Archive for 'parents'
The big “mo”
Posted on August 19, 2008, by steve ingold, under church, parents, teens.
Good morning and everything to all you Life Churchers. As we enter into this new season of ministry we are definitely already seeing the advantage to having our students back in school. This past week we were packed out at our junior high and high school worship gatherings. This causes an amazing problem. We are running out of room! The best part about this problem is that we already have a resolution. But before I fill you all in on that, I have to say something real quick…
In youth ministries across the nation, pastors are talking about momentum. When I look at our youth ministry we are just now starting to build our momentum, with students coming back from summer vacation. The best thing that we can do is find ways to take advantage of this momentum. If we can do this we will begin to find students that stick, students that hear Christ’s message, students that develop in community, and students that have a real relationship with Christ. For a while I have gone back in forth on how to do this, and it has led to our newest structure for our mid week and weekend programs.
In the middle of September we will begin our Student Life Groups. This will be our mid-week group that will meet in homes around the community for both the junior high and high school. Sunday mornings will continue to be our worship gathering. We will have a relevant message, as well as worship from our newly formed student worship band. On Saturday Nights we will have our outreach night, filled with skate parks, video game systems, and whatever else we can think of! This last one is something I have gone back in forth about because it is basically going to be a high school and junior high hang out. How will they develop spiritually? Well I have come to the conclusion, with guidance and counseling from some of our other pastoral staff, that if we provide a venue to bring students in, hopefully we will be able to form relationships where they will want to come back on a sunday morning our tuesday night. Now the biggest and most exciting part about all this is that we do have a new place for our students to meet.
Just down the hill from Life church we have found 2 units that we can occupy with our student ministries. One unit will be our worship gathering and right next door will be our indoor skate park and games area. The units are both about 3 to 4 times larger then what we have now!!
So what does all this mean? Basically, a lot of work. We need to use that momentum as best as we can to make sure that we do not make this move a drawn out process. As we move into these two units and create an amazing environment for our students we have to make sure that we continue to move forward with our youth ministry.
This is an extremely exciting time, and God knows that I cannot make this transition happen on my own. If you are willing lend a helping hand with anything (skate park construction, donations, video game systems, worship room design, etc.) please let me know. I want our students and parents to own this room. I want us to be able to say that we put this together. If we can get this thing done the right way, there is no telling how much momentum we will truly gain, and what God will do with it.
Love you,
Steve
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Road Trip
Posted on July 30, 2008, by steve ingold, under church, parents, teens.
well i am finally back from my two weeks of junior high and high school camp. these past weeks have been exhausting, exciting, educational, and incredibly encouraging. Wow, i didn’t even know that i knew that many words that start with “e”.
From July 13-19 I was at Hume Lake with our junior highers for camp and the best part of that week was not launching one of our students 60 feet into the air off the blob. the best part was not the delicious shakes at the snack shop. The best part of the week proved to be the way in which our junior highers have taken the step towards making their faith their own. My biggest concern for our students in today’s culture is that they will go through their time in the student ministries as zombies and robots. Going to church because their parents do, believing in Christ because they are told to, and doing good things because they want to be glorified. I want our students to have a faith that is real and a faith that is pure. So when a junior high student says that they don’t agree with something the pastor said in his message, then I get extremely excited about the discussion and dialog that is about to happen. We had amazing conversations in our cabin time and i was so encouraged by where our students are at and how they are maturing. I also realized that junior highers haven’t changed much from the last time that i did junior high ministry, 3 years ago.
Our high school trip, July 21-25, was just as exciting and encouraging. The week started with a few bumps and bruises (mainly because of the fact that i slid down the rock we were climbing), but the trip ended up being pretty amazing. We started the week by camping at the kern river, then on tuesday we went white water rafting, followed by six flags on wednesday, wild rivers water park on thursday, and la jolla shores for a day at the beach on friday to end the trip. I had a couple of students from my old churh join us on the last couple days and all our students could do was brag and boast about how incredible the trip was. I know it probably wasn’t right, but it felt good to have our students so excited about what we were doing. However, I think the best part of the trip was when i got home. Not because I was exhausted (which I was), and not because I missed my wife so much (which I did, even though she was with us on the trip), but because of the myspace message i received from one of our students that was a last minute addition to this trip. It was really looking like he was not going to be able to go, but because of some extremely giving hearts in our church body he was able to go. It was definitely well worth the donations. So I will leave you with what he said to me, and i hope you are as encouraged as i was with the direction our students are headed. Love you. Steve.
