and you must be willing to learn from them as well.  They will do the job different than you and that's ok.  

For the following we will use a fundraiser lemonade stand as an example.

Be Specific...very specific
When you are making a plan, don't be general in your plans.  Generalizations can lead to assumptions.  If you say, "We're going to have a lemonade stand fundraiser in July," that might be all you need to promote to the church, but for your team you need a specific plan:
         Jan will buy the lemonade
         Mark is going to make the lemonade on Sunday morning and put it in the fridge to cool.
         Each week a different family will run the stand.  Mary is in charge of setting up that rotation.
         Max will see that the donation box is put in the safe each week for the counters. 
Now each part of the plan is in place and no one is wondering who is doing what for the fundraiser. Planning is very important, but be careful that you do not become a micro-manager.  Once you have delegated the task, let that person do the task their way.

Be sure everyone knows the plan
Plans are great, but if you don't share them, they are not much help.  Make sure everyone knows the plan for your fundraiser.  Mark may know he's to make the lemonade, but if he doesn't know that Jan is going to purchase it, he may buy is as well. If Max isn't aware of who is setting up the family rotations, he may send people who are willing to help to the wrong person.  Making sure everyone has all the information is incredibly important and can save all involved a lot of frustration.

We all have to work together in ministry, and the easiest way to do that is to keep the information stream going.  Never assume others know what you are thinking, planning, or doing.   

Until next week! 

EASTER IS COMING!!!

Easter is the most special holiday we celebrate during the year.  It is the time where we reflect and rejoice in the amazing gift of salvation that was purchased for us through the blood of Christ.  For weeks beforehand we prepare and plan for that celebration, both in our hearts and in our ministries.

But, if I am really honest, it is also one busiest times of year.  In fact, it can be so busy for those of us in Children's ministry that we can come near to dreading this special time of year instead of rejoicing in it.  After all, there are Egg Hunts to plan, Palm Sunday/Holy Week Activities, volunteers to recruit, prizes to purchase, decorations to prepare and let us not forget the actual Easter Sunday Service which needs to be hands down the best one of the year (no pressure).  Plus, at least for my District, it is also near the end of the church year (our new year starts in April) which means reports and budgets to present as well.  It can all be very overwhelming.

So, how can we keep the focus on the proper place during the busy and yet most sacred Easter Season?  Here are a couple tips that I hope you find as useful as I have over the years.

Don't compete!
When it comes to Easter Egg Hunts, don't try to compete with the church down the street.  Do your own thing, do it well and then be happy with the results.  In my area, there are churches near us who do egg hunts with more than 30,000 eggs...one even drops something like 50,000 eggs from a helicopter every year.  There is no way we are going to top that.  So we don't try.  We do our own thing.  We focus on an area where maybe others might miss.  For us, we make sure that we have an area for children with special needs and all our games are easily played by any child of any developmental level as well.  We have a great time and we get to love on our community, but we are not stressed about trying to be as big as anyone else.

Don't neglect your own time with the Lord
Make sure you are setting time aside for your own devotions.  All the preparations will wait while you do.  It's easy to let all the "stuff" that has to get done creep into your devotional time, but especially during busy times...don't let it.  If you are focused on the Savior first, then everything else will fall into place.  Keep your time with Him a top priority.

Start Planning Early 
Start preparing for your Easter activities no later than January and sooner is better.  If you know months early that you are going to need volunteers for your Egg Hunt, start thinking about who to ask way ahead of time.  Then when it gets a little closer ask them.  I will admit that this is where I have the most trouble because I don't want to ask so early that they forget that they said they would help, but I don't want to ask so late that they already have plans.  You may need to send out reminders if you ask too early (not a bad thing to do anyway), but earlier is always better than last minute.  Will you need a game created?  If so, start working on it right away.  The important thing is that you start planning well in advance so that you know exactly what you need and who you will need to help you.  

Don't try to do everything yourself
In nearly every church, there are people who are willing to help if you ask them...SO ASK THEM.  Don't try to do everything all on your own.  I know what you're thinking, because this is by far the hardest thing for me to do as well.  But the fact is, that trying to do it all is the quickest way to burn out emotionally, physically and spiritually.  Find a group of people who you can rely on to help you and then work together.  I know that sometimes it feels like it's just easier to do it yourself, but the old adage is indeed true...Many hands really do make for light work.  

There is no two ways about it...Easter is a very busy time of year, but if we will do a bit of planning, keep our time with the Lord, and don't focus on what others are doing, we can change our perspective from one of "busyness" to one that really can rejoice in the gift of salvation that Easter celebrates.

Until next week! 


  

 

Everyone is sick!!! What do I do?

We have all had those moments when we think we have everything ready for an upcoming service when all of the sudden it seems the plague has hit the children's department and all of your volunteers call in sick at the last minute.  Ok, it probably wasn't all of them, but it sure seemed like it at the time.  Those times can be incredibly stressful, but hopefully you will find the following tips helpful to make those services a bit less problematic.

First: Always have a back up plan
Have an idea of what you will do in the instances that someone calls in sick.  For example, if my Preschool teacher calls in sick, I know that I will simply bring the preschool in to my regular children's church service.  I may need to add an extra activity or modify a game so they can play, but it is a workable fix in a pinch.  The Sunday School teachers know that if a teacher doesn't show up, they may have kids who are a grade older or younger than their normal classes for that one Sunday.  It's not a perfect plan, but it works when unforeseen incidents occur.  Plan for your own department, what is your "Plan B" for when a volunteer is sick.

Second: Have a back up lesson ready for each area
There are lots of "one time" lessons that fit in any time of the year.  Pick one you like and put it together as if someone other than you were going to lead it.  Make sure that it has any craft supplies, copies, or object lesson items with it.  Then set it aside in a folder or a box (depending on how much stuff is needed for the lesson) that can be easily pulled out if you wake up some Sunday and you are the one who is ill.  It doesn't have to be fancy, but it should be complete.  Then you can call up one of your volunteers and say, "Fran, I'm horribly ill this morning.  Would you and Nancy fill in for me?  The lesson is all ready and in the box labeled IF PASTOR IS ILL next to the filing cabinet in my office.  Everything you need is in the box.  Thank you so much."   If you have volunteers who lead concurrent services with yours (preschool, preteen, etc), ask them to put together a similar box for their own services that can be pulled out if they are ill or called away for some other emergency.

Third:  Have a list of substitutes you can call
Not everyone is willing to be a consistent volunteer in the children's department, but there are probably a few people in your church who help with special events and would be willing to substitute in emergencies.  In my church, all volunteers need to have background checks and go through a child abuse prevention training course. Because that is the case, we can not just ask anyone to fill in.  So, having a list of names who have been through the training and are already background checked is a huge blessing.  Many of those who have taken the training to be a part of a special event (like Vacation Bible School or Camp) are also very willing to step in if I need them in a pinch.

It's never easy when we get those last minute calls telling us that someone will be gone, but with a little preparation, those calls don't have to be quite as scary to deal with.  

Until next week!