FourFiveSix

Righteousness. Salvation. Justification. Melchizedek. (Okay, maybe not.) But these are the kinds of “Christianeze” words that we use on a consistent basis, that hopefully we are clearly defining for our preteens, especially to those who are unchurched. We are all probably pretty conscious of explaining these difficult words and often times then supplementing an easier [...]

Time Machines From September to December I try things out and learn along the way, wishing I had a time machine so I could go back and try again with the things I’ve learned. Only here’s my secret: I do have a time machine. I call it “January.” And instead of going backwards, it takes [...]

Each winter and summer our Wednesday night programming “takes a break” for a couple of months. This year, with the way Christmas and New Years’ fall, and our “big church” Christmas program, we will have a couple of Sundays off as well from our preteen program. Each time we take a break, I’m grateful, because [...]

Once when I was substitute teaching in a 5th grade class, I was showing the kids a map of Asia. After I pointed out major countries like China, India, Thailand, and Vietnam, a boy raised his hand and said, “I thought Vietnam was in South America?” Now, my question is, who taught him that Vietnam [...]

I know you could take that title so many different ways.  I just hope it got you to read this post (which you obviously are)! I’m not talking about preteens as parents or about trying to score a date with the parents of the preteens in your ministry.  If you are reading this for either [...]

I’ve found that I don’t practice what I preach. I tell the preteens to be the unique person God created them to be. Yet, when I visit (or read about) another cool preteen ministry, my first inclination is to be just like them. I want to mimic one person’s amazing environments. I want to be [...]

How many times have you told your preteens: “Your faith is something you live every day, not just when you are here at church.” Or my favorite: “You do know you can open your Bible during the week, right?” If we can help preteens develop the habits of opening and reading their Bible and wrestling [...]

While kids ministry and student ministry blogs abound, finding a preteen ministry blog is a much rarer experience. But fear not, we found another one! Growth in the Gap is a simple blog with practical ideas for your preteen ministry. You should probably start reading it. Because we’re not the only ones helping your preteen [...]

When I began leading our church’s 4th, 5th, and 6th grade ministry, I knew there was a need to give it more definition than just “the ministry that works with preteens.” So I set out to get down on paper what I wanted the ministry to reflect, in its teaching, its structure, its methods, its outcomes – the whole ball of wax. I ended up with eight.

I was challenged this week to get rid of distractions – in my ministry as well as my life. All of us agree that Jesus should be the focus of our preteen ministry. We want our students to find Him and grow closer to Him. But, how much of what we do really points to [...]