I coach my son’s basketball team of fifth- and sixth-graders. After four games, we carried a one win, three losses record. Dejection and desperation began to appear—but only in the coaching staff. The boys continued to have a blast.
Last week, we introduced a change to the offense designed to help us score more points. Just a slight shift—two boys ran to spots about ten feet away from their usual positions. The impact of this change was tremendous. We won.
The team huddled up after the game to share high fives and smiles. One player spoke words that nearly left my co-coach and me in tears of joy: “Our new offense was great!” I sure hope all the boys’ parents heard.
It’s tempting to avoid introducing “new” components into ministry because they pose a leadership challenge, isn’t it? The ministry weekend is much easier if everything remains the same. But just as a basketball team walks onto the court to do more than just run around, ministry teams enter the weekend with a purpose greater than simply getting by. All of us want a win for the kingdom. Teams rarely win by doing the same thing over and over.
Sometimes adopting the “new” involves big change; other times, small. I know several churches that have opened new children’s facilities, or are set to open soon. That’s big. And their kids will love it.
Another ministry heard the song “Get Down,” saw the motions to the song, and decided to replace a tired tune with a fresh song. The change isn’t nearly the scale of a building, but kids loved it.
Our ministry, Promiseland, recently launched a new initiative—large group time for toddlers. Yes, toddlers. Those incredibly beautiful, fun, precious kids who can make anyone smile.
We’ve taught simple lessons to toddlers in the past, so teaching them isn’t new. But now we gather them in a large, designated program area to sing songs with motions and talk about God. Okay, the adults do most of the singing and motions. Most of the talking, too. Yet the kids like it. A lot. And if they like it as a toddler, they’ll like it even more when they graduate to the two-year olds room, and then into threes, fours/fives … you get the picture.
Affirmation came to our team after three weekends. We taught the same key concept every week up to that point—”God gives us food.” As a mom secured her toddler son into his stroller and then handed him a sippy cup, he loudly declared, “God … food!” Her response: “Wow!” Our toddler team beamed—we knew that this youngster made a tiny connection between his world (food: his sippy cup) and God.
Personal connection to God—seems like a worthwhile reason for a new initiative.
The ministry that introduced a new song might have provided real help to a child who needed hope through the lyrics, “I get down, he lifts me up.” Again, a connection between a kid’s world and God.
For every church fortunate to open new children’s facilities, imagine the value felt by the kids’ ministry. That value expresses itself in energy and passion. And an energetic, passionate ministry will connect kids with God so much more than a tired, grumpy ministry.
Personal connection to God; the only motive needed to move mountains or build buildings (even when the mountain shift looks more likely). From experience (with buildings only), both projects start with prayer.
So why concern ourselves with the “new”? Simple. God does great work connecting with people when “the new” happens, and ministry most certainly is in the “new” business. Second Corinthians 5:17 tells us, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
I pray your ministry experiences a lot of “new”—big or small. And an abundance of connections.
David Staal, senior editor of Today’s Children’s Ministry, serves as the president of Kids Hope USA, a national non-profit organization that partners local churches with elementary schools to provide mentors for at-risk students. Prior to this assignment, David led Promiseland, the children’s ministry at Willow Creek Community Church in Barrington, Illinois. David is the author of Words Kids Need to Hear (2008) and lives in Grand Haven, MI, with his wife Becky, son Scott, and daughter Erin.
Copyright © 2006 Promiseland.
