Holiday Clubs - What Value?

I'm back from holiday and think I have caught up with everything else I needed to do on my return. So it's time to blog again. And immediately I want to return to the topic of my last blog Children and mission. In case you haven't read earlier blogs I guess I better say at the outset that I am absolutely committed to children's ministry and outreach. I long to see children serving in our churches and reaching out to their peers. I have been committed to primary school chaplaincy work through my years of ministry and spent several years working as a children's evangelist.

Yet today I am asking the question what is the real value of a children's holiday club? In the adult world we gave up on week-long missions a long time ago in place of things like Alpha or Christianity Explored courses. We have in the adult world primarily moved to a model of evangelism as a journey experienced over many weeks, months or years as opposed to an event. Yet this summer all around the country churches will hold holiday clubs and declare them a successful outreach. But are they?

Yesterday I visited two holiday clubs in the town of Kirkintilloch. Our Step Out team are working with the Harestanes Church in the local community centre made up of three portacabins. The children drawn from the local community looked delighted to be there, parents who were not church members on the whole looked delighted to leave them.

At Kirkintilloch Baptist Church a similar picture of happy children, happy parents and happy leaders. Both clubs were full of life, energy and creativity. There was an excitement in the room, and the children were feeding off it.

However looking back over 20 years of running several clubs a year I cannot think of many non-churched children who have come to faith and grown in discipleship through this work and are still following Christ today. Yes, there are many children who said during the week that they wanted to follow Jesus, conversion statistics would be high but to my knowledge they do not follow today, probably something to do with the fact that we expected kids to be discipled in Sunday school each week and a regular Sunday commitment was not on their parents' radar.

So why would I still choose to do a holiday club today? Why do I still support what the Step Out teams are doing?

1. Church kids find themselves presented with a clear gospel presentation and an opportunity to commit themselves to Christ.


2. It brings an opportunity to train Church children's leaders and introduce fresh communication methods, modern music and creative energy into the life of the Sunday School.


3. Teenagers in the church find a place of fulfilling service where their ideas and creativity are needed, valued and seen to work.


4. It demonstrates to the church it's ability to work together, across the ages, on a short term mission project bringing lots of people into service, and gives others something to pray for and get excited about. It's an encouragement.


5. Childcare provision in the holidays is a great blessing to working families in the community.
   
6. Saturday/Sunday events following a holiday club and pick up/drop off times give an opportunity for church members to get to know the parents of these children and to offer friendship to them and to introduce them to other services provided by the church.


7. Local Press will gladly run with your story and communicate to the community that the church is alive and is active in the town.


8. Who knows what the church will do to follow up a holiday club? In my experience in one church it was used to plant a new congregation, launch a weekly after school club, start a monthly kids club.

So I'm all for holiday clubs and you can maybe add other valuable reasons for them. But I am also concerned that we find a working model for presenting a clear gospel message to non-churched children that has lifelong discipleship at its core. Ideas on a postcard, or even replies to this blog would be greatly received.

Step Out Now

Last night I visited Coatbridge Baptist Church where our first children's mission of the year is under way. The step out team complete with orange t-shirts were dancing, speaking, gaming and answering question about faith, conversion and prayer, in what could only be described as a warm and winsome way. No threats, no severe stares, no raised voices, just smiles and conversations about their own walk with God which were clearly being listened to intently.
As I go off to enjoy some holiday sunshine for a few weeks this orange team will sprerad around the country. They will give up some, if not all of their summer season to build missional relationships with local baptist churches, with fellow step outers, with not yet believing children, young people and their families.


I find myself challenged in two ways and if you are up for it I would want to extend the challenge to you.

1) Please pray at all times with all kinds of prayers for the step out missions. They are engaging in a spiritual battle and they need the spiritual defence that prayer can bring. They also need our prayers to break down defences so that many would come to know and love our Saviour.

2) Please step out now! If they are coming to your church, support them in the mission by getting involved. If they are not visiting you but your church is engaging in an overtly missional activity this summer get involved in that. Or why not step out now, wherever you are reading this, and have a gentle warm conversation with someone who does not yet believe.

I'm being serious. Why not go and build a missional relationship now.

Switch to face book and reconnect with someone.
Pick up the phone and talk to an old friend.
Walk across the office with a coffee and have a chat.

Step out Now
PS Let me know how God uses you!

"Le Tour"

The tour has begun: 5 days in 5 cities being introduced to the Baptist family and speaking of a future vision as we travel together on this thing we call the BUS.

