Chapter One
THE GREAT
KID-VENTURE
The Journey to Build a Dynamic
Children's Ministry
An Adventure That Can Happen in Any Church
Children's ministry is an adventure, and I sure love adventure stories. There's
just nothing like the quest to solve a complex problem, discover a lost treasure,
or find a new cure. And the best part is watching the characters-how they're
stretched and tested under impossible circumstances or unbeatable odds. It's fun
to join them as they bravely face earthquakes, shipwrecks, or battles against
stronger opponents. These stories require people's best, and then some.
And these tales have another universal trait-their creation. At some point,
somewhere, someone pulled out a blank sheet of paper and began to write. Okay,
maybe today they'd click to open a new document. The point is that someone
deliberately decides to tell a tale that's never been told.
Including the stories that God authors. Rewind the ark story and we see
Noah erase his current lifestyle, turning his new blank sheet into blueprints for
a boat that will earn him mockery from the neighbors. Abraham was promised
a new chapter in life that required a move, and expectantly looked at an empty
page until he turned one hundred-a story that was also good for a few
laughs. Before Moses' fiery encounters with Pharaoh, we read about his new
beginning that started with a famous bush. Even Joseph's life story was
deleted and started anew when he landed at the bottom of the well. And
what a legend that story became.
This book is also about an exciting adventure. Let's call it the Great Kid-Venture.
And this story can take place inside any local church of any size
and in any country-because it's about leading and building a dynamic
children's ministry. The kind of ministry that prevails over time, and that
does so much more than simply survive week to week. One with a plot that
involves leaders who wrestle with how to teach the Bible relevantly to children,
brainstorm ways to care for adult volunteers, and concoct cutting-edge
recruiting strategies. And one that includes other scenes like intense
budget and facility negotiations, safety and security precautions, and new
kids arriving every week (especially in the infant area!).
Sound familiar? With all the action required to serve kids well these
days, no one in children's ministry is bored, that's for sure! But the best part
of the story is that God unfolds this drama for more than pure entertainment.
He has placed each of us in a ministry with the potential to change
lives. And sifting through ideas about how to maximize this potential keeps
every children's ministry leader awake at night. Or at least it should.
In Hebrews 11 we see that the common
thread of many great Bible characters
is their faith-filled lives. Noah
believed God had a reason behind the
boat construction, so starting over was
okay. Abraham remained steadfast in his
faith, even when his wife did the chuckling.
Moses took a little convincing, but
eventually had faith to believe he was on a God-directed mission. And had
Joseph given in or given up, which seemed much easier than remaining true
to his faith in God, he would have become just another Joe.
Today's children's ministries share common ground with these biblical
patriarchs-it requires a modern-day leap of faith for someone in a local
church to dare pull out a blank sheet of paper and change the way ministry
is done. In many settings, there are years or even decades of tradition standing
guard against change. Or maybe there's apprehension to do anything
outside of the denomination's program. It can seem ludicrous to start a
ministry over or even to seriously rethink whether it really works-to
whatever degree. Let's be real-children's ministry must happen every
weekend, leaving little time for pondering change.
But maybe there's something just a little exciting at the thought of a
new adventure in children's ministry. Maybe it can be a place that kids love
so much that they actually want to attend each weekend. Maybe it's an
experience they enjoy enough to invite their friends. This thought-this
dream-quickens the pulse of many children's leaders and can become the
heartbeat of an entire ministry. And the good news is that this isn't a fairy
tale. Every year more kids' ministries throughout this country and around
the world decide to try something new-and report the awakening of a
new, exciting day.
Often these adventurous days come filled with very real challenges.
Throughout my tenure in children's ministry, I've known what it's like to
survive the lows and then hang on for the highs. I have felt overwhelmed
with panic from a shortage of volunteers on weekends. But I've also seen
God convince a man to change his schedule so he can build into a group
of fifth-grade boys. I have labored under the weight of a commitment that
Sundays will never bore kids. Yet I've also watched God inspire creative
gospel messages that help usher kids across the line of faith. I have tasted
the loneliness that sets in following church leadership's resistance toward
change. And I've also received leaders' support to expand our budget and
space, support that can only be attributed to God.
Across years of meeting with and challenging leaders to begin a new
adventure within their children's ministries, many have asked me to tell the
Promiseland story. Most are surprised and encouraged to discover that our
blank-sheet-of-paper experiences happen over and over again-and that
we remain a work in progress. The rest of this chapter describes our ministry's
early journey and provides five faith-promises from God to hold on
to when considering or experiencing change. Then chapter 2 focuses on a
personal epiphany that landed me in Promiseland. The remainder of the
book provides detailed guidance that, when adopted, will help you start
your own Great Kid-Venture.
