Being a kids minister during a pandemic

BY: Dylan Bjorklund

Sundays still matter, but so does Monday morning, Tuesday drive-time, Wednesday bed-time, Thursday bath-time, Friday meal-time, and Saturday play-time.

I know all of us have had mixed emotions about the pandemic of COVID-19. And in many ways we all feel the same--can this thing be over yet?!

I remember when I first heard the word "coronavirus." It came a few weeks before our yearly overnight trip where we take 30 preteens to a conference, CIY SUPERSTART! Of course, taking 30 kids on an overnight trip now seems crazy and reckless (especially since almost every summer camp and retreat center has canceled its camps and retreats this year). But this was all new; we took precautions, we spent the necessary money on buying extra cleaning supplies and a no-touch thermometer. And we did it--it was a great weekend!

Sunday morning came and went (we had taken extra precautions here as well, getting more serious about our 'sick policy,' and washing hands before coming into the room). We celebrated a great weekend with preteens and a great Sunday as a kids ministry. But who would have thought that would be the last time we would be meeting in person for several months. And as I write this, we are in our fourth month of not meeting in person.

My initial reaction when our church leadership decided to cancel on-site services for the weekend was, "Let's get online". So literally all Friday night (no kidding, I think I slept an hour or two that night) and all day Saturday we filmed, edited and published Bible story videos for kids. We also created simple lessons, crafts and activities that families could do at-home with their kids. And this went on for another week or two. I was definitely in the panic mode and the trying to get ahead mode.

I spent the next two weeks trying to get ahead on the videos we produced for kids and on the at-home lessons. But then the end of the month came, and it hit me...like a ton of bricks. I remember that Sunday night at the end of March. I was eating dinner and my heart began beating out of my chest. My mind was racing with worry, concern, and uncertainty. I couldn't eat anything. This lasted all night and I hardly slept. It took about a week and a half to "get over" it (and I say that lightly, because I don't know if I really got over it or if I just learned to press forward in the midst of it). I am an anxious person, but my anxiety had never manifested itself that seriously. I spent the next few weeks trying to figure out what the culprit was. What was causing this anxiety in me? And then it hit me... Sunday was gone!

What was causing this anxiety in me? And then it hit me... Sunday was gone!

I know that we were doing services online, that we were providing great content for kids, but I am talking about the weekly in-person gathering that happened every week that started at 8:15am (when check-in volunteers would begin arriving in their orange 'welcome' shirts to set up check-in) and ended at 12:30pm (when I would be helping the coordinator shut off the lights in the Kids Town Hallway and lock the storage room after cleaning everything up). Almost everything I did in my job was about Sunday.

During a normal week, I was making phone calls to volunteers to make sure we were ready for Sunday. I was working with our curriculum editors for our small group lessons for Sundays, writing thank you cards to 1st time guest (who came on Sundays), purchasing the needed items to have a great Sunday with kids (which included all of those goldfish we give to preschoolers for snack), and reading over and preparing for my elementary large group lessons. I had a calendar, I had a routine. Most of our kids leadership team meetings were about Sundays. And I realized, we did Sundays, and we did them well.

The Plum Creek Kids team with nearly 220 volunteers strong, averaging 100 kids weekly between two services, with the beginnings of a great special needs ministry and an environment that was the reason many parents said they came to Plum Creek for the first time was rocking it... we knew what we were doing. Were there things we needed to fix? Why absolutely! But we had the systems in place and the conversations started to make Sunday the best possible experience for a kid and their parents.

And then just like that, it was gone. The incredible 2020 Say Yes Campaign where we recruited those 220 volunteers, the 15 hours of volunteer work to get ready for a Sunday, those late Wednesday and Thursday nights in leadership meetings, our slick looking 2020 Theme booklet, our buddy program, our consistent small group leaders for elementary kids, our amazing looking Kids ministry t-shirts (okay, I'm just being biased now), our fun kids town theme hallway... it was all gone. Gone like a freight train, gone like yesterday, gone like a '59 Cadillac, like all them good things that ain't never coming back (wait isn't that a country song...).

Anyways, you get the point, it was gone. And I felt a deep loss... I was wondering to myself, "What now?" I mean, we knew how to do a Sunday. We knew how to create a safe, fun, biblically relevant environment from 8:15am-12:30pm each Sunday... but now Kids Town hallway was dark during those hours, the classrooms were empty, the doors were shut, the check-in kiosk still in their storage spot. All of the copies we made and the supplies we prepared for the month were recycled or put back into the storage room...

And I have to say, I greatly miss all of that. And I am looking forward to coming back to it as soon as it is safe for us to do so. But, as I pondered this reality it came to me. Although Sunday is important, there is way more to following Christ than just what happens on a Sunday. Matter of fact, what we do on a Tuesday evening at dinner time with our kids, or on a Saturday morning when we are getting them out of bed, what we do on a Wednesday during work matters just as much as what we do on Sunday for an hour.

I always knew this truth, but it was so easy to stay focused on Sunday because we knew what we needed to do and how to WIN on a Sunday. So when Sunday came to a screeching halt, it required our team to pivot, to rethink, to reimagine and to refocus. What would it look like if we really partnered with parents? How can we help a father be a better dad to his kids? How can we help an exhausted mother? How can we help parents take ownership as the primary disciple-maker of their kids?

Perhaps this may be just what we needed to help us refocus. To help us realize that what happens during the week is what really matters. We can make anything work and look nice for an hour one day a week. But what we all need is help being a follower of Christ after a long and hard day at work, when our kid is throwing a fit that their older brother got the last slice of pizza and they didn't. When our kids ask us hard questions about life and God. When a pandemic hits. When our precious little girl is getting made fun of at school. When our cute little boy is starting to get in fights on the playground. When our not-so-little baby is asking what it means to get baptized.

Furthermore, our community needs to hear the message of the gospel. And we are tired of waiting for them to come to us. And so we are asking what it would look like to refocus on our community? To show up and be FOR them. Creating meaningful partnerships with schools, community leaders and local businesses to bring the kingdom of God into our community.

And so we are pivoting, we are rethinking, reimagining and refocusing. We have decided that it is time to make the most of every day of the week, not just a Sunday.

Now, you need to know, once we are able to have in-person Sunday programming for kids again, you can still expect that same safe, fun, biblically relevant environment (maybe with just more germ-X, a high-tech thermometer and a more robust cleaning schedule). However, you can also expect that during the week we want to partner with you to help you WIN in those small everyday moments. Whether that is with a blog, a podcast, providing a simple meal plan (just to take one thing off of your to-do list), with small online classes that you can watch at your schedule, with reminders through social media... we want to help you disciple your kids beyond just a Sunday.

You can also expect to hear us talking a lot more about community outreach. You will be hearing a lot more about ways we can get involved at your child's school, things you can do for your neighbors, ways to support local businesses and ways to lock arms with community leaders to accomplish a task.

Sundays still matter, but so does Monday morning, Tuesday drive-time, Wednesday bed-time, Thursday bath-time, Friday meal-time, and Saturday play-time.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith,who for the joy set before Him endured the cross,scorningits shame,and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. -Hebrews 12:1-2

Let us press forward, partnering with one another in even greater ways to win the next generation and our community for Christ.

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About the Writer:

Dylan is the Kids and Associate Minister at Plum Creek Christian Church. He has a Bachelor of Arts in Preaching Ministry and a Master of Arts and Religion in Theology. He is married to Cassie, who he calls an incredible ministry and life partner, and they with their dog Maggie live in Alexandria.