Auburn WINKS Forum 1

1. Working in small groups to interpret bible stories
2. I want to make the first Sunday of each month a more intentionally intergenerational service with a simplified liturgy so that it is more inclusive of young worshippers, especially non-readers.
3. I really need to learn how I can “bring in” my leadership team to this work with me. I need to guide them and collaborate with them, not just tell them what we’re going to do.

I tried uploading the document and it kept shooting back with an error message, so I am going to copy and paste my response here:1) What experience or moment was most meaningful or memorable for you in the in-person intensive? 

I felt a wonderful insight dawn within me regarding the history poem; the one where we had our 6 words of what we remember from our experience of faith as children. When we were placed into groups and asked to create a ‘poem’ based on the words we had.  We could not add any other words, but we could decide to omit some of our words from the tone and composition of the poem.

2) What practice, learning, or insight are you most excited to apply and try in your congregation? What might it look like? What change do you hope it will make? 

I think that the above mentioned exercise (the 6 words) is something that I am looking forward to applying to some of the leadership and other members of the communities I serve to help them begin the faithful work that will call for us to not glorify past, but to bravely pull forward that which is helpful now and let go of what is not serving the communities now. I do anticipate some resistance to this initial work, not because there is lack of desire, but there are memories of failures that left many wounded and hurt. 

Using this exercise is the first action I intend to take and look to try it in Bible study sessions in one form and then work to do it during worship in another form. There are multiple goals in utilizing this plan; in using it during Bible study, those involved will also be part of the worship service. Thus, there is experience within the novelty during worship. Further, it will help demonstrate to my communities that worship is not solely word heavy; worship happens in creative moments when we move from our comfort zones and spaces. Finally, this will reinforce an ongoing attempt at skilled redirection to help the communities move from places of “woe is me” to “let the little children come to me.”

3) what question are you holding or what more are you hoping to learn about as you "bring the work home" to your congregation.

While we have discussed important theological and pedagogical ideas, I am focused on the practical details required to make these visions a reality. Some practical examples that I am considering are; explore the logistics of background checks, how to help established ministries 'step aside' or 'walk along' these new ideas without causing unnecessary wounding or impeding faithfulness, inviting those who have been hurt/jaded from other programs to re-engage, etc. I am intrigued to read how others address these concerns.

Since any shift in ministry can cause friction, I am eager to learn how we can listen and lead compassionately to sustain the process. I am drawn to the principle in Luke 16:10—that being faithful in 'little' details prepares us to be entrusted with the 'much' that is the treasure of our children. As someone who sometimes overlooks small details, I hope hearing others' stories will help me better attune my eyes and mind to the logistics that prove our trustworthiness

1. I really loved learning about the WINKS method and learning about Midrash. The relationships that were formed have also been very meaningful and helpful resources.
2. I have been really leaning into Midrash and "wonder" when leading programming and asking questions. By switching to this mindset, I feel like the students are more comfortable in asking questions and answering. I do hope to try to do the WINKS method at church at some point soon.
3. I know some people have done the WINKS method in their contexts and have done things differently, so I would like to know other ways to implement the WINKS method.

) I really enjoyed the Midrash activity as well. I have found myself rewriting Scripture passages, especially for special service like Christmas, since our retreat and using this as inspiration for how to frame things for young readers and get creative with telling the story.

2) I have started to adjust our worship leader roles and we have rolled out a sort of initiative to get new people into worship leader roles, with a focus on children. I made toddler friendly acolyte and crucifer sticks for our procession to be accessible to younger leaders, we have a new worship helper board for kids to take on a role during worship without any advance sign up, and I created dry erase busy books that follow the order of worship and can be used in a pew. We also had our Children's Christmas Eve service led 90% by children this year, from age 2.5-12. It was lovely and I'd love to keep channeling the energy of that into every Sunday so that kids can lead in any role at any time.

3) My congregation is very receptive to new things in and out of worship. My wondering is how to keep incorporating new things without them getting stale - I don't know that acting out the story would serve us on a weekly basis, but I know it is something they would receive well sprinkled here and there. The other methods also a good mix of ideas to keep trying and balancing.

