Earth Day has come and gone this year, but our planet's environmental crises grow bigger and bigger every day. In climate science, the number 350 is a very critical number. That number represents the upper safe limit for CO² in our atmosphere, in parts per million. In other words, pump more than that number into the atmosphere, and our planet is in serious trouble. Unfortunately, we're at 388.79 and rising right now.

Global warming has been called the single greatest challenge to ever face humankind, and it is essential that churches communicate the necessity of making lifestyle changes now, not later. As Christian educators, we need to partner with effective efforts to educate people about global warming. Churches are some of our culture's institutions that are best-suited to organizing, to communicating with a large number of people, and to developing support networks. When we partner with other effective organizations, we don't have to create something new from scratch, and we build relationships with organizations in our communities that otherwise may have no association with faith groups.

A month ago I wrote about a ministry opportunity that evolved from a conversation with a friend after I read a recent study on children and literacy. The first part of Books for Books happened this past Saturday – a used book sale and coffeehouse. The second part – using the money from the sale to purchase age-appropriate books for the children at a local elementary school – will happen during the next six weeks. I had promised to keep you updated about this ministry idea as it developed.

A fun summertime intergenerational activity you can organize easily is a Hobby Expo. Many individuals in your congregation have unusual hobbies that they rarely get to share with others. At a Hobby Expo, persons who are willing to share their pastime with others have an opportunity to do so. It's a great opportunity for community building, bringing people of many generations together.

Palm Sunday worship at our church was great! In addition to sharing special music, the children of our church served as worship leaders in other capacities. They led prayer, read scripture and invited us to pass the peace to one another. It was a meaningful worship service and I heard many people comment that the kids did a fantastic job (which they did). There was only one thing that bothered me…

When you work in the area of Christian Education, you begin to see ministry ideas everywhere. Things that you do and read and hear make you think of ideas for Sunday School or youth group or a children’s message. I remember my father, a retired minister, saying, “That’ll preach!” This month’s prayer idea came to me the other day while I was on Facebook. (Unfortunately providing positive reinforcement for the time I spend on this site…)

Over the years I have tried a lot of Bible study methods with youth. Few have worked for me as well as one I literally created in desperation one night, a process I now call the "Huh? / Yeah! Bible Study." Here it is...

You just never know when an opportunity for ministry will present itself. A couple of months ago, I read that in low-income neighborhoods, the ratio of books per child is one age-appropriate book for every 300 children. (More reading statistics are available in a report from the National Endowment for the Arts.) As a book-lover, I was appalled by this statement and commented as such to a friend. The next thing I knew, we were in the midst of planning a way to address this issue in our little corner of the world.

Children’s Sunday School curriculum primarily consists of happy, joyful stories. There are obvious age-appropriate reasons for many of the choices that publishers, teachers and parents make about how to present Bible stories to children. And we do want children to know that Jesus loves them and this is indeed cause for joy. However, children (and youth and adults, too) benefit from acknowledgement that God has given humans the capacity to experience a wide range of emotion.

I discovered the book, Praying in Color: Drawing a New Path to God by Sybil MacBeth, when it practically leapt off the shelf into my hands at a Cokesbury store. That was a year ago, and since that time I have prayed in color many times. I have also successfully adapted this method of prayer for use with groups of children, youth and adults. The book offers an approach to prayer that is accessible and meaningful.

An approach that I have found useful when faced with a challenging subject is to read a children’s book – regardless of whether I am talking to children, youth or adults. I once heard it said and I believe it to be true that a good children’s book is written for all ages. A book can be a wonderful way to open a conversation, particularly when people might initially be at a loss for words.