Our Kid's Church room is beautiful. Truly amazing.
About 15 years ago a team of talented artists got together and created this:
And this:
And have you seen the rest of the room?
We have loved this room and its beautifully cheerful design.
And yet here we are, wiping the slate clean...
Making room. Creating space.
It feels CRAZY to me, to be whitewashing the beauty that was created here.
And yet I am convinced of what we are doing.
It feels CRAZY to me, to be whitewashing the beauty that was created here.
And yet I am convinced of what we are doing.
The conviction comes from a vision for Kids Church to be more experiential.
Starting fresh for us began when we discovered Worship Response Stations.
About two years ago we began carving out space and time for the kids
to personally respond to God after each lesson.
And what we found is that kids truly want to know God's Spirit
for themselves and it is natural for them to learn to hear His voice.
...And so here we are, literally rearranging everything for more of that to happen.
Because at the end of the day, our number 1 goal isn't that our kids would just
know ABOUT God, but that they would KNOW Him for themselves.
Starting fresh for us began when we discovered Worship Response Stations.
About two years ago we began carving out space and time for the kids
to personally respond to God after each lesson.
And what we found is that kids truly want to know God's Spirit
for themselves and it is natural for them to learn to hear His voice.
...And so here we are, literally rearranging everything for more of that to happen.
Because at the end of the day, our number 1 goal isn't that our kids would just
know ABOUT God, but that they would KNOW Him for themselves.
Each Sunday we spend time responding to God about the message we've just heard.
Then we pray a prayer of blessing over them and invite them to
continue their worship by independently visiting a Worship Response Station
of their choice. The lights are low, worshipful music is playing.
And they come up with notes to God like this:
continue their worship by independently visiting a Worship Response Station
of their choice. The lights are low, worshipful music is playing.
And they come up with notes to God like this:
So these beautiful walls are becoming blank slates to post permanent,
artistic and meaningful Worship Stations.
artistic and meaningful Worship Stations.
The new decor will be functional, filled with alters of remembrance
of what God is doing in our kids.
of what God is doing in our kids.
So I guess you could say we are putting our "money" where our mouth is to do what it takes to make room for the Holy Spirit to interact with our kids ...so that they can experience God for themselves. Regularly. Repeatedly.
Today we wrote scriptures over all the newly-primed walls.
To declare who God is in our lives.
...To proclaim what we believe...
...and to claim His promises over this new season.
And so it has begun! Our Kids Church Makeover.
Check back often for updates over the next 30 days to watch the progress.
We will be posting about each of the new Worship Response Stations as we create them.
Update: To see how the Makeover turned out, go here.
Check back often for updates over the next 30 days to watch the progress.
We will be posting about each of the new Worship Response Stations as we create them.
Update: To see how the Makeover turned out, go here.
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