Over the weekend, I attended a Children's Ministry Conference in Eastbourne, a once grand town by the sea. It's the only beach I've seen in England. I've been told to go to Wales or Norfolk for the best. Eastbourne has beautiful Victorian hotels lining the seafront with a boardwalk, bandstand and pier. The conference is during the off season, so it's cheap, but the weather was nice enough for a brisk walk if one decided to ditch one of the workshops.
The conference was a great place for six married ladies to recharge their batteries, get re-energized for children's work and get to know each other a little better. They had a brilliant worship band that led us in songs every morning and evening.
One track that ran through the entire weekend was working with tweenagers, the new number one marketed-to consumer group of 9 to 14 year olds that has unseated teens as the people with the most expendable income and the most pester power. These people are still children but spend their money to look and act like teenagers. It would be a huge insult to call them kids. They're leaving church in droves because they've outgrown their idea of what God is and church is boring! This is my group! It seems an insurmountable task to try to keep them engaged and excited about developing their relationship with Jesus as their personal saviour!
But this is my son's age. And even though I don't see him as sophisticated and grown up as the demographic info suggests, he's at the point where he's asking tough questions, like "My friends are good people and they don't go to church, why should I?"
I came away from the weekend with some great ideas, hopefully enough to keep them interested. I'm going to start employing more technology, send out termly newsletters via their email address, and possibly starting a chat room on MySpace, or IM on certain days of the week. Either way, I need help and prayers. I'm feeling a little obsolete. Any ideas?
