On a recent overseas trip, the President of the United States used a phrase that caught my ear. He mentioned a “New Normal”, suggesting that Americans must prepare to accept current unemployment rates as staying steady into the future.
This got me thinking that there is a “New Normal” in children’s ministry as well. Things have changed! What was was once considered “normal” is rapidly changing! As I watch my 4-year-old use my iPhone or iPad, I see that his world is going to be much different than mine. Indeed, he has had his own iPod Touch because at age 2 he was caught operating my iPhone without any instruction. I knew he needed to be equipped to embrace his world.
Perhaps you are following the discussions in the Leadership Forum, where Greg Baird has invited 18 authors to write about The Future of Children’s Ministry.
What are you doing in your ministry to embrace this New Normal? Or does your ministry still look like it did 10 years ago? There are no easy answers, but I can tell you this: When you were a kid, you could tell which teachers were with it, and which weren’t, and you gravitated toward the teachers who were “hip.”
And now you are in the position of being the one they evaluate. Take a hard look at yourself and your ministry. Don’t be written off by your kids. The effectiveness of your ministry is at stake, and it may only take a few minor tweaks to win them over and show them YOU are “hip!”
Got a cool idea? Tweet it to me @Kidologist
Taken from the lastest Kidology Newsletter – READ ONLINE or Subscribe. (they’re free!)
