Raising the Bar

In kids ministry, we endeavor to reach kids with the love of Jesus Christ. As leaders, it is easy to get in the rut of thinking that we need to do this on our own. It is time to raise the bar and teach our kids to be the leaders and evangelists God calls them to be. We have the responsibility to equip them for the mission field.

Proverbs 22:6 says "train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart." The Word says that they will not depart and it does not say they can't use the training while they are still young. It is our vision to teach kids how to love others, serve others and give back to the Lord and others. When the kids get it, they are able to minister to their friends and help grow the Kingdom, taking the pressure off of the adult leaders to reach kids on their own. Instead, we form a team by feeding the sheep and together sharing the love of Christ!

Shon

We're Not Church as Usual

Change is never easy, but it is always required for growth. Throughout history, nothing has ever stayed the same other than the Lord. This is also true in our approach to kids ministry. There have been some great ideas to minister to kids, from flannel graphs to father Abraham. These tools were successful in communicating the gospel of Jesus in their season.

Mark 2:18-22 talks about the old and new wine skins. Simply put, it doesn't make sense to put the new wine into the old skins; they won't work. The old wine skins were successful in their season, but in order to receive the new wine, you need skins capable of holding it. We are currently taking a look at the methods we are using that could, metaphorically speaking, use new wine skins. This can sometimes require you to abandon ideas that you're personally attached to and transition to something new.

This generation of kids has only known one thing: technology. I'm fairly young, but I can still remember writing papers on an electric typewriter. That is not where these kids come from, so our approach in ministering to them needs to change as well. I'm excited about the opportunity to challenge what I've known with what could be. We are working diligently to incorporate new, fresh, culturally relevant elements into our kids ministry in order to not be kids church as usual.

Reflect What You Expect

We’ve all heard it said before “inspect what you expect.” That leadership principal has rang true for me for many years in many situations. I cannot argue with that principal nor do I intend to. As a leader, we are to follow up on the tasks that we delegate to others to ensure that the task is being carried out as requested. I’ve always felt that there was another step to be taken, that simply 'inspecting' is not enough.

Without reflecting what you expect you could create a mindset that you’re “too good” to do what you’re asking your volunteers or staff to do. I believe that there is power in those that are under your leadership seeing that not only are you inspecting to ensure excellence, but that you’re reflecting the same excellence you ask of others in your own daily life. This mindset creates and breeds productivity. Managers inspect, leaders inspect AND reflect.

For example, when asking a volunteer to greet all of the parents with a smile, I don’t walk around with a sour look on my face. I am communicating that I’m not too important to do what I’ve asked others to do. There is also the reality that I will need people on my team who can do things that I am not gifted to do. In these situations, I am sure to communicate that I am asking them to do something because it is a weakness of mine. Some leaders try to hide their weaknesses. However, I believe that we lead through our strengths but connect through our weaknesses.


Tim

Valley Training

With the ever-changing culture of the world and maintaining a culturally relevant church, it is essential to keep everyone informed and updated on the way we do church. One of the best ways to be sure everyone is up to speed is by training up our leaders. The Bible says to train up leaders according to 2 Timothy 2:1-2. “You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”

Here at Valley Family Church, we have Valley Training on the second Wednesday evening of every month. During Valley Training, we have the opportunity for all of our Leadership to spend some time with Pastors Jeff and Beth, where they can impart wisdom and vision with the group. From there, volunteers break off into their individual departments and gain insight and training that is more specific to their area of ministry. Valley Training also includes a time of eating and fellowship. When everyone is together moving in the same direction, work gets done for the Kingdom! At VFC we call that “Screaming Green.” We put our personal preferences aside to run with the vision of the house. Valley Trainings offer a great way to accomplish this task.

Shon

Important Guests

I have been working at VFC for a little over 7 years. In the past 7 years I have had a variety of different responsibilities in Preschool Ministry. However, my main focus has always been ensuring the preschool classrooms are ready for the weekend services. Ensuring the classrooms are ready means each room has enough supplies to get through each service, all the toys are safe and working properly, and finally, walking through each classroom to ensure that each toy is placed in its proper place and is placed with excellence. 


One day last spring as I walking through a classroom, I had two questions cross my mind. I asked myself, does it really matter if every item in the classroom is placed with excellence?  Does anyone really care if a toy is haphazardly placed on shelf? That is when the Lord spoke to me and gave me an example to show me the importance of setting up the rooms with excellence.

