When my husband and I were Children’s Pastors I just knew I had the most important job in the world. Why? Because I knew all those horrible parents out there were not impressing God’s Word on their kids’ hearts with any kind of regular or intentional purpose!

I knew that I had the only shot in that kids’ week to tell them about Jesus! My one hour in our children’s church had to be a jam-packed, not-one-word-wasted, hour of God’s Word. And we did our best to make it so.

And at one level, for some families, I was kinda right. There were many families that did not mention God all week long and only brought their kids to church on Sunday because (fill in the blank) they had to/we live in the South/their mom was there/free coffee.

Now that I’m older, of course, I know that there were many families there (and at churches all around the world) that are using every ounce of their life to pour God’s Word into their kids’ lives. And I wish (as a young mom and young pastor) that I could have somehow connected with those people, harnessed that passion and started a real FAMILY MINISTRY at our church.

Not a church that ministered to all aspects of a family in the same way we have pediatrics, general care and geriatrics. But a church who’s goal was to minister to and strengthen an entire family! To interweave ministry between all the generations.

As a parent, I want to be in that kind of church. I want the church to help me with my disobedient kids, my misconceptions about being a mom and how I live out a godly lifestyle in front of my kids. I want older godly adults leading me and mentoring me through the different seasons of my life.

I’m good at following directions. I love hanging out with my kids and my husband. If someone at my church would show me how to make the most of my time with them, I’d do it! If my church came along side me to help me lead my kids to Jesus, I’d do whatever they suggested!

I think a church that has a true, thriving Family Ministry is one that takes a page from Deuteronomy 6 (and this blog’s namesake) and immediately after teaching God’s Word to the general public gives specific instructions for impressing it on children’s hearts…

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.“

Here are some good family ministry examples I’ve seen or heard about:

Baby Dedication (Yes, this is Asa’s dedication. I know I’ve linked to it about 20 times but it was so great.)

Small Group Leader/Parent Luncheons (Imagine sitting at a table with your kids’ small group leader or Sunday School teacher along with all the other parents. Talk about partnering together and getting the inside scoop on your kid!)

Parent Cue iPhone App (Yup. There’s an app for that.)

Preschool Grandmothers/Grandfathers (Making sure every preschool class has a godly elderly grandparent serving–and what a witness to the other volunteers, too!)

Family Small Groups (Instead of the kids sitting upstairs while the parents pour over the Word, kids and parents do a family-devotion together. Basically teaching them how to do it on their own at home!)

The Great Family Experiment (Coolest idea ever–a pre-planned date/family devotion/adventure with your family. You pick up the instructions at church and just follow them where they lead!)

How does your church do family ministry?

This post is part of a HUGE blog hop hosted by my Children’s Pastor friend, Matt Norman. He’s asked the question, “What is Family Ministry?” to Youth Pastors, Senior Pastors, Children’s Pastors and more! Read all the fabulous FamMin Blog Tour posts!

***Impress Your Kids has some new digs at ohAmanda.com! Come visit us there for all the Impress Your Kids archives and all our new posts–including our Easter newsblast with fabulous tips for celebrating a meaningful Easter with your kids!***

{my husband and me leading worship to 100 three and four year olds!}

Remember about 100 years ago when I went to the Orange conference? Well, my favorite breakout session during the conference was by Cass Brannan. He’s a preschool pastor in Tuscaloossa, AL and I originally met him online when his family was doing Truth in the Tinsel!

During his session, I tweeted almost every single point he made. (He said he saw it because he had instant updates on his iPad which is what he was leading the session from! Ha! Sorry about that!) And the session topic? How To Lead Worship for Preschoolers. This isn’t just how to stand up and sing songs with 3 and 4 year olds. This is how to lead preschool kids into real worship of their Heavenly Father.

Oooh, it gets me excited just typing those words!

As I was thinking about recapping his class, I figured I could write his class word-for-word or just copy the notes from his blog. But I thought it would be more fun to let him tell us about it himself! So, I asked for an interview!

Ready to meet Cass, the Preschool Guy?

(Cass & his adorable family)

In your session at Orange, Worship for Preschoolers, you talked about how preschoolers need a place to worship like preschoolers. Can you tell us more about that?

Cass: I have this feeling that if we can teach preschoolers to worship, at it’s very basic state, then we begin setting a great foundation for them to understand worship and become better worshippers as they get older.

Part of that is by giving them a space/place to worship. Adults have the worship center, sanctuary, or whatever you want to call it, the student ministry typically has somewhere for their worship gatherings, and many children’s ministries have the same. SO, we, as church leaders, need to create a place for preschoolers to worship as well.

What I have found is that by creating a place for them to come to, they know what to expect when they get there!!! They know that they will sing, hear the Bible story, learn the Bible verse, and pray!!! We are setting the foundation for their worship!!! It needs to be somewhere they can sing, move, pray, and possibly be a little loud, just like a preschooler should!

My thing is, create a place that is consistent where your preschoolers will know that they are going to worship: just like their mommies and daddies!!!

In your class, I love that you break down the word “worship” into 4 different categories: giving, prayer, music and Bible reading/teaching. I know these elements are in a typical Sunday morning program at church, but how can parents teach their kids to worship this way at home?

Cass: Let me break down each of these words for what you can do at home… (and this is by no means ALL that you could do) Also, each of these is done by having your preschooler watch you do it!!! If you do not give, pray, worship, and have time in the Bible yourself, then your preschoolers won’t either!!!

