Mr. Mark,
I am in a quandary…
We are a small church and during the school year we have AWANA on Sunday nights from 5 to 7. We still have Sunday night
services for the adults from 6 to 7. During the spring and summer, we lose 99% of our kids. We have tried several things, but I (as the new children’s director) am at a loss on what to do.
By way of explanation, we are searching for a youth pastor so our youth are not motivated to do anything to help out. I had thought about bringing back our puppet ministry and have an adult supervised, youth/children entertainment/education group. And, the teachers for AWANA do not want to be saddled with the spring/summer class and I can’t blame them.
Help!
Great Question—
Let me encourage you to not give up. It is clear you have a vision to see kids reached for Jesus. Hold on to that without getting ahead of the church. Don’t try to do big programs in the summer without workers. Give them a break and you might need a break too.
Try creating a small group of older kids to be discipled. Jesus invested in 12 men. We can follow his example. Use some weeks to invest in some kids. Remember the old Survival Kit for New Christians? Seems like that was all we had back then but now there are several good resources. Look at the bookstore and choose something. Invite kids personally to meet with you for these summer weeks and teach them. Require a commitment then share the Bible study, memorize scripture and do a service project.
Summer is great for small groups to serve. Small groups can make big impressions. This creates impact on their lives and you can share photos and report with the church before school starts. If we use down times like this, it will lead to a greater kick-off time in the fall. By-The-Way: This is a great time to be planning, enlisting, ordering, creating and printing for fall kick-off. Don’t wait!
I’m praying for you,
Mark Jones
What other ideas or encouragement would you add?
