An Update to Small Group Leaders | Girls Ministry Fall 2013

Hi there,

I want to give a little update on the life of our Girls Ministry.  What a whirlwind of a semester! Or is it just me that feels that way?  It has flown by and it’s already time for Christmas party planning to start! What?!

I wanted to let you all know that I’m very thankful for each of you that are involved in our girls’ lives.  It means so much that they have you walking through life with them, caring for them, listening to them.  I hear stories from so many of our girls of what an impact our small group leaders are making on their lives.  So if they don’t always say so to you, let me tell you on their behalf that you matter and are making a difference in their lives.  I know we tell you all the time, but we really couldn’t do ministry without you all.  It would be impossible for the us to know all the students the way that you all do.  So thank you!

I got a text today from one of our 11^th grade girls that made my heart sing.  It led me to realize that you all might want to be updated on some things I’ve seen God do in our girls this semester.  So much!  He is so good and faithful, even when the days seem crazy or darker than usual.

So here are a few ways that the Lord is moving in our girls:

Girls desiring to know Scripture – This has shown up several times over the past few weeks.  One girl told me in the text mentioned earlier, “BG I really need to get to learn the stories of the Bible better.  I think they’re super interesting.”  What?!  This is a dream text to get.  Usually I get texts about boy drama, or fights between girls…but no, this girl desires to know scripture more. And it’s not just her.  I’ve had conversations with several students desiring to know how to know the Bible better.  This is a cool way that God is moving in their hearts. I can’t tell you how exciting it is to know that they want to know God better. Yay!

Community built – I’ve seen so many instances this semester where our girls are finding true friendships.  I think for a while our students would come, know some people on surface levels, and then go home and hang out with school friends.  I’ve seen over the past semester friendships form that go beyond schools and the church.  They call each other out when they miss church or are not walking the right path.  They have sleepovers without prompting from adults; they are doing life together and encouraging each other in their relationships with Christ.  I think some may see it as “cliques” but I don’t know that they’re exclusive. Sometimes they are, but I think our students have grown over the past semester in accepting new people. This is cool to me!  These friendships share something greater than many school friendships do – they share Christ.  Those who play basketball together share basketball and once basketball season ends, they might have a few things in common, but many times those friendships fade.  Church friendships seem to last, or at least what I’ve noticed, because they share a relationship with Christ.
Another aspect of community is that girls will go to their small group leaders or other members of their small groups before other people when there’s a problem.  They have trust and security within our ministry.  There are also girls sticking up for other girls in hard situations, the love and support they show – and you show – when things get tough for families or friends.  Within our community, they laugh together, hurt together, cry together, are goofy together, and move on together.  This is really encouraging to be part of and to see.

Girls on the fringe – I made a list this year of all the girls active in our ministry.  Whoa, there’s a lot!  And we’ve grown throughout the semester, with new people.  With this list, I started to sort of mark off the ones that I knew well or have conversations with regularly, and that hit a good number of them, but definitely not all.  So then I started to look at who they were and reach out to them and what I learned was that many of the ones I considered “on the fringe” –because I didn’t necessarily know them – were actually plugged in with other girls or with their small groups.  And many of them have just gotten plugged in this semester.  Some that were coming with their boyfriends actually have friends among other girls.  And many of the new girls have come, stuck, and gotten very plugged in.  Like several of the girls in the middle school worship team; they are new-ish and already leading.  There are still some that are probably “on the fringe,” but this semester has been one of community.  I can’t reach them all, but with your help and with the help of our girls, they can be known and cared for.  Cool.

