Today on the podcast, Sean shares an excerpt of Marie Kuck‘s session at the Preteen Leaders Conference.
Marie discusses how the churches should be opening to families that have preteens with special needs. Parents are struggling to keep their families together, marriages together during this journey with a special need preteen or child. When the church is not prepared to except a special need child, they are making that family question who will except their son or daughter. If the church isn’t even willing, then who will except my child.
When kids with special needs start getting into those preteen years the differences between them and the other preteens become more apparent. You may not have the training but if you have a willing heart and are open to allow God to use you, you will be able to make a big difference in a family’s life.
Your first decision will be to determine if you are going to be tolerant or intentional when dealing with preteens with special needs. Be intentional in your ministry and cast out your nets to those that are in need. Make your ministry an inviting are for a preteen with special needs and their family.
Have a question about preteen ministry or a unique preteen ministry idea that we can feature on our podcast? Send it to podcast@fourfivesix.org. Looking for a great community of preteen leaders that you can plug into? Join us at http://fourfivesix.org/.
Today on the podcast, Sean speaks with James Powell about changing the day you meet.
James runs the preteen ministry at the Brooklyn Tabernacle church in New York. Due to a Tuesday night prayer night for the church the preteens met the same night. The problem was that the numbers began to dwindle and most recently were down to about 10-12 preteens on Tuesdays. Because of this James began to question why the lack of preteens and what could he do to raise those numbers. Recently, after talking to parents and getting their feedback it was decided to switch the night the preteens meet to Friday. Last month they met, and they had 60 preteens.
By taking a step back and really analyzing the situation James was able to make a positive change in his ministry. Although the rest of the church met on Tuesdays that was not working for his ministry and he made a change. James suggests to pray and really examine your ministry, more specifically don’t listen to the lie Satan will tell you that it is just the ministry because preteens don’t come.
Have a question about preteen ministry or a unique preteen ministry idea that we can feature on our podcast? Send it to podcast@fourfivesix.org. Looking for a great community of preteen leaders that you can plug into? Join us at http://fourfivesix.org/.
Today on the podcast, Sean speaks with Connie Rice regarding apologetics for preteens.
Connie has been in children’s ministry for 27 years and in preteen specific ministry for 20 of those years. Connie explains how preteens are in a stage in life where they can check out from ministry. By giving them evidence of why the Bible is to be trusted they become excited about, drawn in and engaged in what the Bible has to say. Preteens that are given apologetics become more confident and open to sharing their faith.
Preteens are at that stage where they are exploring possibilities. They are at that stage where they are questioning whether or not what their parents believe is really true. When you can offer them evidence of a faith, they are beginning to build themselves it can be helpful. By teaching preteens to interpret the scripture, the use of articles and books, we are able to offer them the evidence they are seeking.
Connie has a website that has some great resources, with two specific pages geared towards preteens. Check it out here: https://eyes2c.net/. If you have any further questions there is contact information located on the website.
Have a question about preteen ministry or a unique preteen ministry idea that we can feature on our podcast? Send it to podcast@fourfivesix.org. Looking for a great community of preteen leaders that you can plug into? Join us at http://fourfivesix.org/.
Today on the podcast, Sean talks with Sean Marshall, the K-3rd grade pastor at Destiny Church, about preparing kids for preteen ministry.
With most churches each ministry does there own thing which makes it difficult to prepare kids to move into different ministries as they grow up. Sean Marshall looked at what Elevate was teaching so that he could make sure than when the 3rd graders transitioned over they were prepared. By understanding the vision of the next ministry the kids will be heading into, the job of the younger kid’s pastor is to make sure that those students moving up are ready to be in that new ministry.
Some of the ways Sean Marshall is preparing the kids for transition is really making sure they know who is who in the Bible. Currently they are producing a curriculum that will go chronologically through the Bible with a two-year plan to look at the characters of the Bible. Some smaller things that you can do is having the preteen pastor make an appearance in the kid’s ministry service on occasion, so the kids know who the pastor is. A fun idea is an ice cream Sunday right before they come into the new ministry so that the kids and their families can get to know the preteen ministry team. Additionally, the 3rd graders are planning to come over and sit in on a portion of the preteen service before they actually transition over. Showing the partnership between the ministries shows continuity. Making sure they are excited to move onto the next step is key to an easy transition.
