If we live in a world where games are constantly being used within the church, does that mean that church is becoming more like a game? Or does it mean that we are becoming more interactive and encouraging our teens and children to enjoy church? We will all face a day when we are asked by those within the congregation why we play games within our teen and children's ministries. While we have covered the topics of Godly play and the purpose of having games within our ministry in class (sometimes it is nothing more than a game), that does not mean we can always get others to understand the importance of these activities. All in all how would you handle parents, the board, etc. If they were coming to you demanding that you concentrate more on teaching their children, and concentrate less on   goofing off. Remember these people are a major part of your congregation and typically get there way. Even if their way does not include you on the staff. So use diplomacy.

Godly Play

This past Monday night for class we all dived into leading our respective groups of kids in Godly play. It felt like the night ran very smoothly. We all had our different stories that put kids at the center of the stories in the Bible that we presented. I feel like the main point of Godly play is to make the participants feel like they are living out the story themselves. Helping the kids try to experience the presence of God was a very enjoyable thing to do. Not only did we help them experience God, but it also felt like we all encountered God by leading them through it. Here are some questions to think about. First off, what could your group have done better in preparation for the night? Would you have changed anything from what you did? Finally, how often should Godly play be used in ministry?

At Time and Place for Fun

There is a time and a place for fun so why can't church be one of those places? As we learned in the introduction of our Les Christie book that people have been playing games since before Jesus' time. Plato even concluded that playing was a good way to teach the youth about societal rules. Christie brings up on page 11 "In some circles today, it's still thought that 'fun' and 'church' shouldn't be in the same sentence." Why would this be if play can be a good thing? The way the world has changed games have become something you do alone whereas games used to be a communal things. This makes me wonder why would some churches not like having games played in their churches during youth group, and if we got more people to play games together could this be the first steps to building community once more in our society? So my question is can we use games to help rebuild community, and have you seen this done anywhere before?

A Year in the Rear-view Mirror :)

Well, we are basically days away from calling it a year and finishing this class.  In looking back on the semester, how was it as a whole?  What did you gain the most from-why?  What did you feel you did not gain much at all from-why? Is there anything you would have done differently in retrospect?

MSO Planning

How is your planning going for MSO? What struggles have you faced? How were you able to overcome those struggles? Are you ready for MSO? What last minute planning do you have to get done?  Are you excited for this event?

Camp Projects

Overall, what were your thoughts on the experience of creating the camp notebook? Was there anything new you learned about event planning that you had never really thought about before? What do you think the biggest challenge of planning an event like this would be? What's the main thing you want to make sure you remember about this type of event planning?

Event Planning/Creative Process

Why is it important to brainstorm when creating a regular ministry night? How does cardstorming work and why should we use it? Do you think that the different ideas that we talked about in class will help you out later on in ministry?