Dick Gruber and Jason Rhode discuss building relationships thru summer events. Dick shares guidelines for children’s ministry activities, parties, events, and field trips [PDF].

Drop us an email, leave a comment on the blog, or visit us over on Facebook or Twitter. We’d love to include your comments and questions in our next episode.

Keep the feedback coming! Send your questions, comments, or ideas to childrensministrytalk@gmail.com. As always, you can find complete details about this podcast at childrensministrytalk.com.

Jason Rhode and Dwayne Riner discuss the use of technology in children’s ministry. They discuss philosophy of using technology in ministry and the current state of technology in children’s ministry. Dwayne mentioned his new blog devoted to technology in children’s ministry and also briefly shared regarding the new CMUO course he is developing on video editing.

Drop us an email, leave a comment on the blog, or visit us over on Facebook or Twitter. We’d love to include your comments and questions in our next episode.

Keep the feedback coming! Send your questions, comments, or ideas to childrensministrytalk@gmail.com. As always, you can find complete details about this podcast at childrensministrytalk.com.

Dick Gruber and Jason Rhode discuss principles for choosing the right curriculum for your children’s ministry based on Dick’s article on choosing curriculum. Dick also discusses his new CMUO course on children’s presentations.

Drop us an email, leave a comment on the blog, or visit us over on Facebook or Twitter. We’d love to include your comments and questions in our next episode.

Keep the feedback coming! Send your questions, comments, or ideas to childrensministrytalk@gmail.com. As always, you can find complete details about this podcast at childrensministrytalk.com.

Dick Gruber and Jason Rhode discuss the topic of Beginnings and Endings. They also share recommendations for planning ahead in the new year.

In our next episode, we’ll be responding to recent questions and comments we’ve received. Drop us an email, leave a comment on the blog, or visit us over on Facebook or Twitter. We’d love to include your comments and questions in our next episode.

Keep the feedback coming! Send your questions, comments, or ideas to childrensministrytalk@gmail.com. As always, you can find complete details about this podcast at childrensministrytalk.com.

Dick Gruber and Jason Rhode respond to several questions posted, including where to purchase puppets, recommendations for starting a bus ministry, as well as suggestions for controlling seemingly chaotic situations.

Dick shared these puppet resource sites:

• One Way Street
• Puppet Productions

In our next episode, we’ll be responding to recent questions and comments we’ve received. Drop us an email, leave a comment on the blog, or visit us over on Facebook or Twitter. We’d love to include your comments and questions in our next episode.

Keep the feedback coming! Send your questions, comments, or ideas to childrensministrytalk@gmail.com. As always, you can find complete details about this podcast at childrensministrytalk.com.

Dick Gruber and Jason Rhode discuss the topic, “Hallo-What? Halloween Outreach Ideas.” Why conduct a Halloween outreach? Dick shares these reasons…because children:

Come to your door
Are open to the supernatural
Ready for fun
Everybody is excited except believers

Dick shared these following things to remember when conducting Halloween outreaches:

• Pray for wisdom
• Begin at a level of mutual understanding
• Let the children come
• Effective evangelism is always relational

Dick also shared the Do Not ABC’s of Halloween…do not:

Attack Halloween
Bash Satanic costuming
Catch yourself along with a child
Depict God as a cruel judge
Engage in practical joking
Force a committment

Dick also mentioned his Halloween Booklet and his Trick or Treat Tract.

In our next episode, we’ll be responding to recent questions and comments we’ve received. Drop us an email, leave a comment on the blog, or visit us over on Facebook or Twitter. We’d love to include your comments and questions in our next episode.

Keep the feedback coming! Send your questions, comments, or ideas to childrensministrytalk@gmail.com. As always, you can find complete details about this podcast at childrensministrytalk.com.

Dick Gruber and Jason Rhode discuss the topic, “Increasing Your Son Protection Factor.” Dick shares that the higher the number, the greater the protection.

Skills
Passion
Faith

Dick referenced the following books in his comments:

• Children’s Ministry Leadership by Jim Wideman
• Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions by George Barna
• Crucial Concepts in Children’s Ministries by Randy Christensen
• Prayer: The Cry for the Kingdom by Stanley Grentz

In our next episode, we’ll be responding to recent questions and comments we’ve received. Drop us an email, leave a comment on the blog, or visit us over on Facebook or Twitter. We’d love to include your comments and questions in our next episode.

Keep the feedback coming! Send your questions, comments, or ideas to childrensministrytalk@gmail.com. As always, you can find complete details about this podcast at childrensministrytalk.com.

