Article #12 in our series is from Mike Johnson.
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The Future of Children’s Ministry – Mike Johnson
Once upon a time…
For kids it always has been, and always will be, about the story. The only thing that will change is how that story is told.
Kids are captivated by a good story. Luckily for us, God knew this far in advance and gave us a book full of amazing stories! The Bible.
I am always awed at the power of a creative, well crafted, thought provoking story. Walt Disney (and now Pixar) realized that all the bells and whistles of a movie mean nothing if there is not a strong story to support it, to hold it up. The great news for us is that when we as children’s ministers teach our kids the Bible, our stories comes from the strongest story resource in the universe!
As we move further into the 21st century, the Biblical stories will remain constant, but our methods of telling those stories will evolve. We will continue to use more and more of…the flannel graph of the 21st century (video), which will not serve as a replacement of the teacher but only as a tool to augment and accentuate the story that is being told. We will captivate kids, not just with the spoken word, but with the visual images that new technology will allow us to accomplish. And, by using a combination of video, online technologies, and personal computing we will be able to send the visual story home with the kids in such a way that the lesson learned at church can be further explored throughout the week.
Studies have shown that between 2004 and 2009, the number of 8 to 18 year-olds who own their own cell phone grew from about four in ten (39%) to about two-thirds (66%). The portion of 8 to 18 year-olds with iPods or other MP3 players increased even more dramatically, jumping from 18% to 76%. In this same period of time, home Internet access expanded from 74% to 84% among young people; the percentage with a laptop grew from 12% to 29%; and Internet access in the bedroom jumped from 20% to 33%. The quality of Internet access also improved, with high-speed access increasing from 31% to 59%. With the continual introduction of better and cheaper devices that can easily download and play video, more and more children will have access to watch videos and learn the stories on their own. [i]
In the near future our children’s personal Bible study time will become a whole new experience as they see the stories of the Bible visually come to life on their computers and their iPods. And, with the appropriate application questions, our children will then dig into the Word to read these stories for themselves, thus developing the Bible skills that will serve them the rest of their lives. Through these visual stories of the Bible kids will see God’s Word for what it is, a book that speaks to their lives today and a book that will help them find the successful life that God wants them to have in the future.
The necessity of human relationship will never go away; we are relational beings who will always require human interaction. However, within those human relationships, our teaching methods will change. We have been afforded a unique opportunity to truly allow the teaching done at church to go home with every child. No longer will learning about God be reserved for the weekend. Instead, what is taught at church can be experienced over and over each day of the week. Every pastor’s dream is for the children of the church to be compelled to open God’s word and apply its contents each and every day. The future’s technology can make that dream a reality. Soon the norm will be for children to not only view and learn from the stories of the Bible on Sunday, but also to take the visual representations of those stories home with them when they leave. In sum, the oldest and greatest stories will be delivered in new and creative ways, expanding their reach to a whole new generation. Which is pretty cool…since it always has been, and always will be, about the story.
[i] Victoria J. Rideout, M.A. Ulla G. Foehr, Ph.D. and Donald F. Roberts, Ph.D. (2010). GENERATION M2: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds. Menlo Park, CA: Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. p 3.
About Mike Johnson
Mike Johnson has been the Children’s Pastor of Fellowship Church since 1993. In that role, he also continues to reach out to churches across the world with Elevate and Elevate Jr. and to families through Elevate Family. Mike has a Masters in Biblical Studies from Dallas Theological Seminary as well as a Masters in Christian Education with a Children’s emphasis. In his spare time, Mike enjoys sculpting, carpentry, and most of all, spending time with his family.
Keep up with Mike at mikejohnsonblog.com & elevatekids.com. Follow on Twitter @mikefjohnson & @elevatekids.
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All articles in this series reflect the opinion of the author and may or may not reflect the opinion of Greg Baird and KidMin360.
