Note: This article has been excerpted from the SmallGroups.com training tool called Family Friendly Small Groups.
When I speak at conferences or seminars, I ask people to write down the areas of ministry they are involved in and then prioritize them. Sadly, the majority of people never list one of the most important ministries entrusted to them by their Heavenly Father: their own family. It's the ministry ...
Child: "May I come to your cell today To see you worship, sing and pray?"
Adult: "You wouldn't find it any fun. When you are older, you may come"
from "The Unwelcome Child" by Lorna Jenkins
Sadly, most of us have looked at children in small groups the same way this poem does: as a logistical nightmare. But it doesn't have to be that way. Although parents have the primary responsibility of nurturing, ...
I realized that children had not been welcome in our midst, and therefore Jesus had not been welcome either.
Matt Messner
Our small group of adults was moving harmoniously into deeper worship as we sang the familiar choruses to the accompaniment of a skilled guitarist. Between songs, we sat quietly in an attitude of worship, enjoying the evident presence of God. The tranquility was quickly shattered as my exasperated 2-year old, with tears flowing down his face, barged into the scene notifying me of how one of his fellow ...
Should our church hire a babysitter for our small group nights?
Michael C. Mack
This question was asked on a message board on Christianity Online (a section of American Online): "Our church is considering hiring someone to provide child care every weeknight for our small groups, perhaps paying fifteen to twenty dollars a night. Do you think this will work?"
Child care is one of the biggest difficulties in leading a small group, and one for which there are no simplistic answers. ...
We're the only couple with children, and we can't afford a babysitter every week.
Michael C. Mack
Q & A...
My wife and I are the only ones in our group with children who need babysitting. We also can't afford a babysitter every week, so my wife and I trade off—she attends one week and I attend the next. We're never together in the group anymore, except at the end-of-the-year get-together. Any suggestions?
Child care is one of the biggest concerns in many small groups. It can be a divisive ...
Take this quiz to help you decide about child-care options.
Michael C. Mack
Take this quiz to help you decide about child-care options. Every church's small-group ministry-and each group-is different, so there are no right or wrong answers. But you can think through the choices that will work best in your situation. Child care can be a great opportunity rather than a burden, if you plan.
_____ 1. What is the policy for your group? (a) No children except for nursing infants; ...
Some tips for developing a curriculum for children that will help them grow spiritually.
Daphne Kirk
As I travel all over the world I am repeatedly asked about materials for the children's small group/cell meetings or for the children in the "Kids Slot" of an intergenerational cell. ("Kids Slot" is a time when the children of a small group will go into another room to have their own small group "lesson.")
An Encounter with Jesus
Generally people want to know how to keep children interested, how to ...
Help Darryl handle a misbehaving child in his intergenerational small group.
Darryl is the leader of an intergenerational small group that has 11 members—8 adults and three children. Among the adults, there are three married couples (including Darryl and his wife), one senior citizen, and one single woman in her thirties. All of the children are between 6 and 10 years old.
Darryl has really enjoyed the diversity of experiences the group provides each week, but there is ...
Use this 13-session parenting course to discuss how to raise healthy, happy, God-centered children.
Use this 13-session parenting course to discuss how to raise healthy, happy, God-centered children. This course looks at how we can strengthen the parent-child bond, gain confidence in our parenting, develop friendships with other parents, model self-confidence, and raise countercultural kids. It also covers how to lovingly discipline our children by using natural consequences, having realistic expectations, ...
This Bible Study Course can help you get renewing, biblical perspectives on caring for an aging or ill loved one.
Providing care for the elderly or disabled can be a lonely, all-consuming job. This three-session course will explore how we can honor our parents by showing them care, how caregiving can be a way to express God's love, and how to find joy in our caregiving responsibilities. We hope this study will give hope and encouragement to those who serve God in this way.
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