So, you’ve done it!
You’ve made it through the hour with the children, nobody has been hurt (hopefully), children have learnt about God and encountered Him and have responded to God and are ready to go out and live for Him more in their daily lives.
Parents are about to come to collect their children, and you can relax … almost.
The going home time is a key time in the programme.
The aim
Firstly, if the children did not go home your stint as a volunteer would be extended in perpetuity and you would need to think about food and sleeping arrangements for all the children. You want the children to go home, and you want to release them back into the care of the parents and guardians and you want to do so both securely and quickly.
Secondly, this time is one of the rare moments that the parents get to see you and their children and get a glimpse of what mayhem has been going on in the children’s room. If you want to create strong links with the parents, then you will want to maximize this time.
Thirdly, you are not the primary disciplers – that role rests with the parents. If God has moved among your children during the session, it is good for them to know about this.
Finally, it is you last chance to show the children they are loved and that you are pleased to see them.
And now to the reality of the situation. All of the above sounds amazing. To the uninitiated they may picture themselves stood at the door greeting parents and talking to them lovingly about all that God has done, whilst also safely releasing children the children and not keeping any parents waiting.
The reality
The reality can easily end up with you needing to speak to the parent of the child who has a craft item stuck up their nose and to speak to the parent of the child who kept answering every question with the word banana (amusing at first, but not constructive after the first 10 minutes), whilst trying to find a child’s coat (that is either packed in a box or never made it to kid’s church as it was left in the car). When you get home you realise that you didn’t even mention the incredible answer to prayer that one child saw as you were so preoccupied by everything else.
So, what can we do to make the most of this time which can be the most chaotic but is also a key time.
The practicality
Firstly, have a good, clear process in place for deregistration. Whatever else you are doing or not doing at this time, you don’t want to lose a child or hand them back to a parent who is not supposed to have access to their child for safeguarding reasons. If you only have a handful of children this is not usually a problem, but if you have more children, you will want a process that reduces the risk of a child escaping before being collected and a process that does not take 5 minutes per child. We have used different methods in different situations. In some we have had security tags that parents have to return, in others small group leaders sign people out, in others we know the parents well enough to just recognize them by face, taking careful note of new families as they arrive.
If the parents are already queuing up outside the room, it’s a great opportunity to thank the parents for bringing their children to church and give a 30 second update of what you have been doing. A closing activity to occupy the children can be a great way to keep things organised and engaging (remember this is the only glimpse of the ministry most parents will get).
To communicate with parents what we would like to say, but know we will forget or don’t have time to communicate, we use our sticker packs. These are a set of 5 stickers:
I was prayed for today
God used me today!
Something special happened today
I brought my Bible with me
I want to follow Jesus
During the programme we give out these stickers as relevant and then when the parents come to collect there is an instant reminder that something has happened. It’s great watching the parents reading the sticker and then asking, ‘Oooh, so tell me who you prayed for.’
As the children leave don’t forget to say goodbye to them as well as their parents.
And relax … well nearly.
Of course there’s still the tidying up, the debrief as a team (praying together, what went well, what can we improve on for next time, thanks for coming) and the journey home. All with your own children trying to help, which depending on their age will correlate with how helpful their help actually is.
Take time to review your exit procedure and think how you can maximized this pressured, but potentially precious, part.
Comments