The counseling room – anyone know what I’m talking about?  Yup.  The bathroom.  Can I just tell you how many times I’ve walked in awkwardly to the bathroom only to find girls crying or hashing out drama?  One particular Wednesday night I walked in on two girls, one was sobbing with the other trying to comfort her.  I stopped to listen and help, but then a visitor walked in on them and the awkwardness continued.  Not to say that this is bad.  It opened up a good conversation later with the visitor.  But the cool thing about this moment was that I wasn’t needed to help this sobbing girl.  The friend had it all under control.  And this bathroom is a place of comfort to the girls.  I asked a small group Sunday how they felt about it, and they all agreed that it was the safe place to cry, collect themselves, and deal with drama.  In the bathroom. Nice.  This happened with some middle schoolers one Sunday morning too.  The bathroom drama stories could be endless, and I’m sure many of you know what I’m talking about.  It is cool that our girls are at a place where they are able to help one another, comfort each other, and walk in life together.
As a side note, I’m thinking of painting the bathroom a happier color and putting Bible verses of comfort around.  Any ideas are welcomed!

Called to Ministry – so many conversations this semester have revolved around our girls wanting to do ministry.  There are several girls feeling the call to ministry.  God is at work, people!  I love hearing girls come to know Christ, and I love when they make friends, and I love that they have a desire for Scripture.  But for some reason, maybe because it’s impacted me personally, when I hear girls tell me or others that they want to do ministry for life, I get giddy.  I think that this reflects the fruit of their relationship with Christ more than some other things.  It means that they really get what Christ is calling us to do and are being selfless enough to understand giving their lives, hopes and dreams to Christ.  There are girls that want to do girls ministry, student ministry, missions, and beyond.  Some are already doing this.  I know a 9^th grader that is leading FCA at Wakeland.  She’s teaching senior football players the Bible.  Not just the happy stories either; she told me she’s teaching on “getting out of the boat,” being connected to the vine (John 15), and calling them all out on the type of language they use.  Awesome!  Others are leading in their schools or within the ministry.  I can’t wait to see how God uses so many of them the rest of this year, and beyond high school and college.

I know that you all have so many stories of what God is doing in your small groups and in your ministries.  I would LOVE to hear them!  We only see a glimpse of what is happening, and so we love to hear your stories.  So be encouraged that God is at work.  He is doing great things in our ministry, and will continue to use you and our girls.  I’m thankful that God has put me in this church, this ministry, and that He is moving in the lives of our girls.

Love,

Brittany

Dear Intern 1 | The Beginnings and Scripture

I have an intern this year. It’s weird that I’m at that stage in my life. Flip back a few posts and you can read about when I was the intern. I learned so much through that time.
I’ve been wanting to write. About ministry, about life. I was thinking through how to best equip my intern this year and decided that it might be cool if I started a journal of sorts to her so that maybe then she can read through it and hear my heart. Plus, it’s good for me to process through writing. I thought that it might e a good outlet to share with the blog and others, besides the Intern could learn too.

Here goes.

I want to share with you some things I’m learning. I know i don’t have it all figured out, but I want to contribute daily to your life. I sincerely believe that God teaches us things everyday. He’s constantly speaking to us, changing us to become more like Him. So in order for me to pay more attention to those teachings, and because I think it might be beneficial for you to learn as well, here are some daily learnings. I think that documenting what God is doing highlights themes throughout various seasons and allows us to go back in years to come to remind ourselves of what God has done. It will hopefully allow me to become a better girls minister along the way.
Many of these learnings may pertain to the ministry, some may be relational, and others may just be about life. They might be something you’re dealing with right now or that you have trouble relating to, but might come across in the future. Either way, I’m going to share them with you.