“dude thanks for putting that trip together and doing ur bible studdies i think that was the best part because i really was more focused on god and not on doing dumb things in my life and screwing it all up and it just really pulled me more in to go and make my relashinship with god way stronger. u and amanda made my weeek just the best i have ever had in my entrie life thanks alot for that trip”
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I Know, I Know…
Posted on July 24, 2008, by steven kelly, under children, parents.
Greetings and happy Friday to those of you in LifeChurch Land! Soon you will see several changes implemented within KidsLife that you may recognize, especially if you have been attending for some time. Our old security measures, as well as several new ones will be making a comeback.
Background checks will be taking place on all children’s workers in early August. New rules regarding classroom security will be implemented as well. We are working on eventually installing closed circuit cameras in the rooms as well.
Don’t get me wrong. I cringe at the thought of having to take such measures. Like all of you I remember a time when children’s church was a couple of kids gathered in whatever room the church wasn’t using on Sunday morning. We would sit quietly during the lesson so that afterwards we could be released and tear around the facility as if we owned the place. Few of us gave any thought to security.
It is a different world now and as much as I hate that idea that we have to take such measures, it is nothing compared to how much I would hate the consequences of laughing them off.
I know that this is inconvenient. Especially to those of you who have been with the church for some time and are used to going straight to your responsibilities and letting your kids show up to class on their own.
I know who you are. No matter how long you have been attending LifeChurch there are plenty of workers who do not know you, your spouse and all of your children, let alone your friends, neighbors, parents and grandparents. Whoever checks in your child, must keep the tag and present it at the door.
I know that this will seem like major overkill. I hope so. I want this department to feel and be so safe that any accusations of impropriety will seem laughable and prove fruitless.
It will take a few weeks to get used to but in time I know all of you will appreciate the lengths we are going to ensure your child’s safety.
-Pastor Steven Kelly
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Becoming More Responsible With Our Greatest Resource
Posted on July 18, 2008, by steven kelly, under children, church, parents.
Every time I find myself sifting through our classrooms I end up being both thankful for what we have and yet wanting so much more. I have been going from room to room making long lists of toys, games, electronics, teaching aids, curriculum and more that I would like to add to our program. At the same time I know that these summer days tend to be our slowest time of the year. (Both attendance wise and financially)
However this summer has been anything but slow at LifeChurch. Our growth in the KidsLife has been exceeding our expectations. While space and resources seem like our biggest issues it actually comes down to staffing. While it would be great to have a donation of thousands come in for KidsLife, our greatest resource would still go untapped.
While we have done a great job managing our physical resources, the staff can often feel left unattended. This why I am hard at work to provide better hands-on, in-class training. The next two months you will see me in your rooms implementing our new procedures and getting feedback from you in regards to your responsibilities as teachers and staff.
This is the reason we will be having an all staff meeting on Sunday, August 3rd at 1:30 p.m. This will give everyone time to grab something to eat and make arrangements with their kids. (Childcare will not be provided for obvious reasons. Yes I am aware of the irony.)
We will be collecting complete information packets on all of our workers and beginning background checks. There are several other safety procedures that will be put into place as well as a basic training manual that I am currently working on. This is not only a time for us to raise the bar in terms of training, performance, safety and results but also a time for you to tell me what you need to make your service easier. This is your chance to tell me what you need in order to perform your best.
We need to be thankful for the past but looking towards the future. As we continue to grow, we must adapt and fine tune this department so that we are prepared to accept the blessings that we so anxiously await.
If we are faithful in what we have now, God will provide much more in the future. I am striving to be as good a steward of our human resources as I am our fiscal.
-Pastor Steven Kelly
