Today I heard a feature on TV about a grandma bus monitor who was bullied by some students on the bus. The video is on YouTube, and when you view it you either want to cry or scream! It's really getting the attention of the public, and maybe we in the church need to work with parents and help them teach their children to respect adults. Public school teachers face this every day.
Some years ago we had trouble with what is now called bullying (we called it put-downs) in the church where I worked. We worked on a plan which I'll copy below. Maybe this will be helpful to you:

Problem: Our students fell into a pattern of using bullying/put-downs with each other and with adults. They did not seem to be aware of just what bullying/put-downs were or how it effected others. It had become the popular thing to do. We wanted to turn the peer expectations in the opposite direction.

Purpose:
1. Help students recognize what bullying/put-downs are and how they effect others.
2. Turn peer approval to avoiding bullying/put-downs instead of using them.
3. Establish and enforce disciplinary procedure.
4. Create a safe environment for everyone.

Plan of Action:
1. Develop bullying/put-down badges (using specially made rubber stamp) of a hand with thumbs down and words "Put Down Put-downs."
2. Tell staff about plan and give them permission to participate.
3. Explain to students (see below)
4. Launch affirmative slogan campaign (see below)
5. Concentrate on affirming students and reward students who affirm.
6. CELEBRATE!

Scriptures:
Proverbs 3:12; 19:18 and 1 Corinthians. 13 and Rev. 3:19

Presentation to Students (done is groups of 6-8)
(It was important that this be done by someone who had already established a positive relationship with the students.)
1. Define bullying/put-downs -- a critical, insulting form of abuse.
a. Students define abuse.
b. Students give examples of bullying/put-downs, such as:
• name calling - jerk, stupid, etc.
• teasing for something different -- i.e.: glasses = four eyes; slow runner = slow poke; slow thinker = dummy, stupid; complexion (ruddy, race, freckles); intelligence = brainy, egghead; accent; body size = fatso, skinny.
• foul language against another
• change name to degrading word
• private jokes
• talking when another is talking (this says, "What you say isn't important)
• ignoring/indifferent - cruel/neglect. These insults lower self esteem.
• sarcasm - It's not what you say but how you say it. - Nice dress! vs. NIce DRess.
2. Inform, students that bullying/put-downs did not originate with their generation.
Example: Parable of Pharisee and tax collector, "God, I thank you I am not like this tax collector." (Luke 18:9-14)
Often adults, even parents, fall into this habit too.
3. Review discipline policy. (If there is no policy, it may be good to develop one after this exercise.)
4. Recognizing what bullying/put-downs do:
a. Each student makes a list of bullying/put-downs. Then take a large paper cut-out of a person and pass around the circle. Each person gives an example of a bullying/put-down statement and tears off part of the paper person.
b. Talk about how it feels to be "torn apart".
c. Pass the paper person back around circle and ask each to give an affirmation or positive remark and tape their part back on the paper person.
d. Look at the taped "person" and talk about how, no matter how we try, we can't completely undo the damage that bullying/put-downs do to a person.
5. Put-downs and bullying are negative power -- how can we turn power positive?
a. Treat each as a CHILD OF GOD.
b. Build up with affirmations.
c. Positive power multiplies.
d. List affirmations (listing on an outlined hand, symbolizing a pat on back.)
6. Ask students to leave the negative somewhere else when enter church grounds.
7. Make posters using put down bullying/put-downs and positive statements. (See photo.) We made multiple posters, and the students asked to take them to school and use them there with students.
8. Plan slogan campaign.
Out of this campaign came several ideas. The winning idea:

You know what makes me frown?
It's when you put me down.
So go the extra mile
And make me have a smile!

You can see the logo in the other photo. Both the logo and slogan were put on T-shirts which most of the students bought.
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NOTE: This campaign was initiated and within the first week we could see a difference in the attitude of the students. They began to call each other on put-downs. They felt that they had permission to go against what had become a trend. It did not solve every discipline problem, but it did turn the general attitude, and the teachers at school even said that it helped there. Many thanks to Denise Beggs, who did the primary work with this at Sanibel Community Church, Sanibel, Florida.

Way of the Cross

As Lent approaches, I'm reminded of an event that my Sunday school class in Ft. Myers, Florida, organized for several years called "The Way of the Cross". You might want to consider such for your congregation. We did this on Good Friday and invited individuals or families to visit the "stations" at some time during the day. This could be done at any time during Lent, and it would be well to advertise it throughout your community, even using the local newspaper.

This was a series of centers set up in separate rooms. Each person or group was asked to wait until the previous person had left before entering the room. We placed footprints on the floor to lead the participants from room to room. Each center had all of the directions needed for a time of quiet reflection and contemplation on that particular time during the last hours of Jesus' life. At the center there was opportunity to read the scripture (or a tape recording of the scripture), a brief description of what happened at that time, and reflection questions. There were also items on the display that symbolized things in the story, such as a money bag and coins for Judas, sandals for when Jesus washed the feet of the disciples, communion elements, prayer cards in the "garden", a crown of thorns to be placed on their heads, Q-tips and vinegar for tasting what was offered to Jesus on the cross, and such.