Have a question about preteen ministry or a unique preteen ministry idea that we can feature on our podcast? Send it to podcast@fourfivesix.org. Looking for a great community of preteen leaders that you can plug into? Join us at http://fourfivesix.org/.
Today on the podcast, Sean shares an excerpt of Melissa MacDonald’s session at the Preteen Leaders Conference.
Melissa discusses the idea of building a team in your ministry. Not only building a team among the leaders but also with the preteens. In her ministry they stopped playing competitive games and started doing team building with the students. She wove it into the schedule, the first 20 minutes was set aside to build a team. It was never again one team against another it was, “We are all a team”.
One example of a great team building game she gives is having all the students stand on a log and get in order on the log by their birthday with out talking to each other. She never left their side as they worked on it, instead she stayed and helped and encouraged them. Remain positive and continue to do it. It took her group two months to complete this team building by doing 20 minutes every time they met. Once they begin to work as a team then you can add back in the competitive team games.
Have a question about preteen ministry or a unique preteen ministry idea that we can feature on our podcast? Send it to podcast@fourfivesix.org. Looking for a great community of preteen leaders that you can plug into? Join us at http://fourfivesix.org/.
Today on the podcast, Sean speaks with Zach Matchett about the Recap Yearbook.
Zach and his team have created a memento of the year for their students to reinforce what they learned over the year. It is a devotional and a yearbook all in one. They started from the very first meeting of the school year and recapped all the lessons into a devotional for the summer. Using the SOAP method (Scripture, Observation, Application and Prayer) they created the devotional. They also included pictures from events, retreats and all the fun stuff from the year.
This would be a great graduation idea for your preteens.
Have a question about preteen ministry or a unique preteen ministry idea that we can feature on our podcast? Send it to podcast@fourfivesix.org. Looking for a great community of preteen leaders that you can plug into? Join us at http://fourfivesix.org/.
Today on the podcast, Sean speaks with Michael Grady regarding a family devotional that he has created.
Michael has a passion for what the Bible has for families and the knowledge it can offer when you really know it. He took this passion and created a devotional to allow families to spend time in the Word together. The title of the devotional is Making God Part of Your Family. This allows for a conversational element to occur between the parents and preteens.
"If you are like most families, your schedule is probably busier than ever...making it difficult to find any time to spend together as a family, leaving little or no time for God. If a relationship with God and learning more about him is important to you and your family, this book is for you." Michael Grady
The devotionals offer a 10-15 minutes story that will allow for 30-45 minutes of discussion time via the questions that it asks with each story. If you would like to get a copy of Michael’s devotional or as a tool to share with parents, you can do so at www.michaelgrady.org.
Have a question about preteen ministry or a unique preteen ministry idea that we can feature on our podcast? Send it to podcast@fourfivesix.org. Looking for a great community of preteen leaders that you can plug into? Join us at http://fourfivesix.org/.
Today on the podcast, Sean talks about the concept of memorizing your lesson.
The benefit is greater when you have the ability to memorize the message you will be teaching. Memorizing your message removes the barrier between you and your audience. It allows you to focus on the people you are speaking to rather that constantly looking down at a piece of paper. You are able to stay on track and not lose your place while teaching. Additionally, you have a greater peace when you are able to get into the message. You don’t nee to fear skipping over or missing pieces of the message because you forget a piece. Sean mentions that in those times he trusts that the Holy Spirit is guiding his words. He offers some great tips that will help you to memorize your message. It is worth the extra effort for both you and the preteens.
Have a question about preteen ministry or a unique preteen ministry idea that we can feature on our podcast? Send it to podcast@fourfivesix.org. Looking for a great community of preteen leaders that you can plug into? Join us at http://fourfivesix.org/.