Perspectives on Children's and Family Ministry

Drumming up new business

2010-01-06T07:51:00.000-08:00

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." Matthew 28: 18-20

TV critic Tom Shales column in the Washington Post on January 5 soundly criticized Fox News analyst Brit Hume for daring to state, in the context of the current troubles of Tiger Woods, that the Christian faith offers a unique message of forgiveness and redemption to the world, in which Tiger might find comfort. Hume offended Mr. Shales by, in Shales's words, "dissing" half a billion Buddhists in the world, among whom Tiger apparently counts himself, with his suggestion that Buddhism does not offer such a means of salvation.

Shales then scolds Hume, commenting "...is it really his job to run around trying to drum up new business? He doesn't really have the authority, does he, unless one believes that every Christian by mandate must proselytize?"

Trying to explain Hume's apparent gaffe, Shales goes on to write, "Hume seemed so bolstered by Christianity that he just had to go tell it on the mountain."

Perhaps many of you have recently sung the joyful African American Christmas spiritual, "Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere; Go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born." Who gave us the authority to proclaim the message of God's salvation? Are Christians in the world to be commended for their personal piety, as long as they sit down and shut up and keep their joyful message to themselves? Jesus makes clear, that by his authority, we are to spread the Good News of his salvation far and wide, making disciples of all nations. God's message of Salvation through Christ is not just for a small subset of humanity, but is for all. Why is it offensive to suggest that someone wounded by sin and beset by trouble should look to Christ for forgiveness and redemption?

We need to tell our children every day that it is their job to "drum up new business" if that means telling a fallen world about their Savior who died so that they would be set free. Not all religious faiths are true, and there is only one name under heaven and earth by which we may be saved, and that is the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Loving God with all of your Mind

2009-10-28T08:58:00.000-07:00

As one of my jobs at the church, I attempt to maintain the church library. I randomly came across a book the other day on a shelf at church that was not catalogued and not part of the library. Assuming it had been donated, I picked it up to review to see if it would be a good addition to our collection. The book is entitled Total Truth, by Nancy Pearcey. A quick scan was enough to really get me thinking.

For many, our faith is a matter of the "heart", rather than the head. We divide our life into separate compartments, "religious truth" versus other "truths", such as "scientific" truth. Do we bring a consistent Christian worldview to our everyday activities in the realms of science, politics, economics and the arts? Pearcey quotes the historian of religion Martin Marty who said that every religion serves two functions: first, it is a message of personal salvation, and second, it is a lens for interpreting the world. However, many of us fall into the trap of only viewing our faith in terms of our personal salvation and forget that the Truth we confess is the truth about all of reality, with implications for every sphere of life, both public and private.

As we minister to our children at home and at the church, we need to be aware that we should help to form in them a distinctly Christian worldview that will help them to counter all of the so-called "truths" of our secular society. It is too dangerous for us to imply that faith is only relevant on Sundays, and the rest of the week our children can live their lives guided by "neutral knowledge" that is uncontaminated by any particular belief or philosophy. The idea that there is any way to know things with any true objectivity is a myth of the Enlightenment period. Every system of thought relies on some "ultimate" principle, either God or some other "god". Everything that exists falls somewhere into the God's meta narrative of creation, fall, and redemption, and this narrative can explain all of human as well as physical nature. It has implications that are very different from those arising out of secular worldviews such as evolutionary biology. Our culture allows Christianity to exist as a private matter, but resists any attempt by Christians to claim that our faith has a place in the public sphere, or can mount any significant challenge to reigning secular ideologies.

I challenge all of us to model for our children a life where faith is fully integrated into all aspects of existence, public and private, and where we show our kids what it means to love the Lord our God not only with our hearts and souls, but with our minds as well.

Time to P.A.R.T.Y

2009-09-30T08:40:00.000-07:00

For the first five weeks of Sunday school we have adopted some of the ideas published by the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod's District and Congregational Services (whew!) in their "Christian Education Month" publication. We have been teaching the children about different ways to pray, using the acronym "PARTY" to stand for Praise, Ask, Repent, Thanks, and Yes!Amen.

We are also introducing the kids to some african music and hymns to tie in with this year's mission collection, Bikes for Africa. The donations given this year will go to buy bikes for African pastors so that they can more easily travel to minister to their congregations. More than 90% of Africans do not own cars.

Welcome to the Blog

2009-07-29T14:51:00.000-07:00

I serve part-time as the Director of Education and Family Ministry at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Falls Church, Virginia. I hope that this blog will serve as a chance for our faith community and other interested readers to share ideas and perspectives on ministry to children and families.

Vacation Bible School

2009-07-29T14:45:00.000-07:00

Thanks to church Staff and wonderful volunteers, along with Group Publishing, for another great VBS. Crocodile Dock rocked at St. Paul's with 111 children, our biggest group yet. About 1/4 did not list a church affiliation--how can we best invite them to deeper involvement in our community of faith?