Dalkeith Baptist Church hosted our evening together with great style and a beautiful sense of welcome. The hall was filled with Baptists from Edinburgh, West Lothian and the Borders. And what a night! A great encouragement for me and if the response of those who gathered is anything to go by, an evening of fun, laughter, challenge and hope, all of which were absent from the England football match we clashed with.

The loudest "amen" of the night was to the suggestion that Baptist musicians should form a Jazz group and there was quite a lot of talk about what type of road cycle team we could put together to participate in a "real tour".

Of course there were also stories of God's faithfulness and my own journey of faith was explored by David Currie, my travelling companion, interviewer and worship leader for the tour.

As I drove home along the M8 to Gartcosh I was overwhelmed by a sense of encouragement. I am so glad that I belong to a family of Baptists in Scotland such as these. I sensed among them a passion to serve Christ, a desire to be led into what that means in the 21st century and an openness to doing it together.

1 down, 4 to go. It's going to be a busy week!

Wednesday 23rd June 7.30pm, Dundee Central

Friday 25th June 7.30pm, Bearsden Baptist

Saturday 26th June 12 Noon, Culduthel Christian Centre

Sunday 27th June 3.30pm, Sheddocksley Baptist Church

"Vive le tour"

Fresh Expression

Saturday night, and I found myself in the Royal Concert Hall Glasgow, for a concert with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Not an unusual occurence for our family as we attend at least 12 classical concerts a year. Yet this was one was very different.



Scenery had appeared behind the orchestra to replace the usual wooden back drop. Lighting had been installed and was used throughout the night to interpret the mood of the music, more like a pop concert. Instrumentalists stood to play their solos and were picked out by spotlights, the audience clapped between movements and even clapped once in the middle of a piece, more reminiscent of a Jazz club. By now I was questioning was this really the RSNO? The conductor had changed, not the usual French Stephane Deneve but the New Yorker Jeff Tyzik, complete with cornet on the conductor's podium. Had the world gone mad? Oh I forgot to mention that they had rearranged the audience chairs at the front and put them around tables.

Less than a month ago I heard this same orchestra play Elgar's Cello Concerto in the quiet and austere surroundings of the Usher Hall. I had left there discussing Natalie Clien's interpretation of the music with my daughter and how it compared with the late Jacqueline du Pre. To be honest most of the discussion was on how bad the acoustics of the Usher Hall are for a cello solo.

But not on Saturday. On Saturday I left filled with excitement. I wanted to talk to anyone who would listen about what I had just experienced. It was not what I expected, it was unpredictable, it was joyful, it had life and charisma. The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle wrote of the conductor "His concert is the kind of thing that's likely to give classical music a good name!"

You only need to look at a classical concert audience these days to know that they are in the same position as many of our churches. Yet it seems that they are not afraid to challenge some of their traditional conventions and taboos to woo a new audience, to explode some old myths and to present the brilliance of what they do in a way that is accesible to many more people than they engage at present.

Therein lies the challenge. We have a message that is life giving, energising, hopeful, joy bringing, love enhancing and totally transformational and yet so often it fails to be delivered in a context that is negatively representative of the message. The medium which contains the message of new life is not engaging, and the sound of good news is not lifting from the platform and grabbing those who are searching. In fact the audience that most needs to hear doesn't come along because they do not imagine they will find life in our churches. Would the Rochester Demorcrat and Chronicle write of us "This worship service is the kind of thing that is likely to give Jesus a good name!"

What will it take for us to challenge the medium we use to communicate the gospel message? Can a classical concert inspire us to look afresh at our conventions and traditions, challenge them and find a fresh approach for our life giving message?

Bike Wheels speak of vision

The Baptist Union Council held in residence at Gartmore House spent time listening to God in the presence of one another and listening to one another in the presence of God. This act of communal discernement shaped by Andrew Rolinson's studies in communal discernment impacted the way in which we sought to become clearer in our understanding of the future of the Baptist Union of Scotland.

At the heart of my own address were three wheels, 2 of which I brought with me and 1 which my wife would not let me buy. (it would be wasted on me)

The hub of the matter that I was seeking to address is that we need a Baptist Union in Scotland that is fit for purpose. Able to take us forward, strong and robust to deal with some knocks and disapointments, but based on all that is good about being baptist.

Stuart Blythe had spoken the previous day, with a deep challenge to become who we say we are and to reengage with our Baptist values and declaration of principle.

Jonathan Edwards the General Secretary of the Baptist Union of Great Britain shared how they are working through these same issues in England and South Wales at the moment.

At the end of our 24 hour stay in Gartmore we agreed to explore further our vision for the future of the Baptist Union in Scotland reflecting on how our Baptist identity might inform and colour these three words "Building Missional Relationships".

