The last few months we have been trying to come up with a new name for our Children's Ministry. I mean, not that Lafayette First Church of the Nazarene Children's Ministry isn't catchy, it just sounds more like a dental procedure than a fun place to come and hang out and learn about Jesus.
I wish I could say that coming up with a new name was easy. It was anything but. There are lots of implications that come with naming something. Think about when you named your kids. We went through every possible scenario when choosing our boy's names. What does the name mean, what are the possible nicknames, will they ever be able to find a pencil at Cracker Barrel with their name on it, how does it sound with our last name, how does it sound when the teacher calls it out, is it easy to spell, will other kids beat them up for their name, does it rhyme with a bad word?
The process was the same with a Children's Ministry name. I knew early on what I was not ok with. Nothing where the letters "c" or "s" were replaced with "k" or "z". That automatically eliminated the Kool Kidz Klub. I figure, if we are teaching kids, we probably should at least teach them how to spell correctly.
We have also been going through the process of figuring out exactly what our goals as a ministry are. We believe 200% in the church mission statement of encouraging all to be passionate followers of Christ, but what does that mean to a 7 year old?
After lots of thought and discussion and prayer, here is what we came up with:
Our mission is that every kid that comes through our doors would experience the WONDER of God, DISCOVER what is means to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and that they would begin to see themselves in light of who God created them to be and live that out with a PASSION for loving God and loving others.
Wonder. Discovery. Passion.
These three words are at the core of our Children’s Ministry and the driving force behind everything we do. From infants to preteens, our mission is to infuse the elements of wonder, discovery and passion to help them see God for who He is and to see themselves in the way God sees them so they can love others the way God does.
And so.....wait for it......wait for it.........(drum roll)............
iNFUSE
That is gonna be our new name. I know, the lower case i is a little cheesy, but hey, kids like cheesy and it worked for Apple. What do you think? Would you wanna hang out with us?
