Children’s ministers and missionaries have been using clown ministry for years, but University of Sheffield researchers discovered that most children ages 4 to 16 dislike clown images. The research was an effort to find ways to improve healthcare environments for children and young people.

As adults we make assumptions about what works for children. We found that clowns are universally disliked by children. Some found them quite frightening and unknowable.
- Dr. Penny Curtis :: Researcher :: Centre for the Study of Childhood and Youth

Very few children like clowns. They are unfamiliar and come from a different era. They don’t look funny, they just look odd. Children are much more happy with things stuck on the wall that have some sort of personal relevance for them, not some images that are foisted upon them by adults.
- Patricia Doorbar :: Child Psychologist

I find Patricia Doorbar’s remarks particularly fascinating because she suggests that clowns are from an era that is no longer relevant to today’s children. Despite this, I am aware of some clown ministries that children do enjoy, but I wonder if they would be even more effective if they repackaged their look but kept the same techniques.

[via BBC News]

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Earlier today children’s ministry expert Jim Wideman of World Outreach Church (Murfreesboro, TN) blogged the following good reminder for church leaders:

God is just as concerned about how we treat the people we lead as what we get accomplished.

Remember, they may be your leaders, but they are His kids.

So don’t let the success of results be at the expense of relationships.

I recently read Going All the Way by Craig Groeschel of LifeChurch.tv (Edmond, OK). It is a relationships book that discusses how to prepare for a marriage that goes the distance. While most books in this genre are written only for married couples or only for the engaged or the dating or even just for singles, Craig does a great job presenting Biblical advice that can help people regardless of what their relationship status is.

He covers topics such as putting God first, finding your soul mate, dating tips, purity tips, godly relationships, and even how and when to break up. He explains how to be a good husband and how to be a good wife. And he discusses what it takes to keep one’s marriage passionate and one’s priorities in line. In other words, Going All the Way will give you a balanced education of everything it takes to have a successful marriage.

A few highlights:

• Minor adjustments produce marginal results. To experience the kind of relationships we long for, we must, with God’s help, prepare to be genuinely different.
• Loving the Lord is our first priority. Without Jesus in first place, what comes next will never quite work, including our love relationships.
• If you want what few have, do what few do. Raise your standards. Pursue holiness.
• “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25). Men, when you become a husband, it’ll be an honor to give yourself up for your wife.
• Everyone has seasons when an important lower priority takes a disproportionate amount of time. Those are seasons anyone can endure… if they don’t become a way of life.
• Keep the good things from taking priority over the best.
• What person do I need to become so I’ll be ready for a healthy, fulfilling marriage… and bless my spouse-to-be?
• [Develop] both a thick skin and a soft heart.
• Marriages are healthy because the couple learns to face and work through problems.

Going All the Way is a worthwhile investment for anyone wanting a great marriage.

The Christian Post has a great article by Nelson Searcy of The Journey Church (New York City, NY) on how to deal with five common church growth barriers. Here is a list of the five barriers with a quick summary of Searcy’s thoughts on each.

1. Space
   >> When a room reaches 70% of its seating capacity, it’s full.
   >> Most churches face growth barriers when attendance reaches 65, 125, 250, 500, and 1,000.
   >> It is better to grow to 300 or 400 before starting a second service.
2. Self-Development
   >> If the church leaders have stopped maturing spiritually and progressing personally, the congregation is not far behind.
   >> Warning signs include stale sermons, the congregation’s passion waning, and the halt of staff and church growth.
3. Sharing
   >> Churches stop growing when they become inwardly (instead of outwardly) focused.
   >> Healthy churches should have a 5:100 ratio of first-time guests.
4. Weekly Worship Service
   >> To keep your service strong, always try to look like a church twice your size.
5. Staff
   >> Hiring staff is a faith issue.

For more on each area, read the full article from The Christian Post.

Some churches like to go all out on their Christmas services. Usually, the goal is to create a “Wow!” experience for the people who rarely come to church as well as those who have never been. And hopefully, this “Wow!” experience will get them to come back and start attending more regularly. Here are four churches that put on quite a show for Christmas 2007.

#1 - Willow Creek Community Church (South Barrington, IL) - “Imagine Christmas”

#2 - Fellowship Church (Grapevine, TX)

>#3 - Granger Community Church (Granger, IN) - “Let It Be Christmas”
Photos courtesy of Tim Stevens
Watch the service.

#4 - Church on the Move (Tulsa, OK) - “This Christmas”

Wow!

Jim Wideman is a leadership and children’s ministry expert, who recently made his monthly leadership MP3 resource called The Club available to young church leaders for free. There are only three requirements:

1. You must be under 30 years of age.
2. You must be in full-time ministry.
3. You must agree to pray for Jim at least once a week.

If that is you, sign up now.

Why is he doing it? In his words:

There are things I know I want to spend the rest of my life passing on to the next generation of leaders.

MondayMorningInsight.com has a list of 7 poor communication skills for church leaders to avoid. Poor communication skills are one of the quickest ways to burn bridges and make people think you don’t care about them. In ministry, how you treat people outside of the pulpit is often more important than what you say when you are in the pulpit. So here they are:

7 Poor Communication Skills to Avoid

1. Contacting others only when you need something.
2. Not following up, or closing the loop.
3. Not returning telephone calls or email messages.
4. Foregoing basic courtesy.
5. Not listening.
6. Telling lies.
7. Spewing chronic negativity.

For more discussion on each of the seven areas, read the original post at MondayMorningInsight.com. This week, purpose to improve your communication skills and how you treat people. Even if you are already a pro, there is always room for improvement.