) I really enjoyed the Midrash activity as well. I have found myself rewriting Scripture passages, especially for special service like Christmas, since our retreat and using this as inspiration for how to frame things for young readers and get creative with telling the story.

2) I have started to adjust our worship leader roles and we have rolled out a sort of initiative to get new people into worship leader roles, with a focus on children. I made toddler friendly acolyte and crucifer sticks for our procession to be accessible to younger leaders, we have a new worship helper board for kids to take on a role during worship without any advance sign up, and I created dry erase busy books that follow the order of worship and can be used in a pew. We also had our Children's Christmas Eve service led 90% by children this year, from age 2.5-12. It was lovely and I'd love to keep channeling the energy of that into every Sunday so that kids can lead in any role at any time. We also had a sermon time in Sunday worship where people got into small groups and answered questions about the text with one another, which was intergenerational.

3) My congregation is very receptive to new things in and out of worship. My wondering is how to keep incorporating new things without them getting stale - I don't know that acting out the story would serve us on a weekly basis, but I know it is something they would receive well sprinkled here and there. The other methods also a good mix of ideas to keep trying and balancing.

1) What experience or moment was most meaningful or memorable for you in the in-person WINKS Intensive? Describe it and share what made it meaningful or memorable.

One experience that stood out to me was becoming aware of a habit I am often guilty of: speaking without first organizing my thoughts in writing. When I approach speaking in this way, I frequently find myself losing words, drifting off key, or omitting important points. During the course, Dr Emma led us through an exercise that required us to write a brief introduction of ourselves, and this practice was particularly formative for me. It highlighted the importance of preparing concise bullet points to guide one’s speech. I have since learned that intentional preparation provides structure, clarity, and focus, enabling me to communicate more effectively. Without this framework, I am prone to digression and a loss of coherence. This experience reinforced for me that thoughtful preparation is not a limitation to spontaneity, but rather a discipline that strengthens clarity and confidence in oral communication.

2) What practice, learning, or insight are you most excited to apply and try in your congregation? What might it look like? What change do you hope it will make? 

I was particularly fascinated by the way we engaged the biblical narrative, especially the story of Esther, and the profound impact it had on all of us as we embodied different roles and physical positions. Experiencing the story through embodied participation deepened both our understanding and emotional connection to the text. This approach has inspired me to intentionally adapt dramatization as a pedagogical tool for teaching children with special needs. I am especially excited about structuring the class into two collaborative groups: children with cerebral palsy or other forms of impairment will embody the characters through physical postures and gestures, while the other children will interpret and give voice to these embodied expressions. This dynamic not only fosters meaningful engagement but also affirms the agency, insight, and interpretive capacity of children with disabilities. I believe this method creates an inclusive, participatory learning environment in which every child contributes actively to the communal interpretation of Scripture.

3) what question are you holding or what more are you hoping to learn about as you "bring the work home" to your congregation? 

Can the WINKS methodology be adapted to effectively meet the diverse needs of the various categories of children with special needs whom I will be teaching?

1) Practicing the Wink method together was meaningful to me. Seeing what I read in Transforming Bible Study brought it to life in a way that modeled possibilities for future ministry.

2) I will start small by asking our children to help serve communion. We currently send the children to children's worship after the children's time and shifting from an entrenched tradition takes time. However, we do not have children's worship on Communion Sunday on the first of the month. I will aim to make the sermon and liturgy more engaging for children on that Sunday. Our demographics shifted very recently so that we now have two toddlers and a small number of middle schoolers. On one hand, this creates a challenge because the toddlers are still developing their communication skills. On the other hand, the toddlers' family is not always able to attend which means everyone else is in worship with us more often, providing more motivation to increase inclusion and engagement.

3) I want to dig deeply into, "What does full inclusion of all generations look like in worship?" In an age of church decline, fewer churches can afford staffing and programs for young disciples and, in some ways, that staffing and programming is further professionalization of ministry as happened with pastors. Laity have been more and more removed from faith development of each other and in church life in a lot of ways. And full-time pastors and paid staff have fed into the consumer mentality in which our culture tends to approach local churches. I believe this provides a pathway back to lay ownership of the worship and mission of the church as an intergenerational body.