Teaching Kids Authentic Worship is the result of the research from Kathleen Chapman.   She writes, “True worship is adoring God alone without ever mentioning yourself. [page 31]” and “Worship is one-directional. Worship is focusing on God and giving all glory to Him only, alone, singularly, totally—just Him. [Page 32]”

Chapman divided the book into 3 sections: The what, how, and why of worship. Most of us assume to know the “what” of worship.  Do we need to learn the “how” of worship?  The question is rhetorical…YES!  Knowing and even moreso, practicing, the what and how of worship includes learning the language used in scripture (salvation, worship, names of God, etc.), how to focus on God for worship, building a familiarity with God, and developing a plan to lead the children (or adults) into true worship.

Chapman also points out the many benefits of true worship in the “why” section. She talks about being blessed after worshipping God. We are healed by worshipping because it gets our eyes off our problems and onto God. AMEN! Worshipping God gives us power to live our life as He wants us to. Worshipping provides spiritual protection – we aren’t turned away by false doctrines. Peace comes from truly worshipping God. Children that learn to truly worship God will desire to please Him in all areas of life. 

Our children’s ministry staff and a few key leaders are reading this book now in preparation of taking worship to a new level in children’s ministry.  Please continue to pray for us.  We will be sharing steps and methods of teaching worship in the home in the months to come. 

Grace and Peace,

Rich

Kathleen Chapman, author of the book, Teaching Kids Authentic Worship,began researching how to get children to stay with the church for life. She began to suspect that “worship” might be the glue that keeps people attending church. As part of her search for the “glue” that would keep children at church, she began asking people across the country four questions:

1. What is worship?

2. How do you worship God?

3. Why do you worship God.

4. When do you worship God?

After talking to at least 500 youth, she was startled that they weren’t able to explain what worship is all about. Heritage is focusing on the theme of worship this ministry year and the Children’s Ministry would like to do the same. Really, we have a desire to teach parents how to teach their kids to worship God. We are also positioning ourselves to teach our children to answer these questions. Parents you can join in! We encourage you to visit room 230 for Kids Jam the first 20 minutes of the service to see teachers and worship leaders in action. But for now, how you answer the above questions for your children? Do you have any strategies to share with our parent community that is wondering the same?

Wow and thank you to all who are responding to God’s prompt to join the children’s ministry  team.  Michelle Smith, early childhood director, and Lori Liston, elementary director, were literally drooling over the large number of new volunteers.  We will have another orientation this Sunday, September 21st at 10:15a to welcome more workers to the children’s ministry. 

New service times begin Saturday, October 4 at 5p and 7p, and Sunday, October 5 at 9a and 11a.  We still have about 50 classroom and registration desk positions to fill for a complete rotation for the year.  Volunteer rotations are one month on and two months off for pre-k  and k workers.  Elementary volunteers are asked to serve one month on and one month off to allow more time to build relationships with grade school students.

Give us a call or stop by the children’s ministry lounge, Room 145, to find out more about serving with us.

Pastor Rich

Dramatised Audio Bible for Children

I have just come across a free dramatized audio (MP3) Bible which can be downloaded on the internet. It also includes music, songs and sound effects to enhance the reading for children. It’s available in different languages at http://faithcomesbyhearing.com.   The Bible is called “Kidz Bible” and the version is “The New International Readers Version for Children”.

1. Who is going to take over the children’s ministry?
Matt Liston will succeed Rich as the Director of Children’s Ministry.     Matt and his wife, Lori, have been a part of HCC since 2006.  Lori joined our staff as the Elementary Director of the children’s program in July and she sings with the worship team.  Matt and Lori have a combined experience of 27 years of ministry and service to children.  Matt has been a youth director, a Christian school principal, missions trip leader, and is on staff at Better Way Ministry.  Lori taught pre-k through second grades for thirteen years and was a leader in a women’s Bible Study.

2. Is Richard leaving Heritage?
No, Richard is not leaving Heritage.  The new initiative he will be leading is directly connected to Heritage.  You will still his smiling face in children’s classrooms as well as in the main auditorium.  

3. When will this transition take place?
January 1, 2009 is the official handoff of leadership from Rich to Matt.  Until that time Richard will be working closely with Matt on training, recruiting and developing teams for all ministries to children.  If you have any questions about how to get involved in children’s ministry, contact Jackie Haight, children’s ministry assistant, at jhaight@heritagecc.org

4. How will this transition affect my child?
Every child will still receive the same quality curriculum and involvement they’ve been accustomed to every weekend and midweek at HCC.  The purpose of children’s ministry remains: to create a safe place where every child can experience God, make new friends and interact with a volunteer who truly cares.

5. Is this an interim solution?
We are thankful that God has provided a gifted and compassionate leader to continue the rich blessing of a well designed children’s ministry.  It’s amazing that Matt and Lori were right in our midst and we hope for a long relationship with them on staff.