Despite now being in my seventh-year working for a church and being a trained-up Anglican curate (not to mention the fact that I now rock up at church with a couple of my own kids in tow), the very thought of children’s ministry is still enough to bring me out in a cold sweat!

So I thank God for Alison Mitchell who has written this little gem, a treasure-trove for anyone seeking to get a handle on the nuts and bolts of children’s ministy. Alison is Commissioning Editor at The Good Book Company, with 30 years of involvement in training children’s and youth leaders, as well as being author of numerous children’s books and reams of ‘Sunday school’ kids material! In other words, you’d assume she’d be well placed to write this book – and once you start reading you realise she definitely is. 

Of course, if you’re going to name a book “starting out” in children’s ministry, then it’s pretty important you make sure it’s not too overwhelming. I want a resource that I can hand to (or work through with) a new leader or church apprentice with confidence that it’s not going to scare them off (likewise, for fresh-faced curates!). And yet it also needs to be comprehensive enough to actually be a significant help in teaching, training and equipping people. Starting Out achieves both, making the task and privilege of children’s ministry both imaginable and exciting.

The book is only eight chapters, each one short and sweet, but between them they cover a rich sweep of pretty much everything you’d want introduced. Ranging from the general (‘Why Children’s Ministry?’) to the specific (‘Digging into the Bible’ and ‘Staying safe’), they’re an engaging blend of input, questions & activities, personal examples and prayer points. We recently ran a ‘thank you and refresher afternoon’ for all those involved in the different children’s ministries at our church, and this book was a brilliant resource to draw on in shaping that time.

A few other stand-out aspects that I really appreciated:

• I was really impressed by the way Alison presented a simple ‘toolbox’ for giving leaders confidence to dig into the details of a Bible passage for themselves – and unpack its big idea. I don’t think I’ve seen/read many people doing this quite as simply.
• Some wise words on how to use – and how not to use – published teaching material.
• Alison’s ‘Focus the fun’ element is a really useful reminder that fun is good (i.e. crafts, games, activities), but it doesn’t have to be separate from ‘teaching’ – it can be focused.
• An understanding that different people (and different kids) learn best in different ways.
• Seeing craft as a “secret weapon” – not just a convenient time-filler.
• Helpful to have the subject of discipline is purposefully engaged with throughout, rather than being seen as a stand-alone topic.
• It’s always good to feel that an author is genuinely enthusiastic about what she’s writing about. Alison’s writing oozes conviction and delight.

Maybe sometimes children’s work is seen as a bit secondary, or even worse, simply an exercise in glorified child-minding. Even when we know the ‘theory’ behind its importance, in practice the time we give to preparing (perhaps compared to a sermon, etc) can be rather lacking. But Starting Out gave me fresh joy and heaps of help for the challenge of teaching the next generation about our great and glorious God and what he has done. 

You can pick up Starting Out in Children’s Ministry from The Good Book CompanyThe Good Book Company for less than a fiver – that’s a steal!

Disclaimer: The publisher has sent me a free copy of this book, but I hope this is still a fair and honest review.

Full-time theological education is a costly thing. Costly because it will often mean a geographical switch, including moving house and saying goodbye to much-loved friends and family. Costly because it will probably mean leaving behind the particular church you were involved with and at least pressing pause on the ministry opportunities you were part of there. Costly because it literally costs money, and at the end of the day someone’s got to foot that bill, whether it be a church organisation, supporters, or the individual concerned.

So, is it worth those costs?

As has been noted here, it seems there’s a bit of a trend at the moment for answering ‘no’. For a start, part-time, non-residential training is a whole lot cheaper. That means this issue is something the Church of England is particularly weighing up. But such ‘mixed-mode’ training also allows you to be part-time, perhaps working with a church for 3 or 4 days a week, which can seem like a benefit. It also allows you to remain in the same place, again, something that has plus-points. And obviously different people will have different circumstances, meaning that for some ‘mixed-mode’ forms are the only reasonable option. But does the mode of training impact upon its effectiveness? And as this helpful post on the CofE’s latest workings asks, how are we defining effectiveness anyway?

There’s also a trend of seeing one’s ‘time at college’ as not really about the training itself, and more just an opportunity to be involved in the ministry opportunities of the particular town or city the college happens to be in. I guess this is rooted in a scepticism or distrust of ‘theology’, but it also seems to smack a bit of arrogance and short-sightedness. Certainly I couldn’t imagine being ‘ready’ without the training I’m being given.

So given all this, why bother really investing in theological education?

Being about 80% of the way through a three year full-time spell at theological college, I’m already so glad this has been part of my training. I’m so glad that the Church of England generously funded me for two years, and I’m so glad that a bunch of friends and Trusts backed me from their own pockets so that I could stay for this third year.

Why? Well, I think the video below goes some way to explain and, in short, it’s because the end goal isn’t about me.

I’d spent two years on a church-based ministry training scheme (which was excellent) and three years working in a junior staff role for another church (again, a great experience and learning curve), but I’d still not swap these past three years, full-time at Oak Hill, for anything else. Being able to set time aside to think, to learn, to grow… to be formed, it has been a massive privilege.

But ultimately this privilege is not for my sake, there’s a much more worthy matter at heart: stewardship – seeking to be the best possible gift for the sake of the church…

You can read the accompanying document, featuring Don Carson, Tim Keller and others, here.

Part of the reason I blog is to reflect. Life happens, and sometimes it happens pretty fast. If we’re to learn and to grow and to see the hand of God at work, not least in shaping us, then sitting down, taking a breather and reflecting upon life is pretty crucial.

As anyone familiar with the adult learning cycle will know, it’s a key element of how we develop. That might just be analysing a simple cause and effect we have observed, or it might be more ‘ponderous’: re-running a crucial conversation over in your mind, looking back with a friend on a sermon you gave, or just ‘debriefing’ the day, as my wife likes to call it.

The challenge I find is building the time in. Time is needed to consider questions like ‘How is that going?’, ‘What could we have done differently?’, and ‘What’s God teaching us through this?’. At college we have a particular module called ‘Theological Reflection’, and the aim is to give us that time. Time to talk with peers about what we’re experiencing at the churches we’re based in. I remember initially, it’s fair to say a few of us were a bit sceptical. What? Time just talking and thinking? But actually it’s proved to be one of the highlights of each week.

Now obviously reflection needs a mark stick. We need to have some sense of what we’re meant to be aiming for, some sense of what is excellent and what is healthy and what is beautiful. There’s a lot of good wisdom out there, but as Christians that ultimately comes down to the Scriptures.

But if we have the mark stick but no time to reflect, then chances are we plough on without really ever checking whether or not what we’re doing is just being done because that’s-the-way-it’s-always-been-done kinda thing. Or whether or not we’ve actually set a course for some pretty unhealthy waters. Or maybe we just miss the opportunity to give thanks to God for what he’s doing in our lives. Yep, reflection gives us a chance to take stock. And like with the original sense of that phrase, our stock could be running on empty, it could have gone past its sell by date, or it could be full of good things to share. The way to find out before it’s past us by is to take time to reflect.

As this little piece below from 99U says,

“We do not learn from experience … we learn from reflecting on experience.”

Read more at: Reflection Is the Most Important Part of the Learning Process – 99U. By the way, 99U’s weekly email is one of my favourites. You can subscribe at the top of their main page. When it comes to stimulating pieces on management, creativity and leadership, it’s often a rich treasure trove of common grace.

What do you think? When and how do you reflect, and in what area?