Dear Midtown Parents,
As you know, our vision for Kidtown is to partner with and equip parents as the primary disciplers of their kids. Now, as we find ourselves unable to gather on Sundays and with our LifeGroups, the importance of you discipling your children is more apparent than ever.
For families who already have built-in rhythms of discipling your kids, great! Keep doing what you’re doing and tweak your rhythms as you need to. We hope the resources included are helpful as you navigate this time.
For those who don’t have healthy discipleship rhythms built yet, the present situation is actually a great opportunity to begin. All of your normal rhythms are being restructured. While this chaos can lead us to feel frozen and not want to do anything extra, the truth is it’s a perfect time to add in new rhythms while everything feels new to your kids anyway.
What we aren’t asking you to do:
… magically transform into a seminary professor
… have answers to all the questions your kids might ask
… suddenly have kids who want to focus and pay attention for a 3-hour inductive Bible study
What we are asking you to do:
Maintain your own spiritual health - Spend time abiding in God’s Word and in prayer. Use the Lent Guide. Fight to stay connected with your LifeGroup in every way you can. Your spiritual health is vital as you shepherd your family.
Spend time together with your kids in God’s Word and in prayer - This should have some formal weekly and/or daily rhythms as well as some informal, “as you go about your day” rhythms.
You can listen to Pastor Jon Ludovina teaching on all of this during the main session of Milestones Weekend 2019. (That link will take you to 21:22 when he teaches on Deuteronomy 6 and family discipleship rhythms specifically.)
RESOURCING YOU TO SHEPHERD YOUR FAMILY:
Weekly Family Worship:
We will be putting out weekly Family Worship Guides for you to be able to host a version of Kidtown at home for your family. These will follow what your children would be learning in Kidtown normally on Sundays and can be found on the weekly teaching page for adults. There will be versions available for Toddlers/Preschoolers and for Elementary-aged children.
Daily Family Devotions:
If you don’t have something you’re doing already, try these simple daily family devotions based on the Lent Guide. (get the e-version of the Lent Guide here)
Morning:
In the morning, read a kid-friendly version of the Scripture reading (try the International Children’s Bible). Ask your children if anything stood out to them, share something that stood out to you, and then pray together, thanking God for what He showed you and asking Him to help you apply it today.
Evening:
In the evening, walk through the Evening Prayer prompts together. This is a great opportunity for you to share first and then allow each child to share.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Parenting Resources for Covid-19