The final stop was the sanctuary where a life size cross was on the floor with papers to write any messages the participants wanted to place on the cross. There was a basket of nails and a hammer, and the partaicipants were asked to nail their paper to the cross. The sound of the hammer echoing in the empty sanctuary was very moving. The papers were later removed and burned, and the ashes were used for our Ash Wednesday service the next year.

As they left the sanctuary there was a table with a flyer suggesting ways they could prepare for Easter, as well as information on our Good Friday service and Easter services.

If you would like more information on this, you can find it on pages 112-117 in my book TEACHING & CELEBRATING THE CHRISTIAN SEASONS, available through www.chalicepress.com, www.cokesbury.com, and www.amazon.com. If you still have any questions, contact me at halversondelia@bellsouth.net. You might also like to check out the suggested books at the bottom of the blog page.

Whatever you do to help your congregation celebrate this special season, I pray that it blesses you too!

Thinking Ahead to Lent and pre-Easter ideas

Just wanted to share with you a tradition I've done for many years, waxing onions in the spring. The bulb symbolizes life coming from something that appears to be dead and are appropriate for the Lenten and Easter season.

Scout through the vegetable bens at grocery stores, looking for onions that are beginning to sprout. Then, using a pan of boiling water, I melt wax, colored with broken crayons, in old aluminum cans. Holding the sprout, I lower the onion into the melted colored wax. I lift it out long enough for it to cool slightly, and then dip it quickly again. I do this several times until I achieve the desired hue. You can drip melted wax of other colors on these to give them more interest. These are then placed into a basket, as I would Easter eggs. They usually last four to six weeks, reminding us of Christ’s resurrection and of the new life that Christ can bring, even if we have become as disagreeable as an onion!

After the sprouts begin to wilt, break away the wax and plant them in the ground, and they will usually reproduce themselves.

New Life from the Onion

Like an onion with life hidden deep inside,
Oft times we sleep all winter long.
Then springtime comes, and all life is new.
Our soul’s window opens with a song.

We praise God, our Creator;
We praise God in spring, a time of new birth,
We praise God, Guide of our life;
We praise God this hour, all creatures on earth.

By Delia Halverson
-- from Helping Your Teen Develop Faith (Judson Press, 1985)

The Real Reason I Was Never Ordained

Yes, I would have liked the affirmation of the church for my ministry, BUT there are reasons why I was never ordained. If we go way back, I can tell you how I felt about ordination when I first received God's call to follow Christ in professional church ministry. I might have become a minister, but women could not be ordained at that time, and most of the women who were local pastors wore black, clubby shoes. Well, I wouldn't be caught dead in black, clubby shoes! That style became popular later! Consequently, I took my training in Christian education, which has been a good fit for me. When The United Methodist Church established Diaconal Ministers, I lived too far from any seminaries to take the training. Indeed, I lived in towns of 2,000 people or less, so a staff position in Christian education was not a possibility. After we moved to Atlanta I began the process several times, while working in staff positions, but one thing or another halted my pogress. I did continue to keep myself abreast of what was happening in the church and Christian education through Christian Educator's Fellowship (www.cefumc.org) and reading and taking courses. One advantage I've seen to my not being ordained is the educated capacity that I've been able to bring to the laity when I've gone as a district delegate to Annual Conferences. The laity need representation from some of us who have a calling and have been educated in that calling. Now I realize that perhaps I have been able to follow my calling better by not being ordained. Some of the churches I served could never have afforded the financial obligation that ordination brings. In recent years I've seen many churches hire persons in children and youth ministry and Christian education in general who have little or no training, because the churches can't afford to pay an ordained person. All too often, those persons become so caught up in the schedule of their jobs that they never get the training. I've come to appreciate even more the schools that offer courses required for certification programs in these areas, many of them on line. There are nine school authorized by UMC that offer this. Check the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry (www.gbhem.org) for these schools. The web site, www.eChristianEd.com, also offers these courses on line. Several annual conferences hold week-long training to help these leaders get started. As I reflect on this, I feel we need to stress education for those who choose to remain in the laity positions of children and youth ministry and Christian education. Perhaps ordination is not the calling from God that everyone receives. Lift up these people whom God has called and who struggle, even as they are learning their role in the church!

Living with Impulsive Joy

As we move into the new year we look back on all the things we hoped to accomplish during the past year. There just wasn't enough time for everything. Now the new year stares us in the face, and we have even more detailed schedules to follow and plans to fulfill. With so many planned activities pressuring us for our time, the impulsive joy of living usually falls by the wayside.