November 11, 2013
Be grounded in Scripture. I know this is important, but I was reminded of just how important today.
Hebrews 4:12 says that all Scripture is alive and active, more powerful than any double edged sword. Wow! Scripture also says that apart from Christ we can do nothing. Nothing! Not that apart from Him we can do something halfway or just enough, but we that are lifeless without Christ. This means that if we are not seeking Him daily- through personal times with Him in His Word, then we are basically dead. Lesson of today is to meet with God daily. Personally, intimately. It makes all the difference for our attitudes and who we are. The purpose of our lives is to love God and to bring Him glory, and to love people. How can we do that if we are not knowing Him more though Scripture? Knowing more how to relate to people as Christ would?
Being grounded in Scripture is also important because as teachers, we must teach Scripture. Doesn’t the saying go “teach/write what you know”? If we are not studying and learning throughout the week, then our lessons come Sunday or Wednesday will be empty words. We will not have allowed time for the Spirit to speak to us so that we can teach.
This morning I decided that I’m not going to turn on the coffee pot until I have spent time in Scripture. This means that as I was sort of rushing around, I still made myself pause to read but didn’t have time to make the coffee. Did I die of depravement? No. But I did realize that I rely on caffeine too much to get me through the day. So instead of starting my day with material energy, I was able I be filled with God’s word.
And what resulted was going into situations that might have had the potential to be saturated in disappointment or bitterness with a positive attitude; not allowing my circumstances to effect my attitude. It gave me a better eternal perspective throughout the day.
I was reading through Samson’s story after my normal reading plan because that is the series we are in as a student ministry. It was good for me to read the story again not only because it came up among the staff today, but also because there was some convicting stuff! At one point, as soon as Delilah cuts Samson’s hair, The Spirit leaves him. However because he had been traveling down a path away from God with the philistine lifestyle, he had no clue that the Spirit had left him. Terrifying. How often do I go for days without reading the Word and not notice that the power of God has left me? May it never be said of me again that I was unaware of the power of the Holy Spirit leaving me. May I be fully grounded in Scripture.
So please, whether you’re in ministry or not, be in the Word. It is life. It gives life. Make it a priority and start your day with The Lord.

Reading Scripture via Technology | Viewing Scripture, Part 2

My last post discussed how we can accurately view and teach Scripture.  If you didn’t read it, you can read it here.  There is a second part to my thoughts tonight. I’d also like your thoughts on this one.

One classmate responded to the question with a decent answer on how it is dangerous to add our own thoughts to Scripture, which is good.  However she then stated, “As bible teachers we are under a divine mandate to teach the Word of God in spirit and in truth and the best way to do that is to teach from the tool itself.  Many today use the iPad, cell phones and other technological ways to read God’s Word which is ok, but I still believe that as believers we should never replace the hard copy of the bible for anything else.”

Ummm What?!

So this is how I responded.. Too harsh??

I feel that I must disagree with the full statement that “as believers we should never replace the hard copy of the bible for anything else.”

I do agree that there is something sentimental and nostalgic about holding a Bible in our hands. It is good for us to hold books and to underline and flip pages; to touch the Words of God. I personally prefer this over technology. However, at the end of the day, the Gospel is the Gospel and whether it’s being read on a computer, iPad, ancient scroll, or hard bound book, God’s Word is still alive and active in people’s lives. The same is said of reading Scripture in different languages. One cannot make the jump to say that if scripture isn’t read in the original Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic, then it has been replaced. Sure sometimes the weight of each word might change, but God is still speaking through and to His people. We cannot confine God to English, when there are thousands of other languages in the world. God is a God above language and above paper and pen, screen and typed letters. This makes our relationship with God so personal and unique – He longs to know us where we are at.

I feel like the “technology war” for Scripture is the same way. I think that God is still pleased that His children are reading His letters if it’s on a tablet or if it is from pieces of paper bound together. He is not bound by little boxes in our minds or to pages or scrolling websites. Each person is different, and some find it more personal to read from their phones. This could be a benefit when people are on the go. There are also useful tools coming out all the time that help in studying, teaching, and learning the Scriptures.

I still prefer my paper Bible, but I’m not comfortable confining God to a statement saying that God cannot speak to people in different forms, when the Words are the same, and God is still moving in our lives.

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Thoughts??

Viewing Scripture, Part 1

Working on my Master’s courses tonight, I was faced with an interesting question, and wanted to post the question for your opinions and wanted to post my response, also for your reactions.  It’s a question that church leaders often are faced with and wrestle with.  Hopefully it does not strike you as too difficult, but if it does, maybe you can use this as an opportunity to learn.

The topic was giving the Bible the prominence that it deserves as teachers of the Word.  The exact wording was:
What can we do in our churches to give the Bible the prominence it deserves and how can we ensure that our Bible teachers use the Bible as the text and not just the curriculum guide?

