At the beginning of this month, I shared some exciting news about a children’s ministry conference I will speaking at in November. The name of the conference is Engage, and they have been kind enough to create a Divorce Ministry For Kids track at their conference. For that track, I will be presenting five one hour workshops. The conference will be held November 9-10, 2012 in Mechanicsburg, PA. Here are some more details about the conference.
There is still time to make plans for you to attend the conference, and I wanted to share the details of the five workshops I will be leading. I’ll hope you’ll join me there!
Workshop A – The Forgotten Mission Field: Why Your Church Should Be Ministering to Children of Divorce
There is a huge, and largely untapped, mission field right in your community. That mission field consists of a large and growing numbers of children of divorce and children in single parent homes. In this workshop, we will examine the need for ministering to children of divorce including the numbers of children of divorce, the impacts of divorce on kids, why the church needs to get involved and an explanation of this ripe mission field.
Workshop B – The Good, The Bad & The Ugly: Changing the Church’s Attitude Toward Children of Divorce
Effectively ministering to children of divorce begins with changing attitudes related to these kids. Whether your church actively opposes divorce or simply doesn’t talk about it, we’ll talk about the need for changed attitudes and how to go about changing those attitudes in your church. We’ll discuss the current views of many churches, how the church has failed children of divorce, God’s heart for these kids and call on His people to minister to them and practical steps you can take to change attitudes in your church.
Workshop C – Divorce Through Their Eyes: Understanding the Child of Divorce
In order to effectively minister to, and disciple any child, we must become students of their lives. While each divorce, and each child’s reaction to that divorce is unique, there are some common characteristics and emotions that many of these kids experience. In this workshop, we will examine the circumstances common to the lives of many of these kids, common emotional responses in children of divorce, the timing and length of these reactions and what you can do to help these kids.
Workshop D – First Steps: Starting a Ministry to Children of Divorce at Your Church
Having discussed the need for ministering to children of divorce and the call on the church to do so, we will turn our attention to specific things you and your church can do to minister to these kids. In this workshop, we will talk about specific programs you can start at your church, and in your community, to help these kids to heal from the impacts of their parents’ divorce. Then, we will look in depth at Divorce Care 4 Kids which is a Christ-centered 13 week curriculum designed to give children of divorce the tools they need to develop healthier relationships and deal with the impacts of their parents’ divorce.
Workshop E – Sunday Morning and the Child of Divorce: Ministering to Children of Divorce in a Traditional Children’s Ministry Setting
Ministering to children of divorce involves more than just starting a new program. We must be prepared to accommodate and minister to these kids in our current children’s ministries and programs. In this workshop, we will look at specific areas of your Sunday morning children’s ministry that may need to be reevaluated in light of children of divorce. These will include building relationships, teaching decisions and techniques, dealing with holidays, attendance issue, training volunteers, discipline issues, dealing with parents, and dealing with legal issues.
