David & Marina Riemenschneider are the lead pastor couple at Bloomingdale Church which has a strong children’s ministry and multiple worship services each weekend. David has a B.S. in Theology (Nyack College), a Master Degree in Religious Education (Trinity Evangelical School), a Master’s degree in Counseling (Denver Seminary), and an earned doctorate (D.Min) from Denver Seminary. Marina has a B.S. in Elementary Education (Nyack College) and has taught in public and Christian schools, as well as Sunday School for over 30 years.
BUILDING AN EFFECTUAL BRIDGE FROM THE CHURCH TO THE HOME
Kids’ Club and Sunday Sermons in Sync
These resources are compliments of Bloomingdale Church, where the worship message and kids' club stories are synchronized. Adult and kid's versions of some Bible stories are included, downloadable for your use.
NEXT GENERATION DISCIPLE requires a partnership agreement between pastors and parents. Why? Because parents need to be trained and appointed by spiritual leadership in the church to disciple their children at home and church together. No one is better equipped to do this than the pastor who leads and serves the church family as shepherd and spiritual captain.
Imagine what happens when Sunday School, the pulpit, and the living room at home are all synchronized and fully dedicated to a singularity of mission, GO MAKE DISCIPLES. We believe that parents should faithfully take their children to church. we also feel strongly that the church makes a poor spiritual surrogate parent without the active involvement of dad and mom. Next generation discipleship really does begin with a covenant between pastors and parents.
INTRODUCING PASTOR DAVID RIEMENSCHNEIDER
Bloomingdale Church is synchronizing the Kids' Club Bible story and the weekend sermons during adult worship, so the entire congregation is literally on the "same page" of Scripture. They are embracing Global Children's Network's vision to help children love and learn the life-changing stories of the Bible in the weekly children’s club, while adding a next step strategy to encourage family spiritual conversations throughout the week. At the weekly club the kids hear the story, learn the story, tell the story to each other and then they are commissioned to go home and tell the Bible stories to their parents that they have just learned. Meanwhile, in the adult church service, the parents are primed with the same Bible story and its practical applications.. So when their children comes home, parents ask them to tell the story as they listen attentively. Then parents are well-equipped to spur on the conversation with some questions and practical applications related to that week’s story.
We hope these resources will help pastors and church leaders to launch coordinated sermon and kids' club programming. It's a doable, practical plan to put Deuteronomy 6:6-7 into action.
Deuteronomy 6:6-7 -- These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
