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2020-02-26 to 28 Pictures: Charleston, South Carolina

One of the few upsides of having to cancel our Spring Break trip last March at the onset of the pandemic is that we are "stuck" with a rather large voucher from one of those discount airlines. Last autumn, Tricia and I spent a weekend in Savannah, Georgia and had a...

A John 3:16 Craft for Kids

John 3:16 is one of the most well known and reassuring verses in the Bible. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.John 3:16 (NIV) The following is a little craft I threw...

2020-03-01 Pictures: Lyndsey’s College Signing Day

This afternoon Lyndsey made it official, signing her letter of intent to play college basketball for the Hiram College Terriers starting next year. While she made the decision and committed to Hiram before Christmas, she has been looking forward to this day since her...

2020-02-13 Pictures: Lyndsey’s 18th Birthday

I am little behind on posting photos. These are some of my favorites from a couple of weekends ago when we got a chance to celebrate Lyndsey's 18th birthday. It's hard to believe that my little girl is officially an adult. It was nice to have the family all back...

What is DOCTRINE?

Introduction I love working with kids, and I love teaching them hard concepts in ways they can understand. To that end, for years I have been working on a dictionary of theological terms for kids and teens. In sharing those definitions, there seemed no better place to...

If You Want It Done Right

In all likelihood, you know how the phrase ends: If you want it done right, DO IT YOURSELF! This is a bit of a mantra for me, and frankly, something that I struggle with daily both in leadership and in my Christian walk.  In theory, this is easy to accept. ...

What Does God Hate?

This is the little and humble post that started it all. I happened to be reading through my Bible, and this passage impacted me so much that I posted a little blurb about it on Facebook. That was July 28, 2008, and I've been writing and sharing ever since. (Maybe...

#43 – Don’t Be Afraid to Admit That You May Be Too Old (Tips For Large Group Teaching)

Welcome to a continuing series of tips on working with large groups of children. I hope that you will find these tips useful and be able to implement them in your dealings with large groups of kids. If you do, please leave a comment and let us know. For a complete list of posts in this series, please see the index page. So, without further introduction, here is today’s installment.

Whether you’re 22 or 42, there may be times when you are too old to be the best person to relate to a bunch of young children.  Find kids who are just a little bit older than the kids in your ministry to help you out.  Children tend to relate to and bond well with kids who are just a little bit older than they are.  Let’s face it – they’re cooler than you are.  Use this to your advantage.  Have the middle school kids in your church come and teach the elementary age kids every once in a while.  Build a high school worship team for your Children’s Ministry.  Using older kids to help you out is particularly effective in getting kids involved in worship.  They are much more willing to open up, sing and dance if they see an older teenage boy leading worship.  Find older kids to help you with sound and video (they’re probably better at it that you anyhow).  If you don’t know which kids to ask, ask their parents.  Although some can be a bit biased and blind to reality when it comes to their own kids, most parents know whether or not their children are good with younger kids.

Here another free tip.  If you’re having trouble keeping up on the latest trends and cultural phenomena, find a middle schooler.  They’re still young enough to know what the younger kids like, and they’re old enough to talk to you about them.  No of us likes to admit that we’re old, but sometimes it is in the best interest of the kids that we minister to to admit it.

Return to the Tips for Large Group Teaching in Children’s Ministry index page.

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