In my grandmother's day, her circle was small enough to allow her to implement into action most any impulse from her heart. Her friends were few, and she usually had time to offer tokens of concern. She'd bake a cake for the old man down the road, or she kept the children of a friend who was sick. My mother had problems keeping up with all of her impulses of loving and giving and creating. In one generation, her world expanded to include not only the neighbors, but friends in other states and countries.

Now, in our generation, life has become so large that we often feel overwhelmed with our impulses. We want to do too many things. There's the new family down the street we'd like to invite to dinner. And there's the friend to share an idea with, perhaps over lunch. Even emails don't get sent because of the time-squeeze. The nursing home needs volunteers, and the family with the new baby would appreciate a brought-in dinner. We know so many people that we enjoy that we hate to miss an opportunity to visit with them. Sometimes we feel that we might drown in a sea of friendship and opportunities to serve.

Yet in a new year of structured activities we must now lose the joy of impulsive sharing with others. The impulse of the moment gives the sharing even more meaning.

The year lies ahead of us. We can turn it into a year of impulsive joy. Joy is a by-product of working toward the joy of someone else.

A Prayer Trinity Circle

Just as our multiple intellegences influence the way that we learn, these intellegences can influence the ways that we pray. Some of us pray better alone, and some in a small group of believers. Some of us pray better using music, and some of us find that visuals enhance our prayer life. Some of us pray better is silence. Some of us even pray best when our hands are in motion.

We can encourage those in our churches to pray by developing a prayer room with visuals and reading materials that can help them pray. Recently I led a retreat for Christian Educators at First United Methodist Church in Springfield, TN. When we toured the building I saw their prayer room with this Trinity Circle and knew that I had to share it with you. They gave me permission to post the picture and information.

Here is what was on the handout beside the Trinity Circle:

The Trinity Circle

QUIET SPACE: You Are Beloved

Spend time experiencing the fullness of God's love for you - the overflowing, enfolding love of God.

(To help with this, read the poem "Our First Love" found on the lectern.)

When you are ready, take three small sections of yarn connected to the trinity circles, and begin to braid them together.

The first section represents the love of the Father,

the second represents the love of Christ,

the third section represents you.

Braiding them together represents the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

When your braid is complete, tie a knot in the end. Just as the knot forever holds the strands together, so you are always held in God's love.

Take a moment to thank God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - for loving and holding you.

Ask God to protect and lead you as you leave this place.

You are always a beloved child of God.

Of Younger Generations and Stewardship

There is a Hasidic tale of a disciple who asked, "Why does the Torah tell us to 'Place these words upon our hearts'? Why does it not tell us to place these holy words in our hearts?
The rabbi answers, "Because as we are, our hearts are closed, and we cannot place the holy words in them. So we place them on top of our hearts. And there they stay until, one day, the heart breaks and the words fall in."

This reminds me of our younger generations who want to be IN ministry or involved in some mission BEFORE joining the church and even before learning ABOUT Christianity. Their work for others is what causes their hearts to break open and allow the words to fall it. They are actually "doing" stewardship without realizing it, giving of the gifts and talents that God gave them, to care for the whole world. The sooner we realize this need of the younger generations, the sooner we'll help them learn the love/grace of God that has held us through the years.

I still say that stewardship is the head and heart of Christianity, and mission is the hands and feet. We need both, paired together, to make our bodies complete. Guess that's appropriate for this season when many of us are involved in stewardship. Sometimes we don't understand the history of stewardship. Here's my summary of stewardship as I wrote it in my book Let the Children Give: Time, Talents, Love and Money.

In the very early church, the Christians gave to each other without worry for themselves. They saw their role as caring for every person whom God placed in their paths, and even going out of their way to be stewards of God's people. (Acts 2:44-45; 11:27-30)

The true meaning of stewardship got off the track way back in the fourth century when Constantine declared the entire Roman world as Christian. This set the church up as an arm of the government, and the operating budgets of the churches were raised through taxes. The only need these churches had to raise money was to spread the gospel to other countries. Their routine "budget" was taken care of by the taxes of the citizens. This continued throughout Europe, where the government and church were united.

When Europeans came to North America they established a government that separated church and state. At first there were few problems about budgets. Most ministers were unmarried circuit riders, and as long as they had a horse and a couple of changes of clothing they managed fine. When they went to a community the members of the congregation saw to their housing and meals. The congregations usually met in schoolhouses or homes, and so there was no need to raise money for building upkeep.

But then things began to change. As communities became more established, they wanted pastors who were in residence, and they began to build houses of worship. Suddenly they realized that the taxes no longer covered such items, and so there was a need to "raise a budget". This endeavor then became labeled "stewardship", and the broad scope of the word was lost. Our task today is to bring back the understanding of stewardship that was prevalent in the early church, the understanding that all that we have belongs to God, and as stewards we must recognize the mission of God as dominant in our lives (Acts 4:32-35).

Stewardship must involve all that we have. I've posted some resources on stewardship below.

What are your thoughts?