The other day I had the opportunity to speak with some of the passionate pros across the pond at Hillsong: Kathryn MacDowall and Nathan McLean. I had originally shot them an email wondering if they’d be interested in chatting about Preteen Ministry. A few days later, we were calling on Skype, and, after introductions, the most natural thing seemed to be telling the stories of our ministries. I had a couple of questions I wanted to ask before we got on the call, but other than that, it was mostly a story telling session.
In Christendom, stories have always been a powerful tool. Sharing the story of your faith is a key pillar of evangelism, sharing stories of what God is doing in your life is a key pillar of having a faith community, and sharing the story of your ministry is a key pillar of, well, ministry itself! Stories have the power to remind us of God’s faithfulness, they tie us back to our roots, they remind us of our ministry’s values. They humble us when we look at the amazing progress from beginning to now, and simultaneously give us a sense of accomplishment.
The staff I have the privilege of serving with recently took a retreat to a cabin to refocus and redefine our vision for the ministry. One of the very first things we did was tell the story of how the Zone at Cornerstone Fellowship came to be. Those of us who were there at the start were filled with a sense of nostalgia, and those that weren’t were filled with a sense of “YOU GOT AWAY WITH THAT?!”. Needless to say, things have changed a bit over time. But the story was the catalyst for the rest of the retreat. George Orwell wrote in his book, 1984, “Whoever controls the past controls the future”. There is an incredible importance to the story of our ministries.
Nathan and Kathryn spoke about how their preteen ministry got started, the things that made them want a separate experience for years five and six, what led their church to produce the Hillsong Kids Big curriculum, and where they were at with their weekend and midweek programs. It was an incredible thing to be able to hear their story and compare it to our own, they were just a few steps down the path before us.
The insight you glean from the story of a ministry similar to you is invaluable. In the end, their story will be their own, and yours will be its own, completely unique and independent of each other, but the beauty of this is that even though the fabrics are different, they’re sewn with a common thread. For me, it was affirmation that what our ministry desires, “coach” volunteers (that is, volunteers who lead other volunteers) can actually happen and work! That was huge, because no one wants to pour time and energy into something that flops or isn?t realistic.
In putting this idea of storytelling into practice, those of us in Preteen and Kidmin, we have an incredible community. We can start by following blogs from different churches and pastors, and even catch a few on twitter. But in the cloud of social media, don’t forget to have the actual conversations that may be more than 140 characters: swap stories, share insight, glean wisdom! Though they may seem innocuous at first, they have the power to elevate, develop, and grow both ourselves and the ministries we serve.
it was great to chat with you on skype! I love connecting with other kidmin people, it’s always an incredibly valuable use of time.