Preteen Ministry Spotlight

I got this really inspiring email from Heidi Larson, who attended the preteen ministry sessions I led at the KidMin Conference last year. It was such a cool email highlighting the exciting stuff that’s happened in her preteen ministry this year, that I wanted to share it with you.

Enter Heidi…

Last October I had the privilege of hearing you speak at the KidMin Conference in Chicago. Initially I was to attend one of your sessions, and attend a number of others as well. Not exactly what happened. I ended up sticking with you for the duration of the conference, and I’m glad I did. I came away with a ton of excellent ideas and was able to brainstorm with others at my table whom are in preteen ministry.

I come from a church of about 600 people including children. We have a fun, vibrant Sunday school program that is well attended. We’ve always noticed a drop in attendance after the holidays. But then another slight drop off as spring nears. Especially in the 4/5th grade classroom.  I really took to heart what you said about making the classroom the kids. Making it THEIR space and having them take ownership of it. I left that particular session super charged, met up with my co-workers in the lobby of the hotel and shared with them. My director was like, “Whoooa, that’s a great idea, but we’ll have to see what we have in the budget.” After the conference…. I was really busy with work here in Children’s Ministry (with Christmas around the corner and such) but, I kept thinking about what you said about transforming the classroom into something really cool. Adding some new, exciting games, playing cool music, and maybe adding some game systems.

So guess what? Right before Christmas… I spoke with my director, she said a couple came forward with some money to be used in Children’s Ministry where we thought it could best be used. Well we did exactly as you suggested. We did a complete room transformation! We called it “Extreme Room Makeover Edition” and the kids went crazy! One week we picked out paint colors, the next week we selected images to paint on the wall, the third week small groups selected SCRIPTURE to paint on the wall, and we voted on Wii games. In January of 2012, we went to town, the kids came in on a Saturday with their paint clothes on and the fun began. I’m not going to lie, we had a “FEW” paint spills!! There were many, many hours put into the classroom, a ton of volunteers, 10 gallons of paint later, 2 flat screens, 2 Wii’s, a lounge center for the girls with comfy cozy chairs(including the “Girl’s Rule” sign!) it was finished!!! We had the big reveal on January 22, 2012. “Open That Door” the kids chanted over and over. They ran into the room with arms a waving, screaming, laughing, hooting and hollering! They were blown-away by the transformation. So glad we did it. Thanks for being an inspiration to many! You must know, we did not have a drop in attendance this year for the first time in a very long time.

Enter Nick…

Thanks Heidi for the update. I hope others read it and get inspired!