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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...

#50 – The Power of Sound (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.

When you’re watching a movie, oftentimes the background score and many of the sound effects go unnoticed.  But, have you ever watched a movie without sound effects and the background score?  It is a completely different experience.  There are specialists in Hollywood who do nothing but record background music and sound effects for motion pictures, and there work makes all the difference in the world.  Sound, subtle though it may be, creates the atmosphere and tugs at your emotions.  The sound creates a sense of doom or excitement or joyfulness depending on the scene, the music and the effects.

You can use these same techniques with your children’s ministry large group.  With a minimal amount of funds, you can create the same effects that make a movie or television show stand out during your large group teaching.  With an Ipod and a simple adaptor, I can use sound effects and play background music to create the atmosphere in the classroom that matches the story that is being told.  Whether it’s game show music for a game show, storm sound effects for the story of Jesus calming the storm, or suspenseful music to play while telling the story of the crucifixion, sound adds a whole new element to your large group teaching.  And don’t forget, louder is better!

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

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