The key question here is, “How are you, as a leader of children, going to follow the words of Jesus?”  Is it possible to “let” the children come without engaging in forms of coercion?  I believe it is.  I come full circle back to the original quote that inspired my study of the approach to altar calls and children.  Sam Doherty wrote, “I never ask children to raise their hands, or look at me, or stand up, or come to the front if they want to be saved – or if they want to help them.  This can easily result in a quick and emotional response which has not been thought through, or there might even be the possibility of following the leader, when children do what they see others doing.”  This generates the question, “can an altar call be given without application of psychological, social, or spiritual coercion? 

Sam proposes that rather than altar calls, the children’s worker give invitations.  He suggests that the leader invite the child to come and seek counsel after the meeting is over.  “This allows them time to think about what they are doing and to come on their own initiative – rather than being influenced by others.” 

I am not suggesting that the children’s leader give up the tradition of the altar call.  What I am suggesting is that we utilize this important juncture in any service to impart an invitation to children.  This invitation may or may not include the children coming forward in response.  Whether this invitation includes an immediate public response or not is the leader’s prerogative.  It must carry with it authority without pushiness and spirituality without overzealousness.   

The altar call or invitation must not water down the basic gospel message.  Tony Kummer, Baptist Children’s Pastor blogs, “Being overzealous to give a child assurance of heaven can result in a false assurance. Repentance is a biblical component of conversion.”  Sound teaching on basic salvation doctrine is demonstrated through the life of the teacher then acted upon by the child.  This suggests more of an ongoing process rather than a onetime instant occurrence. Lawrence Richards expound upon this saying, “Ultimately, our assurance of a relationship with God does not come because we remember when we made a verbal commitment, but because we increasingly commit ourselves to live for Him, and discover a growing trust and love.  It would be wrong to deny the possibility of childhood conversion.”  He writes further, “The real challenge in ministry with boys and girls is to provide that context in which the first step can be taken…and then a whole lifetime of growth be supported.”

Perhaps the coercion related to altar time would cease if leaders began to look at salvation in the lives of children as more of a process than a singular decision.  This process will be marked by various decision points as a child grows in his cognitive ability to grasp the abstracts like love and eternity.  Lois Lebar writes,

“If we provide small children frequent opportunities to say, “yes” to Christ in accordance with their limited comprehension of Him, we shall never err by hindering them from coming to the Savior, nor by being responsible for their making a mere profession before the Spirit has prepared the heart.  We shall never be guilty of going to either extreme if we give our groups of children numerous occasions to confess their love of Christ, and then deal individually with those who seek salvation, a miracle which happens once for all time and eternity.” 

Sometime in a childhood blessed by consistent exposure to the Christian message, the child will experience this once and for all miracle.  It may be at an altar or on a playground.  It may happen with adult supervision or not.  My son Aaron announced one morning at breakfast that he had asked Jesus to come into his heart.  It was his first “public” confession of faith and I understood that at age four, he didn’t comprehend the implications of his announcement.  But my wife and I encouraged him anyway.  We continued to nurture his faith at home and through the church.  He prayed at altars on many occasions through the childhood years.  Each experience only served to solidify his spiritual commitment that began before that breakfast table pronouncement.  Barna states, “Anyone who wishes to have significant influence on the development of a person’s moral and spiritual foundations had better exert that influence while the person is still open-minded and impressionable – in other words, while the person is still young.”

What Barna and I are explaining here is a process of letting children come to Jesus.  Many times the methods used in formal children’s ministry settings can limit a child’s true response to the gospel.  This occurs any time the child is put in a position of feeling that he must respond in order to please teacher.  Hayes writes, “All of this discussion is meant to demonstrate the fact that when we seek to integrate a doctrine of salvation with a behavioral concept of evangelistic methodology, we encounter difficulty.”  Our particular behavioral concept of evangelistic methodology may then be responsible for causing difficulty in producing clearly authentic faith response in young children.

Our ethical response to the possibility that this is true must be to step back and assess the dynamics of what we are doing.  We cannot continue with business as usual if that form of business is offending little ones.  Jesus said, “And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.  But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.”  Our ethical response is to adjust what we are doing so that children will be welcomed to Jesus without offense.

Conclusion

Edward Hayes wrote, “Giving an invitation is a natural and normal part of the gospel presentation. How it is done is quite another thing. Teachers are wise not to force or push for decisions. The gospel, rightly presented, has its own appeal. The Savior has His own drawing power. This is the divine work of the Holy Spirit in wedding human need and response to the winsomeness of Christ.”  The children’s worker in today’s evangelistic setting must be willing to accept this “divine work of the Holy Spirit.”  Altar times cannot be forced, pressure-filled, events in the lives of children.

