I know in the past I have blogged about many of the frustrations I have encountered in my life and in ministry. If there is one thing I have learned, it is to be more positive and NOT reflect on the negative but the positive. The truth is, there has been a lot of great things that with God's help I have accomplished in my ministry career in New York. I have grown A LOT these last 11 1/2 years, and I have learned a lot about myself and why God put me on this earth. I look back at my 40 years serving in children's ministry in New York with fond memories. Memories of allowing my creative muscle to grow. Memories of "test driving" some of my fun, crazy, creative and wild ideas. Some that worked and were a masterpiece. Some that were total "bombs" that deserved to be thrown in a "ministry dumpster." Forget about those! Let's talk about the victories!
Before I start sharing about "my accomplishments," let me first say right off the bat that I want to give all the glory to God who is the author and creator of creativity. He is the one who has given me these gifts and He deserves ALL the glory! There are many accomplishments I have had working in the children's ministry in New York. I have always appreciated the open doors I have had working at Smithtown Gospel Tabernacle (1991-2013), Christian Church at Holbrook (2017) and Lift Jesus Higher Fellowship (2022-2024). I have always said from the very beginning that Pastor Robert Forseth, my first Senior Pastor took a huge gamble on a shy, quiet 27-year-old kid who had no pastoral experience. He saw potential in me, and I was hired part time in 1991. I worked 3 days a week not including Sunday. I had no prior training in children's ministry. I had a heart to reach kids for Jesus! I literally had to teach myself how to be a children's pastor! It only took me 9 months to get promoted to a fulltime children's pastor. Let me share with you 4 of my greatest accomplishments, mostly while I served at Smithtown Gospel Tabernacle.
1. Kids in Missions - Growing up at SGT, missions had always been preached from the pulpit. It was always Pastor Forseth's heart to honor our missionaries, to host a "Missions Convention," and to send out short term mission teams around the world. He always said, "Missions isn't taught, it is caught!" We had a few pastors from our staff leave to go on the mission field. I always wanted to teach kids all about missions. God put it on my heart to develop a class but there was one problem. There was no materials or curriculum to use. I knew in my heart we needed to have a class so I took a step of faith and announced we would have a class called "Kids Mission Bridge" that began in January 1996. I used my college textbook to teach the class, and we taught the kids puppet ministry and dramas they would do on outreaches we had on Long Island, in New York as well as New Jersey. 2 years later the name was changed to Kids in Missions (because Kids Missions Bridge was partially copyrighted already). This ministry lasted for 17 years. I always proud of the fact that my two older kids got to minister with me. They did a fantastic job coming up with dramas, helping with the puppet ministry and they even taught the first-year student class for a few years. I would love to see this ministry be resurrected one day!
2. Memorial Day Parade - For 23 years, SGT was well represented in the Town of Smithtown Memorial Day Parade. Each year we build a float for this parade. In fact, we were the only float in the parade. In the beginning, I would use the theme of our King's Kids Club as the theme for the float. Eventually, I used the VBS themes. We borrowed a trailer from various church members who had either landscaping or demolition companies. The floats were made of either air Lyte panels or plywood and were attached to the trailer. We did several different themes throughout the years including a castle, a treehouse, a western town, a game show, a jungle, a beach theme, a train and a rocket. As we came down Main Street in Smithtown, we would have music playing with puppets lip syncing out of the windows. My kid always helped with that! We handed out gifts to the kids to promote our summer activities. It certainly was a lot of work but worth every second. I always appreciated so much the men and women who helped design, paint and build the float which began in early May. The assembly of the float was always the Saturday before. Sadly, the last time SGT has had a float was 2013, my last year!
3. Fall Fun Fest - One goal I set in 1991 when I became the children's pastor at SGT was doing outreach. One of the greatest opportunities to do this was October 31st, Halloween Day. There were a few members of the church who were not happy we were doing an event on an evil day, but my feeling was this was a great opportunity to reach out to our world and create at our church a safe environment for kids and families. Fall Fun Fest was birthed in 1992 and lasted 20 years! We tried different things and what worked the best was renting carnival games, castle bounces, selling food, giving a way candy and lastly having a program at the end of the night where we would present the gospel. For a few years, I hired some outside people and sometimes I did a program. One year we even did a "Puppet Musical." It was a great way to reach out to our neighbors in Smithtown, but also let our community know we love them and are here for them! It always made me proud to know my family was there to not only help me but support me!
4. My ventriloquism - It wasn't until 10 years after I was a children's pastor that I began doing ventriloquism. I was a puppeteer and loved being behind the stage. I truthfully felt insecure about doing ventriloquism for several years. I knew I needed a new method to reach kids. It was hard to talk to kids, run behind a stage and do a puppet then run back around the front and talk to the kids again. I decided early in 2001 I would give ventriloquism a shot after attending a conference in San Diego for children's pastors. I looked in a catalog and saw an old man character whose name in the catalog was "Grandpa Floyd." I asked my kids what name I should call this character, and they suggested "Grandpa Lou." He made his debut about 5 months after I bought him and let's just say the rest is history. As of right now I have 16 characters I use, and I am hoping for one day to premiere "Pete the Talking Pizza." After that I will take a break from making new characters and focus on developing new ideas for the ones I have!
So yes, it was "The Best of Times" for me! I look forward for more great times here in South Carolina for whatever the Good Lord has for me to do!
THANKS FOR READING! HAVE A BLESSED WEEK!!
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