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My Office Throughout the week, you will find my office to be full of stuff. I likely will have curriculum sitting around, catalogues and mail stacked around. Files waiting to be filed and so on. But, when service times arrive, my office is prepped for activity. After Sunday night and Wednesday night activities, my office is open and ready for the kids. I came on board as a very part time children's minister back in 1997. My position was not one the church was necessarily looking for. I went hunting a place to use as an office after being hired.. I found an old office by our Family Life Center (gym) that was being used as storage. It had been vacant for sometime as it was quite a distance from the other offices. You had to go through an small room to get to it. After expanding my position to a more official part time position, I asked if I could remove the wall between the two rooms to make a bigger space for kids and also a space that was visible to parents (I don't think they really believed I was going to knock the wall down). After removing the wall, I now had a door that opened into the hallway leading to the other offices and a door opening into the gym. Also, two large windows that looked out on the gym. Now I had a one big room, though the carpets didn't match, nor did the tile ceilings. In fact, the ceilings were different heights. It's funny, a year later, with kids and parents packed in there after services playing and talking, no one really noticed I had two types of carpets and an uneven, drooping ceiling. My position slowly worked it's way into a full time position and I "borrowed" and gathered equipment and supplies from old classrooms and storage areas until I had a functional office. I couple of years later, when hiring a new youth minister, the elders decided to fix up the youth office to attract perspective ministers, myself and the involvement minister convinced them to fix our offices up also. My office is still bustling with kids and parents playing, talking and smiling, but now they also comment on how soft the carpet is! :) Though, I don't think they've ever noticed the ceiling. I've discovered it's not the look or the toys that make it special but the openness, the respect for kids and parents and listening ears that keep them coming back. I have toys and games scattered on shelves around my office that kids can play with. A book case holds CDs and books. I've got fun toys and gadgets decorating my desk and office. If you can't play with it, it needs to be up on a high shelf. I have a leopard gecko in a tank that kids love to look at and also an aquarium. Animals are great ice-breakers for kids nervous about being at a new church. You can also have so many discussions about God's creation while looking at an animal. Plus, aquariums can be very relaxing.
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