small groups and 5th grade boys...

So this Sunday, one of our small groups was meeting out in the hallway because of how many kids we have attending the 4th and 5th grade classes. They were all sprawled around their leader Scott as they talked about, of all things, Satan-who he is, what he can and can't do and how that fits into their lives. Anyway, so there they are talking about Satan as the parents started coming down to the kid's wing to begin pick-up. I was a bit concerned that maybe the group would get interrupted but amazingly enough, they were able to continue. What I thought was so cool was that one of the parents walked by quietly and then heard what they were talking about and said, "I want to hear that conversation!" and walked back to hear more.

Why did that little moment make an impression? I was really glad that the group was meeting in the first place since we can't always get to small group time. I was also really glad that the kids stayed focused through the distractions. But what really got me thinking was how interested the parent was in what was happening in that small group. We've been thinking a lot in the CM Lead Team about ways to better involve parents and it struck me of how great it would be if we could just get more of the parents aware of what is happening in their kid's classes. I can just imagine what sort of conversation that mom might have been able to have with her son after hearing what they talked about. She would have had a lot more to get her started than the normal conversation. Getting info out of a 5th grade boy is hard enough. Example: Mom-"How was Sunday School today?" Son-"Fine". Mom-"Did you learn anything new?" Son-"No." Son-"What's for lunch?" :) Wouldn't it be great if we could give the parents some talking points and ideas? I'd love to make it easier for the parents to create some teachable moments where they could talk to the kids about what they are learning and how that fits into their walk with God. Then maybe it would be a parent and a kid sitting in their own hallway, having their own small group of two.