Here’s my opinion:
In our churches, there are a few ways that we could give the Bible prominence as we teach people.  For starters, we can believe that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God.  God spoke the words and they do not contradict each other and are completely true. As leaders, if we do not hold this key truth then what we are teaching will reflect that.  As we believe this and teach this to our congregations, we put more emphasis on Scripture and its importance in speaking to us.  We allow Scripture to speak through us in what is taught and in how we act.  It does not need to be added to and it is not appropriate to take bits of scripture to fit our own agendas.

Secondly, we can teach from the Bible.  There are several good books in Christian circles, but the Gospel can stand on its own.  Scripture speaks for itself enough that it does not need to be choked out by human thoughts.  Emphasizing Scripture as the curriculum instead of a topic would allow for teachers to use the Bible as text instead just the curriculum guide.  It isn’t bad to do book studies every now and then, but if that is the only thing being taught, it is time to get back to Scripture.

I also think that if we allow Bible teachers, such as Sunday school teachers or small group leaders, the freedom to pace their class, Scripture could be relied on more.  Some groups need to camp out two verses at a time while others prefer the entire chapter.  Each group has different dynamics and when church leadership constricts every group to the same method, despite differences that may work better for a group, teachers are more apt to see the curriculum guide as more important instead of using Scripture as text.

Finally, if we instill in our churches the weight of the gospel and the importance of a personal relationship with God through His word, Scripture will take the prominent place it deserves.  If the people of the church place the Bible as a lifeline, priority in their personal lives, and the teachers allow for Scripture to penetrate every aspect of their lives, then the standard of prominence for the Bible will rise.

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Thoughts?

Tea, Lemonade and Cupcakes!

Last Friday, our 6th grade girls got together for a little tea party! I am so excited to have these girls in our student ministry now! It’s been a blast getting to know them over the past few weeks! I’m looking forward to all that God is going to do in the lives of these girls over the next few years.

I thought of no better way to kick-off their time in our ministry than with a tea party! (We substituted real tea with some raspberry tea and pink lemonade!) What a great time we had of being girly, silly, and laughing so much. The goal of the night was to make the girls feel special, girly, and like the princesses that they are. I feel like we were definitely girly and we talked about how much we are loved and valued in God’s eyes.

Here are a few pictures from some games we played, a photo booth, and the giant cupcakes (thanks to Dimples bakery) we ate!

Who doesn’t love 4 boxes of cupcakes?!

These lovely ladies are a few of our 9th graders who were a tremendous help setting up and cleaning up Friday. It is always good to see older students getting involved and investing in younger girls.

Another great night, and another reminder of how blessed I am to serve these girls!

Top Ten Things Overheard | Revolve Tour 2013

*They’re climbing in yo window…snatching your snacks up. Hide yo sour patch kids, hide yo m&ms. ’cause the rats are all up in here!
*Drool and jaws drop as Anthem Lights takes the stage. High pitched screaming follows.
*I’m not sure who is screeching louder, Kelly Scott or the rats??
*”We didn’t sleep all night! And we’re not tired. And we wrote new songs on the guitar we learned to play just now.”
*Upon meeting Anthem Lights: “Hi whats your name?” Danniee: “Ummm…Uhhh, Christina!”
Later: “Who’s Christina?? I completely forgot my name, he’s so attractive!”
*What should we do with 40 girls at midnight? Pack out McDonalds and feed them ice cream!
*Bullying is cool #saidnooneever
*Can we be best friends with Britt Nicole?? -Molly Sexton
*I’m never washing this hand again!
*”Nothing abnormal about riding a wheelchair at church and 1:00 a.m”
*The service is over and it’s time to go…where are all our girls? Oh, that’s right. We’ll be waiting on them for the next few hours as they talk with bands and speakers. Waiting…always waiting.
*After waiting, we get kicked out…again.
*Why is it that we got kicked out? Oh yes, because Molly and Courtney are freaking out and running laps in the worship center.
*This is Love. And true love is not a what but a Someone.