The Story of How Promiseland Began
As you read the next few pages, you will see that our story offers at least
one scene that will strike familiarity with nearly any ministry. Look for one
or more that relate closest to your situation. You will also see that Promiseland
hasn't always been so promising. But it will become clear how God
can use ordinary people in extraordinary ways and give them the adventure
of a lifetime. And he can do the same in your ministry.
In the Beginning, There Was Nothing
The Promiseland story begins with the genesis of Willow Creek Community
Church. A twenty-year-old college student named Bill Hybels
attended a New Testament course taught by Dr. Gilbert Bilezekian. During
this class, Dr. Bilezekian often spoke about the amazing church described
in Acts 2. This was a church completely devoted to Jesus Christ-one in
which people actively loved and cared for each other, shared all they had
with those in need, took care of the poor, and met in homes where they
enjoyed deep community. "And the Lord added to their number daily those who
were being saved" (Acts 2:47). What a picture! Dr. Bilezekian loved to cast
the vision for this type of church, and always concluded with a longing to
see it happen again.
Sitting on the edge of his classroom seat was Bill Hybels, who loved to
catch this vision. God placed a passion in Bill's heart so strong that he often
went to his professor's office to talk more about what this modern-day
church could be. Dr. Bilezekian recalls a conversation on his patio in May
1975, when Bill announced that he and his team were going to start a
church.
"I nearly fell off my lawn chair," Dr. Bilezekian says, "but I discovered
Bill was serious. We prayed, we thought, we strategized. And it was there,
in my backyard, that Willow Creek was born."
So Bill and a few of his friends decided to launch an Acts 2 church in
Chicago's northwest suburbs. Each of them held tight to a conviction that
God was calling them to turn irreligious people into fully devoted followers
of Christ. Because of their passion for that mission, they invested all they
had to turn this dream into reality. But they still fell short of enough rent
money for the movie theater they planned to meet in each Sunday morning.
So they sold tomatoes door-to-door, squeezing out enough profit to
enable the new church to open its doors on October 12, 1975. This core
group believed that God could make anything happen, so they began with
no permanent facility, no salaries, no long-term strategy, and no seminary
degrees.
Interestingly, their leap of faith also started with no children's ministry.
But that would soon change.
Faith and Nothing Else
The brand-new Willow Creek Community Church had an obvious
problem. Families did not want to attend a church that had no kids' program.
To fill this ever-widening gap, Bill Hybels called Jo Kelly, a nineteen-year-old
Trinity College student, and asked her to consider helping in the
Sunday school area. Jo agreed to show up and lend a hand. She arrived to
discover that "helping" meant she was in charge, because there were no
other adults in the Sunday school area. A quick inventory also revealed
that there were no toys, no curriculum, no volunteers, and no budget. Not
even a blank sheet of paper. Not exactly an ideal time to accept a leadership
role.
But Jo Kelly believed God had called her to this position, and that he was
larger than all the challenges. So she uttered six frightening but faith-filled
words: "God, you lead and I'll follow." Jo
describes her experience as Promiseland's
first official volunteer and ministry leader:
"Each week varied widely-sometimes
we'd have five kids, and I also
remember hitting a high of nearly fifty. We broke up into two groups-'readers'
and 'nonreaders' is the best way to describe them. We were so limited
by space and volunteers, and there was no way to provide care for
babies, because the lobby of the theater was just too dirty and uncontrolled.
"I had lots of easy-to-teach lessons, short memory verses,
songs, and simple crafts. We kept the message simple. I regularly
had to clean up the floor of the lobby because it was
full of leftover trash and popcorn from the night before. Eventually
the stage crew made me room dividers that we set up in
the corners to try to section off as rooms. I brought blankets to
serve as a clean area for the kids to sit on and snuggle up in,
because the lobby was so cold.
"Probably the hardest part was volunteers. By being
involved with kids, they would not be able to attend the
service. As we grew, I depended on a small group of willing
adults whom I had to pull out of the service when we had
really good numbers.
"Mine was not a glamorous ministry. But I knew the
Lord wanted me there, so I was content."
Park on that thought for a moment. Despite floors littered
with stale popcorn and Milk Duds, shivering kids, and no one
to help, Jo was content.
(Continues.)
