This week in Wal-Mart I was reminded why I love the fall season. Ready? The Halloween candy hits the shelves. Am I the only children’s pastor who loves walking slowly (and I mean slowly) down the long aisle of individually wrapped Halloween candy? Do you find yourself thinking, “the kids would love this!”? Varieties of candy that you can never find make their appearance this time of year. Why can’t they sell this much candy all year long?
You know you’re a children’s pastor when… you find yourself blogging about Halloween candy at Wal-Mart (and you can’t wait to go buy some more).
Last weekend I stumbled on a brand new airline. It’s called Skybus. It was everything I look for in an airline. It was fun, roomy, cheap and different. It was a cross between Southwest and Jet Blue. The flight attendants were really young, they were wearing t-shirts and the fares were very reasonable. There are 10 seats on all planes that they put on sell early for only $10 each. (Yes, $10!) To top it off it’s a full size plane. They charge $5 a bag and another $10 to be in the first boarding group. Even with the extras I flew from Greensboro, NC to Columbus, OH non-stop for $89.00. To top it off they did some cool new things that I’ve never seen another airline do. They boarded and loaded from the front and back of the plane at the same time. Cool, huh? Then they sold watches, jewelry, make-up, perfume, cross-pens and other gift items at 20% to 40% off during the flight. If they sold internet access I would have been all over that and I would have checked to see if their prices were really discounted. Over all I was impressed. Their goal was to create a better airline that serves people and makes money. I think they’re on their way. I’ll fly them whenever I can. My question is if you were going to re-think Children’s Ministry and make it better what would you do? You know where it served families and today’s kids needs, how out of the box are you willing to get? Would you just keep doing the same old same old or would it look like skybus?
My sister-in-law is a nursing student at Purdue. She also works security on campus a few hours each week. A few weeks ago we were walking around campus and she showed me something cool. All around the campus are call boxes that can be engaged by pushing a button. They have been strategically placed so that anywhere you are on campus (and it’s a big campus) you can see a call box in case you need help. Purdue brags that by the time you tag the next call box, campus police should be there.
Here’s a remarkable idea. Place call boxes in each hallway of your church. Strategically place them where visitors in your church can access them anywhere in the facility. Wire the call boxes to the welcome center or usher’s office. Promise that by the time a visitor tags the next call box, an usher will be there to assist them.
The problem: Creating the technology? No, that would be easy. Raising the money? Maybe, but not impossible. The problem is that visitors wouldn’t use your call box system. They don’t want to push a button and wait for someone in a tie to come running to them for aid. Visitors don’t want to be in the spotlight.
The best thing you can do is train the people in your church to be on the watch for visitors and always be sensitive to their needs. Have greeters and ushers strategically placed. Make the most of good signs. Be available and on alert yourself as a leader. Is this as remarkable as a call box system in your church? I think so.