GIVING: If parents want to teach their preschoolers to give, then the preschoolers better see the parents giving. Parents need to set a pattern of teaching their preschoolers what it looks to tithe, to give an offering, and also to give of time!!! A simple way to do this is by having different jars where when your preschooler receives some money they place different amounts in each jar. But, don’t just let the money sit there…GIVE IT!!! It is also important that parents teach their preschoolers why they give…because it’s out of obedience to what God has told us!!!

PRAYER: I would encourage parents to just spend time daily with their preschooler praying with and for them. The boxed prayers are fine, but we also need to teach our preschoolers to use their own words to talk to God. Teach them that it is about having a conversation with God. And let your preschoolers hear you pray too!!! Teach them that they can pray anytime, anywhere, and about anything!!!

MUSIC: I think that the big thing with music is to be careful what you, as a parent, are listening too!!! Create opportunities in the car and in your home, where your preschoolers are hearing music that teaches them Scripture, helps them understand who God is, and helps give them a closer look at Jesus!!! Preschoolers love music, just make sure that the words and the message of what they are listening to is going to bring them closer to Jesus, rather than further away!!!

BIBLE READING/TEACHING: Use the Bible not just as story time at the end of your day. I think that is great way to end the day with your preschoolers, but I also think that the Bible needs to be used throughout the rest of the day. Use it to correct your preschooler. Use it to discipline your preschooler. And use it to encourage and teach your preschooler. Let your preschoolers see how the Word of God governs your decisions, your thoughts, and why you live the way that you live.

I feel like I could expand on all of these, but ultimately it is about being intentional with your preschoolers and also with yourself, to give them a BIGGER view of worship and what it is all about!

How do you see the church and parents working together to raise kids for the Lord?

Cass: It has to be a partnership!!! I think it comes to a point where the parents realize they can’t fully do it without the church, and the church coming to the point where they realize they can’t fully do it without the parents!!! BUT, by working together they can make a greater impact on preschoolers than they could ever make alone!!!

Parents need to throw away the thought that the church is the place where the spiritual development with happen. And the church needs to challenge parents more with the responsibility to spiritually raise their children!

There are events, resources and meetings that can take place to help in this process, but ultimately it comes down to an understanding that the church and the family need to work together to give preschoolers a foundation that will, one day, lead them to having a relationship with Jesus!!!

What are you favorite parenting resources?

BOOKS

Visionary Parenting by: Rob Rienow
His Needs, Her Needs for Parents by: Willard Harley, Jr.
Grace Based Parenting by: Tim Kimmel
Sacred Parenting by Gary Thomas
Parenting Beyond Your Capacity by: Reggie Joiner and Carey Nieuwhof
Shelter by: Jimmy Holbrook

BLOGS
Impress Your Kids (note from Amanda: aw, shucks!)
Epic Parent
Orange Parents
The Inclusive Church

CD’s
Anything from Amber Sky Records – great resource, great music!!!
Seeds Family Worship– learn Scripture put to music.
The Rizers – learn Scripture put to music.
Yancy

As a Preschool Pastor in the local church, what’s one thing you’d love for the parents in your church to know? (We’ll pretend you are our kids’ pastor and take it directly to heart!!)

Cass: To boil it down to one thing is definitely hard to do, but I would say that if there was one thing that I wanted ALL my parents to know is this:

You have more influence on your preschooler than anyone else!!! Begin influencing NOW by setting the foundation of Jesus in their lives. Don’t, for one minute, think that just because they are preschoolers that you can wait to begin laying this foundation. Set it now and make the greatest impact! Your preschooler will thank you later!!!

(Amanda’s note: Cass has a whole series on this: What I Wish Every Preschooler Knew!)

:: :: ::

Thank you, Cass! I get excited listening to him speak with such passion, don’t you? The more I’m around the church and ministry, especially family ministry, the more I think preschool is where it’s at!

Please go visit Cass at his blog! He’s got lots of great series & ideas that he uses with his own church and his own 3 preschool boys at home. You will be encouraged & inspired by him! Oh, leave him a comment here, too? Pretty please?

	Cass is first and foremost a follower of Christ. He is the husband of one, Mary Beth; the daddy to three amazing boys: Caden, Calder and Bates. He is also a preschool minister in the local Church. He loves investing and helping lay the foundation in preschoolers lives and partnering with the parents as they go through the journey of parenting.

 

***Impress Your Kids has some new digs at ohAmanda.com! Come visit us there for all the Impress Your Kids archives and all our new posts–including our Easter newsblast with fabulous tips for celebrating a meaningful Easter with your kids!***

I mentioned a few days ago that I wrote a two part Thanksgiving lesson called Thanks & Giving when I was a Children’s Pastor. Well, someone asked about the lessons and I decided to go back through all my old disks and see if I could find it. And I did! And it’s actually formatted nice with minimal typos!

So, I’m going to give it to you today for free! It’s two whole lessons that consist of a theme intro, three central truth object lessons (one of which is usually a memory verse game) and a small group activity. It was written for a children’s church setting but could be easily adapted to a Bible Club, small group, Sunday School or even with your own kids at home.

There are a few props needed, a video or two but all in all it’s stuff you should have around the house or should be able to find at a local bookstore, library or online! I’ve linked to the books and movies or to anything else that might be unusual.

So, here you go—Thanks & Giving: A Children’s Church Lesson!

Week One: THANKS

Week Two: GIVING

Feel free to download and print. Then use it with your kids or pass it on to a children’s leader at your church!

***Impress Your Kids has some new digs at ohAmanda.com! Come visit us there for all the Impress Your Kids archives and all our new posts–including our Easter newsblast with fabulous tips for celebrating a meaningful Easter with your kids!***