The Sunday School Zone Blog
The Sunday School Zone Blog contains insights on children’s spiritual formation as well as tips, ideas, and suggestions to help Christian parents and leaders as they work with kids of all abilities (and even adults with special needs) at home, church, and school. If you would like to contribute to the blog, please visit our Writer Inquiries page and then send us an explanatory email at [email protected] describing the kind of writing you’d like to do. We welcome those who have something of substance to say to Christian parents and teachers of children. You already know that Sunday School Zone offers tons of free, printable Bible activities for kids. If you think you’d like to contribute, please read more…
Lead Volunteers: To Excel at Long Suffering, One Must First Suffer Long
In ministry, perseverance and long suffering are part of the package. There is a hard labor of love that comes in ministry. There are people who will intentionally, or unintentionally, seek to hurt and harm. I need to suffer those insults. People Will Disappoint You Being in ministry means that you are going to suffer…
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Lead Volunteers: Concerned About Many Things
I may be concerned about many things, but I am responsible for but a few. Place your energies towards the few. Do you know what YOU are responsible for? Over the years, I have been plagued by what I viewed as illogical and poor decision-making by ministries that I had no responsibility for in my…
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Underutilization of Key Volunteers
Underutilization of key volunteers is as dangerous as overworking and burning out volunteers. We often think that the worst possible scenario is to overwork a zealous volunteer. We definitely need to be cautious and conscious of overworking someone, but there is something just as detrimental as overworking a volunteer. The underutilization of a key volunteer…
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Be a Good Shepherd. Don’t Scare the Sheep.
The role of a shepherd is to lead beside quiet waters, to lead into green pastures, and to care for the sheep. Sheep are interesting animals. Let’s imagine that a herd of sheep is grazing quietly, the sun is out, not a cloud in the sky, and one sheep bends down to eat a tuft…
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Lead Volunteers: Contact Volunteers for More Than Just an Ask
In this episode of Lead Volunteers (under 2 minutes), Josh talks about the value of contacting volunteers in order to affirm then and give to them. When the only time they hear from us is when we’re asking for something, we are conditioning them to dread our call! Lead Volunteers can help you make positive…
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Lead Volunteers: Unity Is a Kingdom Value
I believe that unity is one of the most important things that can occur inside the local church. We need to be unified. Unity is a Kingdom value. Unity Isn’t Always Easy Now, that can be very difficult at times. There have been occasions when, behind closed doors, I was vehemently opposed to a decision…
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Identity and Space and Time
We noted in a prior article that humanity is connected to creation because we are also created beings. This means we are subject to some of the same limitations that all of creation operates under. One of those limitations is the reality of space and time. Space and Time If verses 1 and 2 of…
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Lead Volunteers: Make Room for Loving People
In this episode of Lead Volunteers (just under 2 minutes), Josh talks about the need to understand our calling to love people and to be sure we make room for loving people in our daily responsibilities. It’s easy to get consumed and overwhelmed by “the machine” of administrative duties and tasks and forget to simply…
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Lead Volunteers: Attending Your Own Event
Attend your own event. It sounds like common logic. Who in their right mind would plan an event but then not attend the event that they have planned? But ministry is so complex and there are times where so much is going on. You may have worked so hard at planning and preparing the event,…
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