life as a volunteer children's minister

Okay, so here is the deal. I find myself without a paid ministry position but attending a great little church that meets in the Westmount area of Montreal.  It is a small church, approximately 150 people including a number of children.  They have one full time priest and two other part-time staff, one as a youth coordinator and one as a administrator and the current budget is stretched as it is. So when the need for a Sunday school coordinator came up I was approached.  Our priest knew of my 15 years of children's ministry experience, both paid pastoral experience and volunteer experience, and he was very careful as he expressed the need while stressing the fact that there was no budget for an extra staff.  He stated that he didn't want me to feel taken advantage of, being asked to do for free something that I used to be paid for.  That got me thinking. Why should I withhold something that God has given me a passion for, experience in, and the right education, just because the church can't currently pay for it.  I heard a sermon once, many many years ago about giving God our very best, not just what is left over at the end of the week, and it has stuck with me over the years.  So many times as a pastor I would hear people say that they didn't want to use their gifts, talents or experience to further God's kingdom. Well actually it sounded more like this "I don't want to teach Sunday School because I am a teacher and I teach all week" "I don't want to work on the church books because I am an accountant and do that all week"  and so on and so forth.  But what I heard was that they didn't feel like they could give their best to God. They didn't have the energy.  Don't get me wrong, I totally understand, everyone needs a break at times.  We have all been there, But who better than to teach the children than the teacher? Or to be trusted with the finances that the accountant?  I was challenged by that sermon so much and still am that I in turn I try to challenge all those who use that reasoning with me to really think about the reasons they are not using those specific gifts in the church. Maybe they really need a break, they are burnt out, craving restoration. If that is the case, I would encourage a time to step back from may things, focusing on renewal, not just to look for a change in activity.  God has blessed us with education, experience and talent in many different areas, why would we step out of those giftings and do something in the church that we are less skilled, less talented and less experienced, just so we can have some variety in our lives.  Well I think we can all get a new hobby or join a book club for variety, and stick with what we are best at when it comes to serving the Church.
I don't know, this is just a passionate thought on my part right now, as I have been working through my own volunteer experiences of late.  Maybe I will think differently after spending some time in a classroom.  Maybe not.  Only time will tell I guess.  In the mean time, I am now a volunteer children's minister, as I just can't let a need go unfilled, especially when I  have the training, education and experience to do it well.

Christmas Eve service

I am in the process of planning a family Christmas Eve service and I have to admit that I am struggling with it a little.  I am trying to find something to do that will be engaging and fun.  Something that will tell the Christmas story in a clear and concise manner and if it happens to be heart warming even better.  Usually I would just put some kids up on stage to act out the nativity in cute costumes and tinsel halos but this year that will have already been done, just days before.  So what to do. 

Winter Tires and a loving God

I know I have promised over and over that I will post my thoughts about moving to Saskatoon and how we made it here and all that God did to get us here, and he did many a miracle, but I am just having such a hard time putting it all down in words, so it will have to continue to wait.

I do want to share a little 'God moment' that happened to us last week. Shortly after we moved to Saskatoon we realized that we would need to be a two car family, so we got on Kijiji and began looking for a car, well we ended up purchasing a 28 year old Volvo station wagon, not the best car in the world but the price was right. Well we hadn't had the car for long when a couple in the church saw Nathan getting into the car and asked where we bought it and how long we had had it for and as it turns out it had been their car, and they had sold it to the man we had gotten it from. So that is a fun story, but it gets better.

With the fall of the first big snow we quickly realized that the Volvo would need new winter tires, not an expense we really cared to purchase, but in Saskatoon you NEED winter tires. Before we even had a chance to price out new tires I received a phone message from the same gentleman from our church who owned the car before us, letting me know that he had a pair of gently used snow tires that they had purchased for the Volvo when they owned it sitting in storage and that we could have them free of charge if we wanted. A gift we very graciously accepted.

Our loving God once again looked after us in a miraculous yet simple way.

God cares about the little things too. 

Pretty Crazy

Fall time is coming

I can't believe how fast time flies! Since my last post there has been many things that have happened. I had a successful week speaking at camp (mostly, long story to come), a second successful week of VBS and a week of holidays in Winnipeg/Niverville visiting with family and friends.
Now with fall coming quickly I am trying to finish up planning and recruiting for children's ministry.
Stay tuned for my funny (and not so funny) camp story and a few posts on what I have been learning about myself. Until then, have a great week!
Enjoy the last of the summer weather!

Speaking at Camp

Boy oh Boy!

