Providing children with opportunities to serve nurtures their natural generosity. Several years ago, the third grade Sunday School class at our church began a prayer bracelet ministry as an extension of the church’s prayer shawl ministry. Making prayer bracelets is a service project that both younger and older children can participate in and it can be a short-term or a long-term project.

I’m sure that plans are in place for your church’s Advent and Christmas ministries. How are your plans for New Year’s Eve coming along?

The utilization of mentors can be helpful in many ministry areas in the local church, including newcomer integration, confirmation programs and lay leadership development. A mentor/mentee relationship provides an arena for connection and collaboration and opportunities for growth in both parties.

Internet marketers have lots of tools at their disposal to determine which web pages you visit on their sites, what gets you to make a purchase, and how long you stay on a particular page. One of those tools is called split testing (or sometimes A/B split testing.) ...

Next time you are in worship, take a look around during the reading of the scripture lesson. (I recommend you do this discreetly, of course!) You may see some people zoning out, particularly if the reading is a familiar passage of scripture – a part of the Bible that they have heard many times before. Presenting the scripture passage in a new format will add variety to the worship service and encourage people to listen more closely.