Sparkhouse is proud to present Clayfire Curator, a brand new worship design blog, meant to supply ideas and provoke discussion around creativity, spiritual formation, and innovative leadership.

Featuring daily (yes, daily!) posts by contributors Jodi-Renee Adams (Tuesdays), Eric Herron (Wednesdays), and Mark Pierson (Thursdays), the blog’s goal is to focus on curation and worship, creating a wholly unique virtual space. By asking questions like “When it comes to worship, what is curation?”,  “How does one do it?” and “How does one lead it?” Clayfire Curator is for everyone – regardless of style or denomination – who craves a fresh, creative approach for their church context.

You can expect to find…

• Comments on original blog posts related to worship and curation
• Daily interactation with what “Someone Said…” about worship
• Thought-provoking “Q’s of the Week”
• A peek through another’s worship-window in the “View From Your Pew

Join the Clayfire Curator team on this exciting new exploration of the future of worship and the future of worship leadership.  Visit the blog today! And be sure to follow Clayfire on Twitter (@Clayfire) and join the Clayfire community on Facebook, too.

Many of you maybe wondering what makes this VBS curriculum different. Besides being a flexible program that encourages hope, opportunity, and service, ReNew is based on one story: Jesus’ Parable of the Sower (Mark 4:1-9). This allows kids to explore the parable in-depth, rather than trying to learn multiple non-consecutive stories over a short period of time.

Digging into the story from the perspectives of Self, Community, and World also allows kids to relate to the text and build a relationship with the Bible.  Even more importantly, ReNew weaves together rich Biblical imagery with engaging activities kids love, resulting in a deeper, more memorable experience of God’s Word.

Each day at ReNew, kids hear the entire Bible story, but then focus on one section of it to discover what the passage means for them and how it relates to caring for God’s creation.  From Day One’s “A Sower Went Out to Sow” to Day Five’s “Good Soil”, each lesson is centered on stewardship.  Kids learn, create, and change the world while putting their faith into action to impact your community.  Be sure to check out lesson samples and read what others who used ReNew said about this inspirational VBS program!

What stewardship activities are important to you? How do you see ReNew creating change in your congregation?

January is going to be a busy month! Over the next few weeks, we’re attending two exciting events, giving us a chance to learn more and and serve an ever-growing community. First is this weekend’s Recharge at Berean Baptist Church in Burnsville, MN, focused on children, youth, and family. Recharge is a “one day multi-denominational event that aims to inspire and equip church staff and volunteers in their efforts to help kids and families love, follow and serve Jesus Christ.”  We’re excited to experience a jolt of mid-winter energy with youth and family ministry leaders!

From January 20-24 we will be in Kansas City for Extravaganza, an event that’s all about renewal, education, and networking.  The Youth Ministry Network website says it best: “[Extravaganza] is for the professional and the volunteer.  It is for the old and the young.  It is for the urban, the suburban and the rural.  It is for pastors, it is for laypeople.  It is for all who share in the adventure we call youth and family ministry.” We are looking forward to hearing about your Christian education programs and discussing how we can serve you best!

What events are you attending in the New Year? And be sure to stop by the sparkhouse booth if you’re at Recharge or Extravangaza. We’d love to meet you!

image source: http://www.elcaymnet.org/

Looking for a ways to reimagine worship? We’ve got the answer for you: Mark Pierson’s anxiously anticipated The Art of Curating Worship is now available! Wondering what it’s all about? Well, this exciting new book explains how and why worship services can be seen from a series of art works, rather than a simple process of filling in the gaps. You may remember that we hosted the Art of Curating Worship event back in June, where Mark, Jodi-Renee Adams, and Eric Herron encouraged participants to explore, deepen, and re-think worship.  The Art of Curating Worship is a book about just that!

As you can imagine, at the heart of this new way of thinking is the role of the worship curator. Mark uses a number of real-life examples to illustrate ways in which worship, both inside and outside the church building, can be curated and delivered for spiritual formation and mission.

The Art of Curating Worship promotes a new vocabulary to help worship curators work out how, why, and where worship can best engage their community in transformative encounters with God.

Are you a worship leader hoping to curate worship services? How would you use these inventive ideas in your congregations?

It’s official – re:form just keeps getting better and better! With 40 downloadable sessions, you now have the opportunity to experience re:form in new and exciting ways. This also means that it’s even easier to create the best possible program for YOUR congregation. Do you have a youth group that fluctuates in size from week to week? Are you considering using re:form for an Adult Bible Study because the session questions are ones even grown-ups are pondering? Do you think re:form would be the PERFECT supplement to your youth Sunday school?

The downloadable re:form à la carte includes all you need to lead a single re:form session.   You get:

• Complete Anti-Workbook PDFs for a single lesson (reproducible)
• Complete Leader Guide PDFs for a single lesson (reproducible)
• A complete Video file for a single lessons

From “Why does the Bible contradict itself?” to “Can someone lose their salvation?”, here’s your chance to pick and choose which units and session fit your program best. It’s like a heavenly buffet.  Only better.