I am preparing to speak at junior camp week at The Quest at Christopher Lake and I am starting to shake in my boots. I am pretty confident in my speaking skills, especially when it comes to speaking with and teaching children. Not that I am awesome by any stretch, but I can usually keep the attention of a group of children for a little while :)

What freaks me out is how I used to think about the speakers at camp when I was a child. I used to think that they were SO 'totally awesome' and just the coolest people ever. I remember thinking that the speaker at camp could do no wrong and must have a direct line to God, 'cuz they are just so smart'. I couldn't tell you what they talked about, or what they looked like or even their names, but I felt the same sense of awe for all of the 1/2 dozen speakers I saw as a child.

So needless to say I am putting a little pressure on myself. I don't want to disappoint my inner child, or the children at The Quest. It is hard to live up to those memories, so I'll try not too. What I will try to do is follow the lesson plans that I feel the Lord is leading me teach, pray like mad and be myself. (Even if I am not "SO totally Awesome!")

I ask for all your prayers, that I am fully prepared for my lessons, that God moves in my heart as well as the heart of all of the children who will be there and of course for good weather and safety.

Thank you.

VBS DAY!

So I am so excited! I received my VBS material today. I am using Standard Publishing's Inside out and Upside down on Mainstreet.
It looks so good. I'll post more when I get a longer chance to look at it!

Week of Prayer

We have started our week of prayer here at EBC. We have had a pretty good turn out so far, small but passionate groups of people who have a heart to see the will of God being done in their church and their city.
If you are from EBC or just from Saskatoon, please come check out our prayer time this week. They are at 7:15 am, 12:15 noon, and 7:15 pm. They are for 30 minutes.
If you are a mom with little ones not yet in school, I would be more than happy to hold a baby during the lunch hour prayer. Just leave a message on this blog or Facebook me to let me know that you need my baby holding services!

¹² In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. (Eph 3:12)

Technology dependent

Here I am sitting at my desk without a computer, because mine was not behaving itself, with little to do. What do you do at work without a computer? I pulled out my phone to check my emails, Facebook, and twitter just to keep up with the world, I ran errands, and cleaned my Sunday school rooms.

Now I guess I wait.

My new computer is suppose to be ready this afternoon.

What would you do if you didn't have your computer at work for a day?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Taylor St E,Saskatoon,Canada

faith is good

I have a lot of faith in my volunteers . I just know that they are going to show up, come prepared and be happy. I wish that I could take credit for this, but I really can't . The intrim children's ministry director did a wonderful job showing them importance of volunteering, the changes that they make in the lives of children and I am guessing that the volunteers feel appreciated and blessed. I have been at EBC for two months already and I haven't had a single no show. Boy, that is just unheard of.

So, now my job is to find out from my volunteers what they think of their volunteer positions, what they like and don't like. I need to talk to Carie, who put many of these volunteers into their positions, to see what she did to encourage them, train them and/or value them. And I am going to have to implement those practices in the other volunteer areas that I over see.

I need to not take for granted that my morning people are faithful. I need to learn from that and try to encourage all areas to have the same faithful feel.

I can't believe it is Saturday night at 7:30 and I am not worried about who is going to show up. My volunteers rock.

Playgroup

Every Thursday morning we have a parent supervised playgroup. I think it is pretty fun. We have about 50 children and 30 parents who all come for 1-2 hours and play. We have climbers, wiggle cars, a rice table, costumes and even a bouncer. Of course we have coffee and tea for the parents and juice for the kids. It really is a good program. I love seeing the different groups of people talking and hanging out. Each week it seems like we have people who have been for the first time.

I am looking to add to this program. I am wondering what type of events or programs would be beneficial for young parents. If you are a parent or are in ministry to young families please share any ideas you might have to better my program.

My prayer for this program is that every lady who comes on a regular basis will be intentional at inviting someone from the community.

Making friends up and down the hall

Ok, so here is the thought of the day. How do you make friends up and down the hall of an office. I have to say that I love my job, I also really like the people that I work with, but I am really lonely. I am surrounded by super nice people, whom I have known for 2 months now and really don't feel a strong friendship with any of them.

True I work mainly with introverts, when I am an extrovert. So my overly excited invites for coffee or my constant attempt at starting conversations tend to scare people off than build friendships.

My office is also all the way in the corner of the church, not near most of the of the other offices, so distance can play into the problem a bit.

We are all rather busy here at the church, which does not allow for tons of social time, so that plays into the situation a bit as well.

And I'm the new one, and they are not, so they already have social groups within the office and the church, when I just don't.