In this paper we began by looking at an ethical response to the age of accountability.  This was followed by three segments addressing: (1) Faith or Fear; Setting aside scare tactics and letting God be God, (2) Pressure or Pleasure; Relaxing the altar time so that children can enjoy the presence of God, and (3) Let or Limit; Allowing children to come to Jesus rather than engaging in psycho-spiritual coercion.

Considering the length and depth of this work, all aspects of each segment allow for further study.  Questions will continue to arise each time an altar call is given.  Our “Christian” ethics based in part on Christ’s character, demand that we question, evaluate, and, if need be, adjust our approach when giving altar calls to children.  In this world of confusion, ethical foundations such as compassion, integrity, and faith continue to stand rock solid.  While the storms of ego, impatience, and unbelief assail us, our godly ethics will stand.  With the Lord’s help, I believe that anyone involved in leading children to Christ can consider the arguments stated in this paper and better serve the children and Jesus when altar time comes.

“Often a child responds to a gospel appeal out of a deep desire to gain approval. It is part of the identity struggle within each of us to desire the approval of a parent or teacher. Winning the child according to this set of psychological principles, may be little more than instilling into the child the mysterious codes and mores of our society. Thus, willingly obedient, a child may gain his rightful place in the family or other adult institutions.”

Our treatment of altar calls and ethical considerations would not be complete without addressing the pressure that can accompany an appeal for salvation.  Perceived pressure, whether valid or not, may drive a child to a response without the wooing of the Spirit.  The child may have learned, through regular observance, that those who accept Christ find communal approval.  Pressure to “get saved” is translated into acceptance in the church family which is very appealing to children.  Well meaning, and perhaps spiritual, workers may inadvertently apply pressure promoting this kind of “approval conversion” experience among the children. 

In the midst of this possible atmosphere of underlying community pressure, we must continue to encourage individual children in the faith.  Daniel Smith reminds us, “There is no more biblical basis for doubting the genuine, intelligent, and uncoerced confession of faith from a child than there is from an adult.”  Kids can be genuinely saved even if there is a presence of pressure. 

Smith goes on to say, “No doubt many boys and girls are unwisely urged into a false profession.  But spiritually minded adults who know the Word of God and love children can discern genuine confessions by careful communication with children.”  We must begin to sort out the sheep in the pen discovering just what kind of conversion experience they have enjoyed.  Children should not be left without guidance as they progress from whatever level of faith they have achieved.  Pastor Richard Dresselhaus, in his book entitled, Teaching for Decision writes, “Children, if properly taught, may at an early age enter into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ that will be very meaningful, both in childhood and in later life.  The church must never under-emphasize the power of the Holy Spirit to produce saving faith in the heart of a child.”

Our ethical approach demands that we do as Dresselhaus states and “properly teach” the children.  Our approach must never be one of compelling commitments, pressuring young children, or demanding through actions and words that the altar be filled.  “Make appeals for young children to receive Christ that are prompted by pure motives and are given simply and in a nonpublic manner. The notable success of various child evangelism efforts cannot be denied. But the motive must never be numbers or outward response, nor should appeals be accompanied by offers of gifts, recognition, or special privileges.” 

Our challenge is to relax the altar call so that children can enjoy the presence of God.  It was Monday night altar time at a camp in Texas.  A boy named Mike approached me and declared, “I am not going to pray.”  Rather than force his involvement, I was checked by the Spirit and answered, “Well just sit back and watch then.  If you have any questions, come see me.”  Mike almost seemed confused by my answer and worked his way through the other children back to his seat.  This same scenario was repeated the following two nights and finally on Thursday evening, Mike came up to me with tears in his eyes.  He blurted out, “I want to pray.  I know I need Jesus.”  Had I forced Mike’s involvement he may have rejected Christ altogether.

An invitation to come to Christ need not be forced or pressure-filled.  Children can be encouraged to act upon what they have learned in a service without adults and other children applying undue pressure to respond.

Sam Doherty instructs us in the importance and style of the gospel invitation given to children.  He exhorts, “The invitation is a call from Jesus Christ to come to him, in repentance and faith, to receive forgiveness and a new nature.”  This is a loving invitation to come to Christ.  It is a gentle encouraging word instructing the unregenerate child to admit his sin and trust Jesus for forgiveness and new life.  There are no clamps of guilt pressing down on the child.  There are no words or actions which make the child feel less than accepted if he does not respond.

