Tag Archives: Reimagining Children’s and Youth Ministry

New course: How to Run a Vacation Bible School with Dorothy Linthicum

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Vacation Bible School can either be a cheap day camp for kids on summer break or it can be a rich, life-changing immersion in faith for God’s children. Why not make it the latter? In our latest course, How to Run a Vacation Bible School, Dorothy Linthicum shows us how. She offers practical tips and well-tested wisdom on everything from what supplies you might need (or, surprisingly, not need), to identifying opportunities, to training teachers to provide the best experience possible.linthicum

This course is a wonderful way to learn how to run a Vacation Bible School, but it’s also an insightful review that will have seasoned veterans rethinking their own plans or dreaming up new and exciting ones. Dorothy helps us step back a bit to think more deeply about the who, what, where, how, and especially why of a church’s VBS program. She offers assistance on selecting a curriculum, staying organized, selecting volunteers and staff, and getting the whole church involved.

We invite you to imagine just how amazing, life-changing, and faith-enriching a Vacation Bible School can be, not only for young children, but for all the adults involved as well. Click here for more information or to register.

Dorothy Linthicum has counseled countless VBS organizers and reviewed even more VBS curricula in her years as Program Coordinator and Instructor at Virginia Theological Seminary’s Center for the Ministry of Teaching.

Announcing Another Free, Worldwide Class

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FF Title PicChurchNext is thrilled to partner with the good folks at Faith Forward to offer a  free class to all aimed at helping us better understand and nurture young people in the Christian faith.

Registration for The Big Class: Reimagining Children’s and Youth Ministry is now open. Click here for more information and to sign up. The course will run from April 7 – April 14 and features talks with four of the most innovative and talented leaders in children’s and youth ministry.

This is a free, pre-recorded class that will take an average learner about 45 minutes to work through. It features text, video, quizzes, discussion areas, as well as two free downloads: The Takeaway, which is a one-page synopsis of the class, and Discussion Questions, which can be used in face to face gatherings following The Big Class.  There will be live moderating going on during the class (April 7 – April 14) so students will be able to ask the presenters questions.  There is no special software required.

This is the first Big Class we’ve offered in order to help get the word out about an upcoming conference. The class features four of the keynote speakers for the upcoming Faith Forward conference in Nashville. Organizer Dave Csinos and I were thinking about a way to more widely expose the work of these conference presenters to those who were either coming to the conference and wanted to get a head start on what’s coming up, as well as those who will not be attending the conference but have a keen interest in the subject.

The four teachers for this class are Dave Csinos, Melvin Bray, Ivy Beckwith and Danielle Shroyer. We will be releasing a moderator schedule shortly so that students can know when these live chats are happening.  We are excited to be bringing this kind of resource to a wider audience and pray this class can be useful in faith communities around the world.