Please join us in this process. You can read the three main addresses given to council below. We would invite you to reflect upon them and to respond by email to director@scottishbaptist.org.uk

http://www.scottishbaptist.org.uk/downloads.htm

"hearing God communally" "Who do we think we are" "Towards a vision for the future"

General Assembly Specific Challenge

Bill Hewitt the moderator of the Assembly of the Church of Scotland 2009-2010 gave his last report to the assembly on Friday night. Reflecting on his year of global travels he spoke of the many connections he had made around the world. He spoke passionately about the roll of the church in issues of justice and peacemaking but left his final and most heartfelt remarks for the issue of children in our churches. He commented that he had seen many children on his travels that were connected to churches, but there was a lament over the lack of children who were integrated into the heart of the worshipping community. His plea was that the Church of Scotland would bring children into the heart of the Church, primarily so they could hear the gospel message of Christ a Saviour who loves them and a Lord to guide them.

It spoke to me of a growing concern that I also have as most of our children walk away from the church, if not also the faith. I’ve found myself asking, “What is the place of children in the church?” If our practices betray our principles what are we saying about worship and the place of children in God’s kingdom?

In some churches we clearly say they are welcome. The issue of what church worship looks like to them has been thought about. We’ve made sure they hear scripture read in a language they understand, that the great stories of the gospel and Old Testament are proclaimed with enthusiasm and excitement. We’ve considered the music we use and the words that are spoken and sung and assessed children’s ability to understand or experience what we are saying in our worship, explaining words that are not commonly known. We’ve made them welcome as children without demanding that they behave as adults and yes we have also shown them what reverence; joy and commitment look like as we have welcomed them around the communion table and into membership through believer’s baptism.

Sadly in some churches children must struggle to sense welcome. A cheery smile as they arrive in no way makes up for what happens in the worship service. They must rejoice that they are only held in these places for 20-30 minutes before releasing them to Sunday School or whatever name it has been given. What do these words mean that appear on a screen and then disappear faster than they can read, never mind sing? What are we teaching about prayer, when we take them out of the world of colour and creativity to an eyes closed, dark place of silence? And I guess they know by now that church is not about what worship you express or lessons you learn, it all about how well you behave. After all sitting quietly on your seat with your mind somewhere else elicits the most praise from family and friends around.

Surely worship is about engaging with the risen Christ. It is about coming together to meet with the one who drew all types of people to himself. Where children were welcomed, encouraged, blessed, challenged and allowed to be an example to us all.

I think Bill Hewitt was absolutely right; we should bring children into the heart of the church so that they can hear the gospel message and experience Christian community but I also think we need them there to teach us a thing or two. Maybe we need their simple songs to remind us of basic truth and to humble our proud spirits. It could be that their action songs finally release our bodies in worship. Maybe we need there heartfelt prayers to cut through our flowery language and remind us once more of the heart of the gospel. And it could be that we need their challenging world view that says some things are just simply “unfair.”

By stopping and thinking through what we do when children are with us in worship, maybe we could make it something they look forward to doing with us and maybe we would learn more about what it means to worship the risen Christ present with us. Thanks Moderator for making us ask the question!

Homecoming

I went home on Sunday Morning to the church where I spent the first 20 years of my life and to the first baptist Church in Scotland that employed me to serve them. Apart from being repeatedly told how much I look and sound like my Dad by those who could remember me when I was in short trousers (and they have the photo's to prove it) I found it a really refreshing and liberating experience.

Amongst the well kent faces of my youth were new faces and new stories eagerly told. The young people had been to a recording studio the day before to record a single, a young mother who had first visited the churches toddlers group had recently come to faith and been baptised. Today they were begining a joint venture with the local church of Scotland and the Bible Society when the Bibleworld exhibition would pull into town and provide classes for all p5's-p7's. The Pastor is being given greater opportunities in the local secondary school and a holiday club was being planned for primary school children in the summer holidays.

I was delighted to see that what I remembered from my youth was still the essence of this church, energy, commitment, heart felt worship and a depth of welcome to the stranger. Their evident desire was that those they encountered in that little town "would see Jesus."

It was also a clear reminder that statistics in a year book do not tell the whole story. Statisticaly I'm certain there have been days when they were a dozen members better off and yet I would have to question if they have ever been as healthy as they are today. There is a bigger story to be told than the one our year book stats will tell.

Please join me in prayers of thanksgiving for Denny Baptist Church, that gave me so much, and ask the Father to bless all that they offer to their community today in Jesus name.