This is what He said: Think of this…when someone of importance, like a mother-in-law or a government official comes to a person’s house for dinner, what do they do to prepare for their important guest? What they do is walk through each room and make sure each item is in its proper place and placed with excellence. They take the time to ensure that when their guest walks into the house what they see is excellence. They want to put their best foot forward and they want their important guest to know that they took time to prepare for them. It is the same each week at VFC. We live by the code and one part of our VFC code is “the queen of Sheba inspires us.”  We understand that a spirit of excellence glorifies God and leaves people breathless. So, we give God our best in all that we do. 


Each week, we prepare the classrooms, the bathrooms, the atrium, and the parking lot for very important guests who we want to leave breathless. We are taking the time to ensure that when a visitor or guest walks in the door, they know that they are home and that we care about them. The guest can be an infant or an adult; each guest is important. Each week during our services, young children come and hear about God for the first time, scripture is spoken into their lives, and their lives are forever changed.  As a parent checks in their child for the first time or the 100^th time, they see the room and know that we have taken the time to ensure that their child is going to be safe and happy and they are going to learn about God. God taught me that day that walking through each room and ensuring that the room is set up with excellence does matter to Him and to each child and adult who comes into the room because they are God’s very important guest!


Jodi

Kid's Safety First

In Kids Ministry we are very aware of how precious children are. They are a special gift sent to us straight from Heaven. Because we know we are working with your little angels, we do everything we can to ensure that they are safe and sound so you can rest easy and engage in worship and service, gleaning everything that the Lord has for you.

All of our Kids Ministry rooms are equipped with safety features, from smoke alarms and door locks to band aids. We ensure safety in the bathrooms by only allowing adult females to change diapers and monitor the bathrooms. But there may be nothing we do that is more important than our drop off and pick procedures. Here at Valley Family Church we want you to feel comfortable and safe. We have a check in procedure where our smiling volunteers greet each family and record their pick up number from the Parent Pick up Receipt (PPR). This number is used if the parent is needed to come to the room at any time during the service. If a parent is needed, their number will be displayed on the screens in all of our service areas.

When it comes time to check out, every parent needs to show their PPR and a volunteer ensures that the numbers match on the PPR and the child’s name tag. There is no exception to this. If a Pastor or staff member comes to pick up their children, they must show their PPR. If a volunteer’s spouse or best friend picks up a child, they too must show their PPR. We do this to ensure that people who are watching from the halls and may not know they are friends or employees can see this check being made. Kids are God’s gift and we endeavor not only to come along side in teaching them, but to first and foremost ensure that they are safe.


Shon

Reward What You Want Repeated

One of the most popular aspects of our Games Room is the Kids Cash Counter. After every service, the Cash Counter is the place to be, because that is where the kids get to spend the 'kids cash' that they earned during service. Using this system has allowed us to reward the good behavior that the children demonstrate that we would like to see repeated in the future. Instead of constantly saying "no" or "don't do that," this method allows us to encourage children in their accomplishments and highlight their good behavior.


There are many ways that the children can earn this 'kids cash'. Kids cash can be administered for the following reasons:
-Coming to church
-Bringing their Bible
-Memorizing their memory verse
-Completing the at-home assignments
-Bringing a friend to church as a first time visitor
-Displaying good behavior
-Being a first time visitor
-Birthdays


By offering a reward for positive behavior, children are encouraged to repeat the behavior again in the future. This also teaches the children the Biblical principle that God takes pleasure in rewarding us for the positive things that we do. 1 Corinthians 3:8 and Revelation 22:12 tell us that God is interested in rewarding us when we make good decisions, and we want the children to understand this as well. By rewarding them for positive behavior, we shift our focus to what the kids are doing right rather than what they are doing wrong. By praising the positive things they do, we encourage the children to build up those traits.


The key to having success with this method is to have prizes that are 'worth it.' When the reward is desirable, the children will be more likely to strive towards good behavior in order to receive the reward. Our success with this method stems from our willingness to put the time and resources into supplying quality prizes.


The success that we have had by using this tool is a testament to our Pastors and leadership and their belief in this next generation. Using this method has allowed us to better disciple the children and encourage them in their spiritual and personal growth!


Tim