February 15, 2007

Issue #1

1. Introduction to Tim Wharton and Gospel Light Baptist Church

2. Average Sunday at G.L.B.C. Children's Church

3. Recommendations by Bro. Tim

4. Attend or Sponsor a Workshop with Bro. Tim

5. Link to Photographs of Bro. Tim's Ministry

Introduction to Tim Wharton and G.L.B.C.

We were not the least bit disappointed when we saw Bro. Tim’s children’s church room! WOW! What kid would not want to attend Gospel Light Baptist Church with a children’s ministry like this?! As a matter of fact, adults are pretty fond of G.L.B.C. as well. I’m not sure that I have ever attended a Sunday church service as exciting and motivating as this past week at G.L.B.C.! My husband commented that it felt like a conference… only it was just a *typical* Sunday!

Bro. Tim told us that he was led to the Lord by Bro. Randy Posey, Associate Pastor at G.L.B.C., less than a decade ago. He has been in the children’s ministry there for six years. He now heads up one of the eight children’s churches, the second graders.

When asked about the part his family plays in his ministry, Bro. Tim did not hesitate to say, “My wife Sharon takes my breath away!” He enthusiastically explained how that, after being around children all day every day as the director of the G.L.B.C. day care, Sharon still excitedly serves in the children’s ministry right alongside her husband. They are the parents of Serena Nicole, age 5, and Dakota Ray, age 3. Besides Sunday morning children’s church, they also have the Patch the Pirate Club on Wednesday nights and the RU kids’ club on Friday nights for the children whose parents attend Gospel Light’s Reformers Unanimous program. Bro. Tim also conducts Bible clubs on Saturdays throughout Hot Springs and works on a church bus route!

I asked Bro. Tim when he finds time between waiting tables at Cracker Barrel and serving on staff at G.L.B.C. to prepare for all these children’s ministries, and he whipped out his Palm Pilot to show us his incredibly organized schedule. He has times throughout the week to pray in his children’s church room, study for and fine-tune his message, and prepare awesome games and activities. He says that one of the keys is to begin preparation on Sunday… the week before children’s church. He looks for problems during his children’s church hour and works throughout the week on finding solutions to address those issues. If nothing particular stands out, he simply picks a God-directed topic by writing ideas on 3x5 cards and praying over them during his daily devotions.

Average Sunday at G.L.B.C. Children's Church

Don’t worry though -- there is no danger of the kids being distracted by the wall to their side when they are supposed to be focusing on the stage! The front of the room contains a beautiful mural of the American and Christian flags and the Bible, along with the pledges written out; a massive gumball machine; two huge traffic lights (used to collect the offering); several large boxes covered with colorful wrapping paper; and a puppet stage… just to name a few! And the prize table is (admittedly) desirable even to the Bible college students who assist Bro. Tim in his ministry!

Bro. Tim has an awesome schedule template that I plan to duplicate in my own children’s church ministry. He has schedules A, B, C, and D, which are rotated throughout the month. Each week’s schedule contains the basic elements of songs, offering, life application, memory verse, crazy time, hymns/spiritual songs, preaching, invitation, review games, behavior prizes, and so forth. On a monthly basis he also enlists church members to assist with magic tricks, missionary stories, and other components to keep things interesting with variety. One particular component that impressed me was that Bro. Tim introduces staff members, deacons, and other church members to his kids on a regular basis and explains their place in the ministry. Bro. Tim takes the opportunity to explain, for example, that deacons are not people who tell the pastor what to preach or exist solely to be the butt of jokes from the pulpit (as seems to be the case in many churches). They are godly men with a scriptural purpose who are here to serve the Lord and others.

Recommendations by Bro. Tim

• How Do I Get These Kids to Listen?: Practical Ways to Gain and Hold Attention in the Classroom by Ed Dunlop
• I Can't Wait Till Sunday Morning! by Ed Dunlop
• Sharing Christ With Children by Ab Thomas

He also advises to pray and ask for God’s guidance and remember: you’re never alone!

When asked where he gets good materials for his children’s ministry, Bro. Tim recommended CEF, Ed Dunlop’s books, and for prizes… Wonder Bread and dollar stores! He also purchases prizes and tools (such as the afore-mentioned traffic lights) from

His favorite method of teaching is storytelling, often drawing illustrations from his experience as a Marine. We found in his classroom all types of objects from which he draws lessons: life jackets, first aid kits, and swords to name a few!

As far as online resources go, Bro. Tim recommends www.childrens-church-ministry.com . However, he feels that there is a lack of good, free online help for children’s church workers; and he stated, “My vision is to become that resource.” One of the future projects of Bro. Tim’s is to enhance his church’s website with a section geared toward children’s ministry.

I asked Bro. Tim, “If you were just starting out in the children’s ministry and you only had $100, how would you spend it?” He thought for a moment and then said that he would distribute that $100 among several church members, reminding them of the Parable of the Talents. He would give those church members 30 or 40 days to invest that money in whatever way they chose and return both the principle and interest to him to be used in his ministry. Great idea!

His financial priorities would then be as follows:

• Make the classroom look inviting and fun.
• Get training materials for himself and his workers.
• Purchase evangelistic tools such as the Wordless Book.
• Find visual aids to use for songs, memory verses, games, & object lessons.
• Buy several desirable prizes to reward well behaved children and those who really go the extra mile.

Which reminds me…

I spoke with Bro. Tim about how that, in this day and time we have to be so cautious with discipline and handling children (even though their behavior has gotten worse); and I asked him how he compensates for this and keeps control. He has some terrific methods:

• Eyeballs/Snap -- This is the same technique we use in our ministry. Bro. Tim learned this in the Marines: When he sternly shouts “Eyeballs,” his kids respond by saying, “Snap!” and snapping to attention with closed mouths. He then says, “Ears!” and they reply, “Open!”
• Inspection Time -- One of Bro. Tim’s pet peeves is a disorderly room. So when it starts to get out of control, he announces that it is “Inspection Time.” He turns his back to the children and counts down from ten while the other workers hurriedly oversee the straightening of chairs and belongings. When Bro. Tim is finished counting, he swirls around to straightened rows, quiet students, and tidy everything. He then rewards the best row.
• 1-2-3-Zip -- Self explanatory!
• Generous Rewarding of Good Behavior -- Bro. Tim emphasized many times during our visit that he prefers to bestow his attention upon pleasant behavior as opposed to poor conduct. He has several methods by which he rewards those who are listening, singing out, and displaying exceptional behavior and attitude. My favorite is the use of his huge gumball machine at the front of the room: he allows the student to guess what color gumball will come out. If the student is correct, he gets to choose a small prize from a bucket nearby. If he is incorrect, he just gets the huge gumball -- a prize in itself! (Bro. Tim did clarify that if he sees the gum at all for the remainder of class… they lose it to the “can a la garbage.”

Attend or Sponsor a Workshop with Bro. Tim

Quote from Bro. Tim: “A successful children’s church preacher is one who can not only teach a message, but can also make it relate to both lost and saved kids.” Bro. Tim can teach you how to do this. Contact him today! He has a true burden to help churches reach children and a vision to unite children’s church workers in America.

I hope you gleaned some good ideas from this publication! We certainly learned many new things that we are eager to implement in our own children’s church ministry! You can find more helpful FREE info at www.childrens-church-ministry.com , as well as photographs of Bro. Tim Wharton’s children’s church ministry at Gospel Light Baptist Church.

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