[ What about Children?]
[ Information and Resources]

Children

Question: "What do you do with the children?"

Answer: This is a very important question especially for that majority group of adults who have school-age children. What to do with them during cell meetings is a vital issue. The answer must:

• respect the children as disciples/learners in the faith
• respect the needs of the parents (and other attending adults)
• respect the "community" aspect of cell life.

We don't just "get rid of the kids" but we honestly try to engage them in cell life (the family), age-sensitive learning and a "place" for the kids, where parents are nearby, but separate for awhile.

Before launching into the practical nature of children's ministry in cells, we include here a portion of our church's values statement pertinent to the topic:

"A CHURCH THAT IS DEDICATED TO THE IMPORTANT ROLE OF THE FAMILY AND THE HOME. We teach the centrality of the Christian home as the primary place for Christian education of children and youth. All that we do in education programs simply "augments" what godly parents do in bringing up their children "in the fear and admonition of the Lord." We strive to "protect" the family and honor the home by streamlining our church-wide programming so as not to fragment the schedules and togetherness of families. We will do all we can to strengthen and equip families to minister to themselves and to others around them. The home is also important to us as that place where outreach and friendly encounters with unsaved people can take place through cells and cell ministries." - from the MECF Mission Statement

Our cell leaders are encouraged to delegate work to their cell members. One of the ways they do this is by recruiting "coordinators" for such things as worship, hospitality, activities planning, hosting cell meetings, etc. The job of the Coordinator is to see that their area of responsibility is carried out well. The Coordinator is strongly encouraged to not do it all her/himself, but to recruit others to help.

One of these key leaders appointed by the cell leaders is the Children's Coordinator. S/he oversees the ministry to the children by: scheduling volunteers on a rotation schedule to minister to the kids, providing access to resources, and monitoring how well the ministry is doing, making adjustments as necessary.

To assist the cell leaders in the recruitment and training of Children's Coordinators, our church offers a periodic 90-minute "workshop" for cell leaders and their Children's Coordinators. They elect to attend for training, questions and answers, ideas and familiarity with the resources. Anyone may attend these workshops including (and especially) volunteer servants whom the coordinator is recruiting.

During the actual cell meetings the children participate with the adults in the WELCOME and WORSHIP segments. We regularly encourage out adults to see themselves as adoptive "aunts and uncles" to the children in their cell, thus creating more of a "family" atmosphere. Cross-generational mixing can occur during the Welcome time as kids and adults alike where in light refreshments and visit with one another informally.

Often the children can participate in answering the "ice-breaker" question, which is the way we bring the WELCOME time to a close. The questions is usually very simple, easy to answer and requires a brief response. The kids almost always break the ice in the cell with their honest, cute answers. This relaxes the entire group and even the adults are more ready to participate.

We strongly recommend that the children remain with the adults during the 10-20 minute worship time. Worship is important to believers of all ages, and there is a wholesome quality as the varying ages participate. During worship the children can observe and learn from the pattern of "entering in" to worship as they watch the adults engage the Lord through song, prayer and testimony. And quite often, the children will interject very inspiring prayers and comments ("out of the mouths of babes…"). The worship leader is well advised to incorporate kid's praise songs regularly. As the WORSHIP segment closes, there is often verbalized prayer, either ongoing praise and/or intercession. The children are continually made to feel welcome as participants here as well.

Just before the WORD segment of the cell meeting, the children are dismissed with their adult leader(s) for their own Word and Activity time. We recommend this not be a "Sunday School" class, but rather an informal time of sharing the truth through conversational instruction, Bible reading/memorization, video, singing, acting out the Bible story (the children can "present" a 2-3 minute play before the adults at the close of cell), etc. The leaders should maintain an atmosphere of order, fun, love and friendliness. The children's 20-30 minutes together should close with a time of prayer for shared needs.

The resources that children's workers can use are limited only by their imagination. We keep a file cabinet at our worship center well-stocked with short Bible lesson plans, coloring and activity sheets, etc. Used VBS material is a good source for common material that is age graded, so there is something for your 4-year old and your 11-year old. At our church the teens have their own cell groups on Wednesday nights, but sometimes also attend their parents' cell meetings. They can participate with the adults or help with the children.

The adults close out their time with a WORKS segment, dedicated to "visioning" and planning future activities, as well as praying for those they want to reach for Christ. On occasion the children could join the adults for this segment, but normally it is best to keep them separate until the adults are finished. At that time they can re-join their parents or present a skit for the adults.

Our cell meetings are geared for 90-minute duration. At the close, the parents of younger children who need to get them to bed may leave. Others can stay around if they want to, being sensitive to their hosts' needs, but cell officially ends in 90 minutes.

Resources for children's cell ministry:

Feed My Lambs, Lorna Jenkins (TOUCH Publications, 1995)

Where Do we God From Here?, Ralph Neighbors (TOUCH Publications, 1990) chapters 19-21.

Biblical Foundations for Children, Jane Nicholas (House To House Publications, 1999)

Cell Church Magazine (TOUCH Publications), see the following issues and articles:
   
"Children's Ministry" by Vicki Egli (Vol. IV, No. 1, pg 12)
   
"Intergenerational Ministry" by Joel Comiskey (Vol. VIII, No. 4, pg 6)
   
"Children's Ministry" by Bob LaPlante (Vol. VIII, No 2, pg 28)
   
"Hey, Church! Kids Need Community Too!" by Lorna Jenkins  (Vol III No. 3, pg 12-13)

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Information and Resources

Question: What information or resources do you recommend concerning cell ministry?

Answer: Here are some books we would recommend for cell group ministry.

COMMUNITY OF THE KING, Howard Snyder. IVP, 1977

THE EARLY METHODIST CLASS MEETING, David L. Watson, Nashville: Discipleship
Resources, 1987

HOW TO BEGIN AN EVANGELISTIC BIBLE STUDY, Ada Lum. IVP, 1971

LEADER'S HANDBOOK FOR SMALL GROUPS, Steve Sheely. Serendipity House, 1994.

THE SECOND REFORMATION, William A. Beckham. TOUCH Publications, 1995

SUCCESSFUL HOME CELL GROUPS. Paul Yonggi Cho. Logos, 1981

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?, Ralph N. Neighbour, Jr. TOUCH Publications, 1990