How are you using re:form with your congregation? We’d love to hear your feedback!

Exciting news from sparkhouse! This year, ReNew: The Green VBS is back and even greener than before! With a downloadable Program Guide and streamlined kids’ resources, ReNew is focused on the stewardship of God’s creation in new and innovative ways. Grounded in the Jesus’ Parable of the Sower, ReNew empowers kids through hope, opportunity, and service.

As you may know, ReNew is an environmentally focused Vacation Bible School that inspires kids to grow in faith, have fun, and change the world.   Each day, kids learn how to be good stewards of God’s creation while participating in the Self, Community, and World activity sites.  You can easily take a peek at some samples, listen to downloads of the Renew Music CD, or watch Activity Site decorating videos!

The kids’ resources include ReNew Bible Books, which illustrate the Parable of the Sower and provide age-appropriate daily activities.  With each Bible book purchase, you’ll receive the ReNew Seed Packs for free.  The packs include tomato, basil, green pepper, oregano, and onion seeds – when grown together, kids can make their very own pizza gardens!

Experience the change your kids can make with ReNew: The Green VBS.  To read more about churches who used ReNew, visit our testimonials page.  And don’t forget to join us on Facebook!

We hope you’re as excited about ReNew as we are! Let us know how your congregation would use this unique curriculum.

Recently, Pastor Wendy of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Florham Park, NJ was kind enough to share details about her congregation’s VBS program. They used ReNew, and had a wonderful time growing in faith, having fun, and changing the world!

ReNew Team: What made you choose ReNew?

Pastor Wendy: We chose ReNew because of its subject matter.  We are a congregation interested in teaching children about the care of creation.  As pastor, I loved the fact that it stayed with one scripture text and allowed us to explore it in a number of ways.  One four year old loved being the “seed” in the sound effects exploration of the passage.  I will never forget her “wee” as she got to grow just a little bit among the rocks.

RT: Did the children react positively to the new/different curriculum?

PW: The children were filled with smiles and laughter and enthusiasm everyday.  We adapted it to a rotation format as that works best in our facility.  Each rotation site used material from the starter kit and allowed for a variety of exploration especially with science.

RT: How did ReNew fit your congregation’s needs?

PW: We used teenagers to direct games and science. Older women led arts and crafts.  Good Shepherd believes in all age groups being active in the life of the congregation so when the teenagers get to be leaders, it is a wonderful experience.  It gives them an early start in witnessing to their faith.  I like that the children who participate can see the various generations as leaders.

The photo pictured above was a cross that the kids made with repurposed materials.  Pastor Wendy shared that, “Seven grocery bags of clothes were donated to the American Red Cross and some toys and sports equipment is being donated to a local social service agency for use in their recreation program.  These were the items the children brought in as part of the reuse activity that was suggested.”

Thanks to Pastor Wendy and Good Shepherd Lutheran Church for sharing insightful comments about using ReNew!

Wondering how your congregation can get involved? Follow ReNew on Facebook and Twitter for some great insights into creation care, green living, and faith formation!

This month, sparkhouse is co-sponsoring a social media event, organized by BeDeviant.com, a blog dedicated to addressing faith-based issues in real time, with an emphasis on 21st century media. With so many changes happening in the world of communication, Justin Wise, publisher of BeDeviant, decided to host a Social Media Summit on October 23 to help ministry leaders better understand how, when, and why to use social media to engage with their communities, congregations, and friends. It’s bound to be an educational, fun, and unique event, and it’s one that we are excited to be a part of!

“The BeDeviant Social Media Summit has the tagline ’social media for the rest of us’ because so many people in ministry are daunted by the social web,” says Justin. “They hear about Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and blogging and have a sense that these media could be helpful in expanding the reach of their ministries but they just don’t know where to start or who to ask. The Summit will give them the both the information they need to use social media and the practical steps for getting started . . . We want people to walk away not just knowing, but doing, as well.”

Session topics cover:

• The social web: how did we get here?
• The effects of social media on communication habits.
• Is online community real community?

Are you looking for new ways to approach communication and want to learn more about social media? Click here to register for this event!

This week marks the start of the San Diego National Youth Workers Convention, and the sparkhouse team is heading west to spend some time connecting with youth workers and celebrating the wonderful world of youth ministry!

Wondering what NYWC is all about? Well, as their website explains, this event is ” a chance for you to connect with other people who understand your unique challenges and who are as committed to teenagers as you are. It’s a time for you to feed your soul, equip yourself for effective ministry, and come back to your ministry with energy, vision, and even more passion for impacting a generation of teens for the kingdom of God.”  It’s going to be an incredible weekend and we can’t wait to learn, experience, and connect with all of you!

We’re going to have a booth set up with all sorts of re:form goodies and some great giveaways. Be sure to stop by and say hi! We look forward to seeing you there.

Not able to make it? No problem! Follow along with re:form on Facebook and Twitter to catch all the latest updates on the event as it unfolds.