So, does my lack of office friendship affect my work? No, the opposite actually. I am very productive sitting all alone in my quiet lonely area. Does it affect the way I view my job? No, I still very much love my job and the people I work with. So what does it affect? Why do work friendships matter? I'm not sure. It affects my mood. But a mood can be changed, controlled and managed.

I will not let this affect my job or my feelings toward my job.

But if anyone has any tried and true ideas on making friends as an adult, or being an extrovert in an introvert's world. Let me know.

one of these things isn't like the other

I was at my denominational pastors' meeting today, meeting the guys for the first time. I had to chuckle at the group I was in. I was the youngest in the room and was 20 years younger that 80% of the attendees. I was one of two women. I know that those numbers shouldn't surprise me but they do. I love what I do and I have come to realize that right now I will stand out in a crowd like that, as the young female children's pastor. I'm ok with it.

Life as a pastor and a mom

So today my worlds bumped into each other a little, as my son's daycare was closed (well it wasn't closed, the teacher was away and I was uncomfortable with the alternative arrangement that was made) so my son is at work with me today. He is almost 5 and an only child, so he is pretty used to playing by himself. So far we have been here two and a half hours and he is doing great. This makes me so proud!

I am also thankful for a job that not only allows me to bring my son on the odd occasion, but encourages family time. It is a real blessing.

You know what else is a blessing? My son's Nintendo DS. Boy does that thing come in handy. :)

Wow What happened

Ok, so I can't believe that this blog is still just sitting here begging to be taken care of. Maybe I should start again. Maybe I should erase my two sad little posts and start clean. But then I would be missing a part of me, (my lack of focus and dedication part, mind you). So I won't start again, I won't delete my past, I will work from now.

So where am I now? I find myself in Saskatoon SK. I am at a new church, with a new job (long story, I'll fill you all in later). I am now and children's pastor at a baptist church and I have to say that I love it. God has performed miracles to get me here (well they seemed like miracles to me) and I know that it is for his GLORY that I am here.

I will post the journey. But not tonight. :)

Guided Freedom

What does it mean to have "guided freedom" in ministry? I am not sure, but that it is a phrase that has been popping into my head a lot recently. I have realized something about myself recently when it comes to ministry, I am not really good at working with vagueness. I like very clear direction or complete freedom. When someone has expectations of me or of my ministry and does not tell me, or does not give me as much information I think I need, it just puts me in a panic. I like to be told..."I want you to run a mid week program and it needs to be Awana" or ..."You have complete freedom to run whichever mid week program you would like or don't run one at all. It is up to you, I trust you."

How does one get this kind of trust? That is what I am trying to figure out. Some of it comes with time. I know that being new in a position, I will most likely not have that trust from the leadership for a while. But there are some places that give that trust right from the start but will be quick to remove it when you mess up. Some times that trust is there but I have not reached out and taken it. My own lack of faith in myself has stopped me from seeing how much the leadership trust me.

I am sure that I am plagued with one or all of these reasons at some point in time, but that still hasn't brought us to guided freedom, what does that look like? Well to me it is a balance between complete freedom and complete direction. This balance can shift from activity to activity, some things I want way more freedom in and others I would love more direction. I am just learning about this concept of guided freedom. I am learning what balance I work best in, how to tell the leadership about that balance and how to trust myself to reach out and take the trust that is often so readily given.

Opening thoughts

Well here we go again. This isn't the first blog that I have tried to maintain, but with this one I hopefully will be more consistent in updating it. This is going to sound horrible, but I need this blog more than I needed my other one. My first blog was about my pregnancy, labour and about my son. When I started it I lived far away from my family and they needed somewhere to see pictures, hear stories and keep tabs on my life. Well I have moved closer to my family since so they can see my adorable son at their will, so gone is the urgency to post the newest cute story or picture. Since that blog something else, just as big but not as important happened, I started a church ministry job. I need this blog as a release, a safe place to share my feelings and to journal my career.



On that note I can promise that there will be little 'venting' on this blog, absolutely no names mentioned and no bashing that takes place of any kind. This is a place that I will be sharing my thoughts on topics such as curriculum, trends, frustrations and feelings, it is not a place to bash. I will ask for advice, although I don't know if anyone will be reading this blog, suggestions and prayer. I know that there are many people who are in ministry, paid or unpaid who need a place to chat, question and brain storm so if my blog can facilitate that, even to one person (myself?) I will be satisfied.



So welcome here. Feel free to post and don't be surprised is a picture of my son ends up on here once in a while, I after all still a very proud mother!