As Sam teaches children’s workers using examples from the book of Acts, he explains, “Like the apostles, you should trust God the Holy Spirit to work in the hearts of the children – and not put pressure of any kind on them to respond to Christ’s invitation.”  So our task in approaching altar calls in an ethically responsible manner is to relives the pressure.  Evaluate methodology used to gain a response and develop a process which allows children to come to Jesus without social or emotional screws being tightened. 

This brings us to our final consideration.

Daniel Smith writes, “Perhaps one reason so many children go into a period of spiritual stagnation in their teens is that they were frightened into “jumping on a fire escape” rather than being warmly attracted to the Person of Christ. Although the danger of a lost eternity is a part of the gospel, it is not the central issue.”

It was the first Assemblies of God kid’s camp I had ever attended. I was a counselor for twelve elementary aged boys. We sat through the long Monday evening service. My boys were restless, some were sleeping. Then the lighting changed and the evangelist began drawing a colorful chalk picture on a large drawing board. Dynamic music played in the background.

The evangelist spoke as he drew. He told the story of a drawbridge operator who, in order to save an entire trainload of passengers killed his only son in the gears of the drawbridge. This man then invited children to accept the sacrifice of Jesus. I witnessed children crying as they went to that altar rail. For the most part, they were not convicted by the Holy Spirit. They were scared by a story. They were full of sorrow for the boy who had been killed.

Daniel Smith informs us, “Both Scripture (1 John 4:18) as well as personal experience teach us that fear is a powerful and uncomfortable emotion.” Our task in leading children to the altar should not be one of frightening them. We are presenting a loving God who will accept them in their sinful state, forgive them, cleanse and befriend them for eternity.

Since that first camp experience I have experienced many similar altar services. These were services during which the leader played upon the emotions of children causing them to fear for their eternal destination as well as their livelihood on earth. One night at a camp in the Midwest, a children’s worker laughed and said to me, “That preacher sure scared the hell out of them, didn’t he.” I did not find this funny. There is no solid ethical platform from which I can preach that would allow me to “scare the hell out of them.”

Edward Hayes reinforces this concept as he notes, “Avoid anxiety-producing appeals to both parents and children. In any effort to evangelize children, youth, or adults, the Scriptures give us the clues. We are to balance our zeal with confidence in a sovereign God.” It would seem to me that a preacher who preys upon the fears of children in order to reap a harvest has little confidence in a sovereign God.

I know of a man who performs great feats of magic in his services. Early in his ministry, he used intense colors, lights, and actions to preach his message of salvation. Much of this frightened the children and disturbed the adults. As he grew in the Lord and in his ministry the man simplified his program making it less scary and more understandable at the same time. He essentially did what H.B. London wrote about when he inscribed these words, “The Church can be the place where the child feels safe, cherished, and nurtured.” Casting fear into a crowd of children is not the kind of net that reaps an authentic spiritual catch. Jesus, our Good Shepherd and master fisher of men would use bait and tackle that fit the waters in which he was fishing.

My friend Randy Christensen writes, “Children are searching for the reality of supernatural power in an everyday world. This is the theme of the most popular children’s books, movies, and toys.” In our current spiritual climate, children are being subjected to all kinds of interpretations of the use and misuse of spiritual power. Every character from Sponge Bob to Harry Potter is using magical interaction in some form to entertain. The church must be a place where genuine spiritual power is demonstrated in a non-abusive, Christ-like manner.

Robert Choun puts it beautifully when he pens, “A growing awareness of God takes time. The practice of truth is like piano practice; both take incalculable repetition to achieve proficiency. Children have qualities that require that kind of attention and repetition.” Fear tactics to reap results at an altar are little more than an attempt to bypass a God imposed natural order and rush children to a verbal commitment before their hearts are ready for salvation. It’s like placing them in a piano recital without having allowed them to spend time practicing.

So let us reiterate the ethical consideration here. The leader of children must put aside personal ambition and rely on faith rather than fear in giving altar calls to children. He must set aside scare tactics and let God be God. The leader must, with a clean conscience, present the facts of the gospel in a consistent understandable way to the children. Witnessing positive spiritual results in the lives of children may take minutes, days, or even years. In this respect, children’s ministry is not a sprint, but rather a marathon.

Sam Doherty shows us this saying, “As you evangelize children you should instruct the mind, praying that God will enlighten it; involve the emotions, praying that God will stir them; and challenge the will, praying that God will change its direction.” The key element in what Sam says is “God.” Notice his total reliance upon God for results. In Sam’s words, “God will enlighten, God will stir, and God will change its direction.” The task then is to allow God to do His work and will in the life of the child as you faithfully present God’s Word and plan to that child.

When altar time comes, put away your arsenal of scary and heart breaking stories and replace them with a kind invitation to accept God’s forgiveness and grace.